Fire Fighting regulations

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FIRE FIGHTING ASSIGNMENT 1 NAME: SONAL S. MORE FOURTH YEAR B ARCH ROLL NO: 39 ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE

description

fire escape route and types of fire fighting systems

Transcript of Fire Fighting regulations

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FIRE FIGHTING ASSIGNMENT 1

NAME: SONAL S. MORE

FOURTH YEAR B ARCH ROLL NO: 39

ACADEMY OF ARCHITECTURE

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1) Differentiate between various Classifications of buildings and explain the benefits of classification including the sub Division.

Classification of buildings based on occupancy:All the buildings and structure existing or to be build are classified as below depending on the characteristics of the building occupancy.

GROUP A: RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS: Includes any building in which sleeping accommodation is provided for normal residential purposes with or without cooking or dining or both facilities. This group is further sub divided as follows:

A-1: Lodging or rooming houses- includes same or group of buildings under same managements, in which sleeping accommodation for a total not more than 40 (beds), on transient or permanent basis, with or without dining facilities but without cooking facilities for individual is provided. Includes inns, motels, and guest houses.

A-2: One or two- family private dwellings- includes private dwelling occupied by members of 1 or 2 families with sleeping accommodation of not more than 20 persons.

A-3: Dormitories- includes building in which group sleeping accommodation is provided, with/without dining facilities for persons not of the same family, in one room/ series of closely associated rooms under joint occupancy and single management. E.g. school and college dormitories, hostels and military barracks.

A-4: Apartment houses (flats) - includes structures in which living quarters are provided for 3 or more families, living independently of each other and with independent cooking facilities. E.g. apartment houses, mansions and chawls.

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A-5: Hotels- includes one/ group of buildings under single management, sleeping accommodation provided, with/without dining facility for hotels up to 4 star categories.

A-6: Hotels (Starred) - includes hotels duly approved by the concerned authorities as five stars and above hotels.

GROUP B: EDUCATIONAL BUILDINGS:

Includes any building used for school, college, other training institutions

for day-care purposes involving assembly for instruction, education or recreation for not less than 20 students. This group is further sub-divided as follows:

B-1: Schools up to senior secondary level- includes any building or a group of buildings under single management which is used for students not less than 20 in number.

B-2: All others/training institutions —includes any building or a group of buildings under single management which is used for students not less than 100 in number.

GROUP C: INSTITUTIONAL BUILDINGS

Includes any building or part thereof, which is used for purposes, such as medical or other treatment or care of persons suffering from physical or mental illness, disease or infirmity; care of infants, convalescents or aged persons and for penal or correctional detention in which the liberty of the inmates is restricted. Institutional buildings ordinarily provide sleeping accommodation for the occupants. This group is further sub-divided as follows:

C-1: Hospitals and sanatoria - includes any building or a group of buildings under single management, which is used for housing persons suffering from physical limitations because of health or age. E.g. hospitals, infirmaries, sanatoria and nursing homes.

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C-2: Custodial institutions- include any building or a group of buildings under single management, which is used for the custody and care of persons, such as children, convalescents and the aged. E.g. homes for the aged and infirm, convalescent homes and orphanages.

C-3: Penal and mental institutions – includes any building or a group of buildings under single management, which is used for housing persons under restraint, or who are detained for penal or corrective purposes, in which the liberty of the inmates is restricted, for example, jails, prisons, mental hospitals, mental sanatoria and reformatories.

GROUP D: ASSEMBLY BUILDINGS:

Include any building or part of a building, where number of persons not less than 50 congregate or gather for amusement, recreation, social, religious, patriotic, civil, travel and similar purposes. E.g. theatres, motion picture houses, assembly halls, auditoria, exhibition halls, museums, skating rinks, gymnasiums, restaurants, places of worship, club rooms, passenger stations and terminals of air, surface and marine public transportation services, recreation piers and stadia, etc. This group is further sub-divided as follows:

D-1 -includes any building primarily meant for theatrical or operatic performances and exhibitions and which has a raised stage, proscenium curtain, fixed or portable scenery or scenery loft, lights, motion picture houses, mechanical appliances or other theatrical accessories and equipment and which is provided with fixed seats for over 1000 persons.

D-2 -includes any building primarily meant for use as described for sub-division D-1, but with fixed seats up to 1000 persons.

