7.8 Fire Safety (Refer to BTS-014)

7.8.1 Every building meant for human occupancy shall be provided with exits sufficient to permit safe escape of occupants, in case of fire or other emergency.However, this shall not be mandatory for those residential buildings having single dwelling unit.

7.8.2 Exits shall be free of obstructions and be clearly visible with the routes to the exits clearly marked and sign posted.

7.8.3 Doors with a fire resistance of at least ½ hour shall be provided along the escape routes to prevent spread of fire and smoke particularly at the entrances to stairs.

7.8.4 All escape exits shall provide continuous means of egress to the exterior of a building or to an exterior open space leading to a street. Exit routes shall be arranged so that they may be reached without passing through another occupied space.

7.8.5 Exits shall be so located that the travel distance to the exit on each floor shall not exceed the distances given below :

7.8.6 The travel distance to an exit from the dead end of a corridor shall not exceed half the distance specified in the table above, except in institutional and commercial/assembly building types in which case it shall not exceed 6m.

7.8.7 Wherever more than one exit is required exits shall be placed as remote from each other as possible and shall be arranged to provide direct access in separate directions from any point in the area served.

7.8.8 All building having more than four floors and all institutional and commercial/assembly building types having an area of more than 500sq.m on each floor shall have a minimum of two fire escape staircases. The provision of additional alternative staircases shall be subject to the requirements of travel distance being complied with.

7.8.9 Fire escape staircases must be of a protected type and at least one shall open directly into an exterior space or to an open place of safety. 'Protected' means that if there is a fire anywhere in the building, it should not be allowed to enter the staircase shaft. No internal windows can be provided looking into fire escape staircases.

7.8.10 Interior fire escape stairs must be constructed of a non-combustible material throughout and as completely enclosed self-contained units with an external wall constituting at least one of the sides.

7.8.11 Doors onto fire escape staircases must have a fire resistance of at least one hour, should open in the direction of escape and must not reduce the minimum width of the landing or staircase.

7.8.12 All buildings should be provided with at least one fire extinguisher on each floor.

7.8.13 All buildings must have a fire plan showing :
(a) Location and number of fire extinguishers.
(b) Means of escape – location of internal and external fire escape stairs, fire exits and direction of escape.

7.8.14 Fireplaces shall have a floor of concrete or similar fire proof material and shall be provided with a flue or chimney. Chimneys shall extend 600mm or more above the highest point of the roof.