Fire safety

Tim_Deegan

telfordwhite wrote: »

Is this true? Can anyone confirm.

The house we are renting (just moved in) has just had loft conversion done and the builder came round yesterday and put ugly self closers on all the doors which is a right pain in the !!! and is really squeaky.

The owner hasn't seen them yet and I'm sure she'll hate them, Oh please may we be able to take them off...:j

They may be ugly, but they could save your life

floss2

Think they may be a legal requirement to conform with current building regs.

sooz

I understood it changed ....

From April 2007 the guidance in the Approved Document Part B-Fire Safety recommends provision of fire detection and alarm systems and that escape stairs should be protected by fire resisting construction and doors (which need not be fitted with self-closing devices). There is no-longer a reliance on suitably positioned egress windows from 2nd floor loft rooms as alternative means of escape.

(paragraph copied from http://www.torbay.gov.uk/buildingcontrolguidance11.doc )

This doesn't however mean you can remove them if your landlord has installed them for your safety...it just means that she didn't have to provide them, but has chosen to do so!

guppy

floss2 wrote: »

Don't forget, if the loft was converted several years ago, it would not have fallen into building regs....ours doesn't, because it was done over 18yrs ago.

I'm pretty sure the building regs covered this in 1989, though the standards may have been different. People have been dying in fires for a long time

The door closers and fire doors just ensure that there is a safe, fire protected escape route to the ground floor. So if a fire starts in a bedroom, its contained for a bit longer letting the person asleep in the loft escape hopefully.

If one of these properties doesn't have building regs, I'd consider the value it adds minimal (though the market may see things differently). Its not just the fire safety aspects, but the roof insulation, ventilation and whether the floor has been strengthened for everyday use.

Happy hunting

telfordwhite

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

They may be ugly, but they could save your life

Yeah but the question has to be asked, "How far do you go with it?".
There are already smoke alarms fitted on every floor and a fire escape from the loft room. How safe is it possible to be?

Not only are these door closers ugly, they are inconvenient, noisy and damaging to the antique woodwork.


Health and safety regs have gone completely barmy if you ask me

Doozergirl

telfordwhite wrote: »

Health and safety regs have gone completely barmy if you ask me

Admittedly, we have self closers in this house and I prop the doors open because I want to be able to hear the kids at night if they call. I shouldn't - if I wanted them to be safe in a fire I should keep them closed.

They sound like the cheap ones that fit on with a sort of arm on them? The doors with the chains enclosed are virtually invisible, silent and don't damage anything.

But it's not H&S gone totally barmy. If I were alone in the house, the doors would be shut. It does make common sense to shut doors - I bet the regs still state that you need fire doors, just not the babysitting that a self closer provides (unless you prop the doors open like me )

guppy

telfordwhite wrote: »

Health and safety regs have gone completely barmy if you ask me

How many people would have to die in fires caused by their absence for it not to be barmy? Could you make that decision?

I agree they are a pain, and the chance of a fire in any given house is low, but fact is, they have saved lives. The law just says they had to be fitted to meet building control, what you do in your own house after is up to you

Tim_Deegan

I find it hard to believe how many people have sutch a laid back atitude to fire safety. Even standard domestic doors will give a degree of fire protection. I'm not sure about the exact building regs, and I know that most people will fit whatever doors they like best. But you wouldn't believe how many lives I have seen saved or lost depending on if they had doors open or closed.

Even a small fire in a waste paper basket can cause smoke damage to a whole house, and could kill the occupants in their sleep. If the doors were closed then the chances are that all the damage would be confined to one room, and that all the occupants would get out safely........to me that makes it a simple choice.

telfordwhite

It's not about being laid back, its about common sense. I can shut my doors at night if I want whether I have self closers or not without having to dodge slamming doors several times a day whilst going about my business.

I have fire alarms fitted and I aint gonna sleep through those, have you heard how loud they are? unless of course the sound is dampened by the closed door between the fire alarm and me.

Incidently, I wonder how big the fire could get before the smoke could escape through the closed door enough to make the fire alarm sound, the house could be well ablaze by then.

I think too many people are influenced by getting battered around the head by Health and safety legislation to be able to think for themselves.

telfordwhite

Tim_Deegan wrote: »

IBut you wouldn't believe how many lives I have seen saved or lost depending on if they had doors open or closed.

With respect Tim I don't believe you. I work in the Emergency services and the number of people dying in fires is miniscule compared to the population and is miniscule in relation to other causes of traumatic death.
Many firefighters have never been to a fatal fire and most go to very few in their careers so I don't see how you can have seen enough to make this judgement.

And as for whether they had doors open or closed or whether this had any effect on their survival or not, surely this evidence is anecdotal or guesswork at best.