Fire - 2

Part B Building Regulations

Rafay Hasan
February 2016

http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/buildingregulations/
approveddocuments

Limitations to Part B
Applies to England only:
Different (but similar) regulations for Scotland, NI and Wales

Is intended to protect the occupant, attending fire officers and

adjacent buildings:
It sets minimum standards
It is NOT concerned with protecting the building or its contents
Most building owners and insurers will want to go beyond requirements
of Part B

Limitations to Approved Document B

Intended for typical buildings.
May not be appropriate to some large or complex or
special use buildings:
Health care buildings: Use HTM05 (Firecode)
Schools: Use BB100 (2007)
Shopping Malls: applicable only to single shops
Cinemas, theatres etc: allow for effects of fixed seating
Sports Grounds: need to comply with Sports Ground Act

Building Classification
Purpose
group No.

General
purpose

Subgroup

examples

Residential
dwellings

A
B
C

Flat
Dwellinghouse .4.5m
Dwellinghouse <4.5 m

Residential
institutional

A
B

Hospitals
Hotel, hostel, hall of residence

Office

All offices

Shop

All forms of retail, restaurants, bars

Assembly/
recreation

Cinemas, churches, leisure centres,

sports facilities, museums

Industrial

Storage

A
B

Warehouses
Car parks

 As with all Approved Documents, ADB

is just one means of showing compliance
It states the minimum acceptable standards

Fire Safety Engineering:

can provide an alternative approach to fire safety
may be the only practicable way of providing acceptable
standard of safety in some large or complex buildings
BS 7974 (series) Fire Safety Engineering in Buildings should be
referred to

Approved Document B
Volume 1 Dwellinghouses
Volume 2 All other buildings (including flats)
2006/2010 updated for 2013
Applies to both new build and refurbishment

Approved Document B
B1
B2
B3
B4
B5

Alarms and means of escape

Internal fire spread (linings)
Internal fire spread (structure and compartmentation)
External fire spread
Access and facilities for fire service

Alarms
All new dwellinghouses to have mains
operated smoke detectors with battery backup
All other new buildings to have a fire
detection and alarm system

Means of Escape
All new buildings to provide safe escape
route(s)
Different requirements for:
Dwelling houses
Flats
Other buildings
Dependent on size and height of building

Means of Escape
Maximum distance to protected exit route
Protected exit route min 30min fire rated

Minimum dimensions (eg width of stairs)

Means of limiting smoke concentration
Emergency lighting required

Adequate signage

Preventing smoke ingress and smoke clearance

Natural smoke vents

or
Mechanical Pressurisation/Depressurisation
More in later lectures

Reducing Internal Fire Spread

Linings of walls and ceilings to be of low
combustibility
(different standards apply eg class 0 spread in
common areas of apartment buildings)

Reducing Internal Fire Spread

Load bearing elements to be able to withstand
without failing...
Separating elements (1) to be able to contain fire...

Separating elements (1) to provide adequate

resistance to heat transfer...
all for a minimum period of time (depending on
element and building classification)
(1) Either between buildings or between fire compartments

Car Parks and Shopping Malls

See B3 section 11 for special provisions for car

parks and shopping complexes!

External Spread
External walls and roof to limit fire spread
Minimum distances between buildings

Access and Facilities for Fire Service

Provide adequate access to building for fire
services vehicle
The larger and taller the building, the greater
the access required to the whole perimeter
Alternatively, provide wet or dry risers in firefighting shafts

Facilities for Fire Service

criteria

requirement

Any floor >18m above road

At least one FF shaft with FF lifts

floor >18m above road and >900m2 area At least two FF shaft with FF lifts
Purpose Group 4,5 or 6
Floor > 7.5m above road > 900m2

At least two FF shaft

Two or more basement levels, each

>900m2

At least one FF shaft

Basement >10m below road

At least two FF shaft with FF lifts

Shopping Complexes

As BS 9999

FF Lifts: Lift, lift shaft, motor room and lift lobbies all fire rated (2-hour)

FF shafts

Extract from Approved Document B 2013 version

Dry Riser

Air vent

>18m
Landing
valve

Inlet at
ground
level

Wet Riser

>50m

Water Mains

Water Tank

Smoke clearance from basements

Natural smoke vents
or
Mechanical vent if basement is sprinklered