Fire Safety - Information about general fire safety and risk assessment, along with links to various national associations concerned with fire safety.

ZONES

Fire Safety Zones are there to give fast and unambiguous identification of the fire source by separating a large area into smaller, more specific cells.

General Fire Safety rules on zone sizes:

If the total floor area of the building is less than 300m2 then the building need only be one zone (no matter how many floors)
The total floor area of any one zone must not exceed 2000m2
The search distance should not exceed 30m - This means the distance that has to be travelled by a searcher inside a zone to determine visually the position of a fire (i.e. to be able to view the indicator of each head)
Where stairwells extend beyond one floor but are in one fire compartment, the stairwell should be a separate zone
If the zone covers more than one fire compartment then the zone boundaries should follow compartment boundaries
No zone should spilt across separate occupancies

General Fire Safety notes about zones:

A fire compartment is an area bordered by a fire resisting structure typically of a minimum 30 minute fire rating
Call points can be put on separate zones to detectors to avoid misleading information on a fires location
Removal of a detector must not effect a call point

CALL POINTS

General Fire Safety notes on call points:

Should be located on staircase landings and at all exits from the building
Should be located so no person need travel more than 30m to operate one
Should be fitted at a height of 1.4m on a contrasting background
Should be of an identical means of operation

SOUNDERS

General Fire Safety notes on sounders:

Sounders must give a level of at least 65dBA or 5dBA above any background noise likely to last longer than 30 seconds at all occupiable points in the building
Where people may be sleeping the sound level must be at least 75dBA at the bed head
All sounders must have a similar sound
More quieter sounders are preferred to a few louder sounders
Allow at least one sounder per fire compartment (as fire resistant structures are also good at reducing sound levels)
Must always be at least two sounders
Always use at least two sounder circuits - no problem with one circuit being a single sounder next to the controls

DETECTORS

Suitability of detectors:

HPO - All areas unless smoke/fumes likely
CO (Carbon Monoxide) - All areas unless fumes likely (garages)
Heat (Rate of Rise) - Car parks, Loading bays, Smoky areas
Heat (Fixed Temp) - Boiler room, Resturants
Heat (Fixed High Temp) - Kitchen (avoid locating over cookers)

Coverage of detectors:

The maximum horizontal distance between any head and any point in the area:

Under flat ceilings and corridors over 5m wide:
Heat - Is 5.3m radius, or a square area of sides 7m (approx. 50m2)
Smoke - Is 7.5m radius, or a square area of sides 10m (approx. 100m2)

In corridors less than 5m wide:
Heat - Is (5m - Width of corridor) / 2 + 5.3m
Smoke - Is (5m - Width of corridor) / 2 + 7.5m

In the apex of a pitched roof:
Heat - For each degree of slope add 1% to 5.3m (up to a max. of 25%)
Smoke - For each degree of slope add 1% to 7.5m (up to a max. of 25%)

Obstructions (Beams)
Where the vertical height of the obstruction is:

less than 150mm it can be ignored
greater than 10% or 300mm (which ever is the greater) of the ceiling height must be treated as a full height wall
not covered by the above, the horizontal spacing should be reduced by twice the obstructions height

General Fire Safety rules
Detectors should:

always be 500mm away from any wall/partition
not be on ceilings if higher than 10.5m for smokes and 7.5m for heat (grade 3 excluded)

CONTROLS

Controls should be located:

In a low fire risk area
On the ground floor entrance to be used by the fire brigade
In a common area to all building users
Adjacent to a sounder
Wiring
Sounders must always be run in a fire rated cable.

MAINTENANCE

Daily
Check control panel indicates normal operation - record any faults
Check fault record to confirm previous fault have received attention

Weekly
Operate a different call point or detector to ensure system operates and all sounders are working
Check battery connections (if sounders operating and o battery fault showing then OK)
Complete event log with above results

Quarterly
Check log book entries and action as required
Examine batteries and their connections
Activate a call point or detector and check all sounders function
Check control panel by simulating faults
Check building for structural alterations that have effected the fire alarm system
Complete event log with device tested and enter "e;Quarterly test"e;