D-3 - includes any building, its lobbies, rooms and other spaces connected thereto, primarily intended for assembly of people, but which

has no theatrical stage or permanent theatrical and/or cinematographic accessories and has accommodation for 300 persons or more. E.g. dance halls, night clubs, halls for incidental picture shows, dramatic, theatrical

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or educational presentation, lectures or other similar purposes having no theatrical stage except a raised platform and used without permanent seating arrangement; art galleries exhibition halls, community halls, marriage halls, places of worship, museums, lecture halls, passenger terminals and Heritage and Archaeological Monuments.

D-4 - includes any building primarily intended for use as described in sub-division D-3, but with accommodation for less than 300 persons with no permanent seating arrangements.

D-5 - includes any building or structure permanent or temporary meant for assembly of people not covered by sub-divisions D-1 to D-4. E.g. Grandstands, stadia, amusement park structures, reviewing stands and circus tents.

D-6 - includes any building for assembly of people provided with multiple services/facilities like shopping, cinema theatres and restaurants. E.g. multiplexes.

D-7 - includes any building or structure permanent or temporary meant for assembly of people not covered by D-1 to D-6. E.g. Underground or elevated railways.

GROUP E: BUSINESS BUILDINGS:

Includes any building or part of a building which is used for transaction of business; for keeping of accounts and records and similar purposes, professional establishments, service facilities, etc. City halls, town halls, court houses and libraries shall be classified in this group so far as the principal function of these is transaction of public business and keeping of books and records. This group is further sub-divided as follows:

E-1: Offices, banks, professional establishments, like offices of architects,

engineers, doctors, lawyers and police stations.

E-2: Laboratories, research establishments, libraries and test houses.

E-3: Computer installations.

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E-4: Telephone exchanges.

E-5: Broadcasting stations and T.V. stations.

GROUP F: MERCANTILE BUILDINGS:

Includes any building or part of a building, which is used as shops, stores, market, for display and sale of merchandise, either wholesale or retail. This group is further sub-divided as follows:

F-1 - Shops, stores, departmental stores markets with area up to 500 m2.

F-2 - Shops, stores, departmental stores markets with area more than 500 m2.

F-3 - Underground shopping centres. Storage and service facilities incidental to the sale of merchandise and located in the same building shall be included under this group.

GROUP G: INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS:

Includes any building or part of a building or structure, in which products or materials of all kinds and properties are fabricated, assembled, manufactured or processed. E.g. assembly plants, industrial laboratories, dry cleaning plants, power plants, generating units, pumping stations, fumigation chambers, laundries, buildings or structures in gas plants, refineries, dairies and saw-mills, etc.

G-1 - includes any building in which the contents are of such comparative low combustibility and the industrial processes or operations conducted therein are of such a nature that there are hardly any possibilities for any self-propagating fire to occur and the only consequent danger to life

and property may arise from panic, fumes or smoke, or fire from some external source.

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G-2 - includes any building in which the contents or industrial processes or operations conducted therein are liable to give rise to a fire which will bun with moderate rapidity or result in other hazardous situation and may give off a considerable volume of smoke, but from which neither toxic fumes nor explosions are to be feared in the event of fire.

G-3 - includes any building in which the contents or industrial processes or operations conducted therein are liable to give rise to a fire which will bum with extreme rapidity or result in other hazardous situation or from which poisonous fumes or explosions are to be feared in the event of a fire.

GROUP H: STORAGE BUILDINGS:

Includes any building or part of a building used primarily for the storage or sheltering (including servicing, processing or repairs incidental to storage) of goods, ware or merchandise (except those that involve highly combustible or explosive products or materials) vehicles or animals. E.g. warehouses, cold storage, freight depots, transit sheds, storehouses, truck and marine terminals, garages, hangers, grain elevators, barns and stables.

Storage properties are characterized by the presence of relatively small number of persons in proportion to the area. Any new use which increases the number of occupants to a figure comparable with other classes of occupancy shall change the classification of the building to that of the new use. E.g. hangars used for assembly purposes, warehouses used for office purposes, garage buildings used for manufacturing.

