FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

FIRE SAFETY FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDING 1

 FIRE NORMS AND STANDARDS

1. General
All buildings shall satisfy certain requirements which contribute , individually and
collectively, to the safety of life from fire , smoke , fumes , and panic arising from these
or similar causes. There are , however , certain general principles and common
requirements which are applicable to all or most of the occupancies.

2. Exceptions and deviations

Exceptions and deviations to the general provisions o requirements of individuals
occupancies are given as applicable to each type of occupancy .In case of practical
difficulty or to avoid unnecessary hardship , without sacrificing reasonable safety, the
authority may grant exemptions from the code.

3.Maximum Height
The maximum permissible height for any combination of occupancy and types of
construction should be necessarily be related to the width of street fronting the
building , or the building or floor area ratios and the local fire fighting facilities available.

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4. Open spaces
• The width of the main street on which the buildings abuts shall not less than 12m and
one end of this street shall join another street not less than 12m in width.
• The road shall not terminate in a dead end ; except in case of residential building, up
to a height of 30 m.

5. Air-conditioning and ventilation

Air conditioning and ventilation air conditioning and ventilation systems shall be installed
and maintained as to minimize the danger of spread of fire ,smoke or fumes from one
floor to another or from outside to any occupied building or structure .

6. Smoke Venting
• Smoke venting facilities facilities for safe use of exits in windowless buildings ,
underground structures , large area factories , hotel and assembly buildings shall be
automatic in action with manual controls in addition.
• Natural draft smoke venting shall utilize roofs vents or vent in walls at or near the
ceiling level ; such vents shall be normally open ,or if closed , shall be designed for
automatic opening in case of fire , by release of smoke sensitive devices.

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 FIRE EXITS
 STAIRCASES
• The width of staircase should be at least 1.5 metres in commercial
• Any building having area more than 500 sqm on each floor and 15 m or more in height
shall have minimum two staircases of enclosed type; at least one of these shall be on
external wall and shall directly open to exterior, interior open space or to an open place
of safety. Further the provision or otherwise of alternative staircase shall be subject to
the requirements of travel distance being complied with.
• Staircase shall not be arranged round a lift shaft.
• No gas piping shall be laid in the stairway.
• Height of railing shall be more than 1 m. Gap between verticals should not exceed 200
mm. The gap should be reduced to 150 mm where small children are likely to use the
staircase.
• No electrical shafts/AC ducts or gas pipe, etc, shall pass through the staircases. Lift shall
not open in staircase.
 Doorways
• Every exit doorway shall open into an enclosed stairway or a horizontal exit of a
corridor or passageway providing continuous and protected means of egress.
• No exit doorway shall be less than l000 mm in width except assembly buildings where
door width shall be not less than 2 000 mm. Doorways shall be not less than 2 000
mm in height.
• Exit doorways shall be openable from the side which they serve without the use of a
key.
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 ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT AND SAFETY RULES
1. Transformer building/HT and LT control panels having aggregate oil capacity greater
than 2 000 litres shall be housed in separate rooms/enclosures 6 m away, properly
fenced.
2. Staircases and corridors lighting shall have separate circuits.
3. Miniature Circuit Breakers/Earth Leakage Circuit Breakers shall be provided in the
circuits.
4. Barth connection shall be provided in building which are 15 m or more in height.

 EMERGENCY AND ESCAPE LIGHTING

1. Emergency lighting shall be powered from a source independent of that supplying
normal Iighting.
2. The emergency lighting shall be provided to be put on within 5 second (preferably
within 1 second) of the failure of the normal lighting supply.
3. It is essential that the wiring and installations of the emergency lighting systems are
of high quality so as to ensure their perfect serviceability at all times.
4. The emergency lighting system shall be capable of continuous operation for a
minimum duration of 1 h 30 min even for smallest premises.

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 National Institute
of Solar Energy
(NISE), Gurgaon

FIRE SAFETY FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDING 6

 FIRE ESCAPE
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a
building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides
a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency that makes the stairwells
inside a building inaccessible.

FIRE SAFETY FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDING 7

 SMOKE DETECTORS
• A smoke detector is a device that detects smoke, typically as an
indicator of fire.
• Smoke detectors are typically housed in a disk-shaped plastic
enclosure about 150 millimetres (6 in) in diameter and 25
millimetres (1 in) thick.

SPRINKLERS
• A fire sprinkler or sprinkler head is the component of a fire
sprinkler system that discharges water when the effects of a
fire have been detected, such as when a predetermined
temperature has been exceeded.

HEAT AND SMOKE VENTS

• Heat and Smoke Vents are installed in buildings as an active fire
protection measure.
• They are openings in the roof which are intended to vent the heat
and smoke developed by a fire inside the building by the action of
buoyancy, such that they are known as "gravity vents".
 FIRE ALARM
• A fire alarm system has a number of devices working together to
detect and warn people through visual and audio appliances when
smoke, fire, carbon monoxide or other emergencies are present.

FIRE HOSE
• A fire hose (or firehose) is a high-pressure hose that carries water
or other fire retardant (such as foam) to a fire to extinguish it.
Outdoors, it attaches either to a fire engine or a fire hydrant.

FIRE SUIT
• A fire proximity suit (also, silvers, silver bunker suit, or asbestos
suit) is a suit designed to protect a firefighter from high
temperatures, especially near fires of extreme temperature such
as aircraft fires.

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THANK YOU

SUBMITTED BY:
NITISH
YATIN
ARSALAN
ABDULLAH

FIRE SAFETY FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDING 10