windows in a council house

parsnips

can you help,

i live in a council house and noticed that if we ever had a fire, we have no means of escape out of our windows, all the windows have a tiny opening in the top portion of our window, there is no way we could squeeze through the gap.

should the council replace our windows and if so would they be in their rights to put our rent up.

Nile

Hello parsnips


It's good that you are planning or thinking about a fire escape plan for your home. Can I ask you a couple of questions?

Do you have fitted and working smoke detectors in your home?

Do you close all the doors in your house when you go to bed?

These two things will help your chance of survival if a fire happens.

You may think you're trapped in a room if there is no obvious easy access out of the window. I remember watching a programme on tv about smashing a window and they recommended that you break the window in the bottom corner............not the middle of the window.

Then lay towels or bedding over the broken glass before you climb through.

I'm sure other members will post their suggestions here (or correct me if I'm wrong) to help put your mind at ease.

parsnips

yes we have 2 smoke detectors, and no we dont close our bedroom doors at night only the two living room doors

roswell

if there double glazed id suggest buying a survival hammer from a DIY or Auto parts store, we used to have a fire window in our flat the council replaced all the windows with new double glazing and lost our fire window, we approached them and was advised all the windows have a extension catch that you need to press to open the window fully to escape, this is ok for use were on the ground floor but god help those above us they have a long jump

roswell

Oh and in responce to the breaking window you can use any corner the reason you dont break the glass in the middle is this was previously the weekest point of the window but now they make the galls slightly thicker in the middle hence the weekest point is now the corners.

boogiemaster

Ring the council and tell them you have no escape in case of a fire and see what they say?
They wont come out and replace all the windows they will only put one escape window in incase of a fire.

rayed

Hi,

If the house was designed for a window escape from the 1st floor, i.e., not more than 4.5m above ground level then each habital room should have an window opening of at least 0.3m squared and dimensions of at least 800mm X 450mm.

If the bedrooms are above 4.5m, i.e., on the 2nd floor then window escape is not permissable.

If the house as been designed with a "Protected Staircase", i.e., all doors off it are fire resisting and self-closing then window escape is not required.

This is only a brief resume of the Building Regulations and it can get a lot more complicated, as other posters have suggested the defence is early warning by smoke detectors, preferbably interlinked so that when the ground floor operates it also sounds the one upstairs. Trying to find the hammer to break the window at 3.00 in the morning in a fire situation when you have been awake for 20 seconds will not be easy! Also, are you going to be able to get to the kids bedroom?

Don't forget the detctors in the kids bedrooms especially if they have got a TV, Playstation, computer, etc.

Regards

roswell

:-) my hammers right next to the baseball bat either will do at 3 am