GROUP J: HAZARDOUS BUILDINGS:

Includes any building or part of a building which is used for the storage, handling, manufacture or processing of highly combustible or explosive materials or products which are liable to bun with extreme rapidity and or which may produce poisonous fumes or explosions for storage, handling, manufacturing or processing which involve highly corrosive, toxic or

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noxious alkalis, acids or other liquids or chemicals producing lame, fumes and explosive, poisonous, irritant or corrosive gases; and for the storage, handling or processing of any material producing explosive mixtures of dust which result in the division of matter into fine particles subject to spontaneous ignition. Examples of buildings in this class are those buildings which are used for:

a) Storage, under pressure of more than 0.1 N/mm2 and in quantities exceeding 70 m3, of acetylene, hydrogen, illuminating and natural gases, ammonia, chlorine, phosgene, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, methyl oxide and all gases subject to explosion, fume or toxic hazard, cryogenic gases, etc;

b) Storage and handling of hazardous and highly flammable liquids, liquefiable gases like LPG, rocket propellants, etc.

c) Storage and handling of hazardous and highly flammable or explosive materials (other than liquids);

d) Manufacture of artificial flowers, synthetic leather, ammunition, explosives and fireworks.

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2) Elaborate the terminology, Fire Stop, Fire resistant,, Wet riser, Fire separation and wall, Travel Distance

FIRE STOP: A fire resistant material, or construction, having a fire resistance rating of not less than the fire separating the elements, installed in concealed spaces or between structural elements of a building to prevent the spread/ propagation of fire and smoke through wall, ceilings and like as per the laid down criteria is known as fire stop.

FIRE RESISTANT: Fire Resistance is the property of an element of building construction and is the measure of its ability to satisfy for a stated period some or all of the following criteria:

(a) Resistance to collapse,(b) Resistance to penetration of flame and hot gases, and(c) Resistance to temperature rise on the unexposed face up to a

maximum of 180 degree centigrade and/ or average of 150 degree centigrade.

The time that a material or construction will withstand the standard fire exposure as determined by fire test done in accordance with the standard methods of fire tests of materials/ structures is called as fire resistance rating.

WET RISER: An arrangement for firefighting within the building by means of vertical rising mains, not less than 100 mm nominal diameter with landing valves on each floor/ landing for firefighting purposes and permanently charged with water from a pressurized supply is called a wet riser.

FIRE SEPARATION AND WALL: Fire separation- It is the distance in meters measured from the external wall of the building concerned to the external wall of any other building on the site, or from other site, or from opposite side of street or other public space for purpose of preventing the spread of fire.

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Fire separating wall- The wall provides complete separation of one building from another part of the same building to prevent any communication of fire or heat transmission to wall itself which may cause or assist in the combustion of materials on the side opposite to that portion which may be on fire.

Fire resisting wall- A fire resistance rated wall, having protected openings, which restricts the spread of fire and extends continuously from the foundation to at least 1m above the roof. TRAVEL DISTANCE: The distance to be travelled from any point in a building to a protected escape route, external escape route or final exit is called as the Travel distance.

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3) What you mean by Fire Escape Route. And what is the use of same. What precautions are taken while making fire escape route.

A structure or device, such as an outside stairway attached to a building,

erected for emergency exit in the event of fire is known as a fire escape. It is a means of evacuating persons from a building in the event of fire, especially a metal staircase outside the building. An exit route is a continuous and unobstructed path of exit travel from any point within a workplace to a place of safety. An exit route consists of three parts:

Exit access – portion of an exit route that leads to an exit.

Exit – portion of an exit route that is generally separated from other areas to provide a protected way of travel to the exit discharge.

Exit discharge – part of the exit route that leads directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge area, public way, or open space with access to the outside.

Use of fire escape routes:

Escape routes help to release the crowd during a fire explosion.

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It enables the crowd to get their way out during such crisis and reduce load on the main entry exits.

Due to these the fire men can help themselves into the structure to diffuse the source of the flame and save lives, in case stuck.

Precautions taken while designing the escape routes:

Exit routes must be permanent parts of the workplace. Exit discharges must lead directly outside or to a street, walkway, refuge

area, public way, or open space with access to the outside. These exit discharge areas must be large enough to accommodate the building occupants likely to use the exit route.

Exit stairs that continue beyond the level on which the exit discharge is located must be interrupted at that level by doors, partitions, or other effective means that clearly indicate the direction of travel leading to the exit discharge.

Exit route doors must be unlocked from the inside. They must be free of devices or alarms that could restrict use of the exit route if the device or alarm fails.

Side-hinged exit doors must be used to connect rooms to exit routes. These doors must swing out in the direction of exit travel if the room is to be occupied by more than 50 people or if the room is a high-hazard area.

Exit routes must support the maximum permitted occupant load for each floor served, and the capacity of an exit route may not decrease in the direction of exit route travel to the exit discharge.

Ceilings of exit routes must be at least 7 feet, 6 inches high. An exit access must be at least 28 inches wide at all points. Where there

is only one exit access leading to an exit or exit discharge, the width of the exit and exit discharge must be at least equal to the width of the exit access. Objects that project into the exit must not

Escape routes should be designed to ensure, as far as possible, that any person confronted by fire anywhere in the building, should be able to turn away from it and escape to a place of reasonable safety, e.g. a protected stairway. From there they will be able to go directly to a place of total safety away from the building.

The level of fire protection that should be given to escape routes will vary depending on the level of risk of fire within the premises and other

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related factors. Generally, premises that are simple, consisting of a single storey, will require fairly simple measures to protect the escape routes, compared to a large multi-storey building, which would require a more complex and inter-related system of fire precautions.

When determining whether your premises have adequate escape routes, you need to consider a number of factors, including:

the type and number of people using the premises; escape time; the age and construction of the premises; the number and complexity of escape routes and exits; whether lifts can or need to be used; the use of phased or delayed alarm evacuation; and Assisted means of escape/personal evacuation plans (PEEPS). Assembly points.

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4) Differentiate between various types of fire protection systems

Every industrial sector has a different set of needs and requirements when it comes to fire protection systems. Present below is a list that highlights some of the most common fire protection systems that are currently being used in the construction and general industries:

1. Wet Fire Sprinkler Systems: This wet pipe fire protection system employs automatic sprinklers that are connected to a piping system, which are in turn attached to a water source.

2. Dry Pipe Systems: This dry pipe fire protection system employs automatic sprinkles that are connected to a piping system that either contains highly pressurized nitrogen or air. These types of systems are installed where the piping may be subject to freezing. Dry pipe systems are used in areas where cold is a factor. This system eliminates the storage of water, such as in a wet pipe system, in order to prevent the water from freezing. This is necessary in places that do not have heating, such as parking garages, attics and temporary out-buildings The main disadvantage of a dry pipe system is the increase in the response time when there is a fire.

3. Special Hazard Fire Protection Systems: These special systems are designed and developed to detect and extinguish fires. These protection systems are used where standard suppression systems are not adequate or appropriate.

4. Pre action Systems: This system employs automatic sprinklers that are connected to a piping system that contains highly pressurized air. The only difference here is that this system has a supplemental detection system that is attached in the same area as the sprinklers.

5. Deluge Sprinkler System: In this type of system, open sprinklers are employed that are in turn connected to piping systems.

6. Anti-Freeze Sprinkler System: Lastly, this type of fire protection system is based on similar mechanisms, but instead of highly pressurized air or nitrogen, an anti-freeze solution is used.

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7. Deluge Sprinkler System: In these systems, sprinklers are open at all times. They are connected to a dry pipe that is connected to a main water supply. A fire detection device controls the main valve. When it is activated, the valve opens, allowing large amounts of water to flow through all of the sprinklers. The purpose of a deluge system is to quickly wet down an entire hazard area to prevent a fire from spreading. They are usually used in facilities that contain hazardous materials such as: flammable liquids, chemicals, and explosives. Rooms with high ceilings sometimes use deluge systems, as it is difficult to direct water over the burning area from such a distance.

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5) As an Architect what are the precaution you should take to construct a Fire safe building.

Fire safety refers to precautions that are taken to prevent or reduce the likelihood of a fire that may result in death, injury, or property damage, alert those in a structure to the presence of an uncontrolled fire in the event one occurs, better enable those threatened by a fire to survive, or to reduce the damage caused by a fire. Fire safety measures include those that are planned during the construction of a building or implemented in structures that are already standing, and those that are taught to occupants of the building.

Threats to fire safety are referred to as fire hazards. A fire hazard may include a situation that increases the likelihood a fire may start or may impede escape in the event a fire occurs.Fire safety is often a component of building safety. Those who inspect buildings for violations of the Fire Code and go into schools to educate children on Fire Safety topics are fire department members known as fire prevention officers. The Chief Fire Prevention Officer or Chief of Fire Prevention will normally train newcomers to the Fire Prevention Division and may also conduct inspections or make presentations. Key elements of a fire safety policy

Building a facility in accordance with the version of the local building code. Maintaining a facility and conducting you in accordance with the provisions of the fire code. This is based on the occupants and operators of the building being aware of the applicable regulations and advice.

Examples of these include: Not exceeding the maximum occupancy within any part of the building. Maintaining proper fire exits and proper exit signage (e.g., exit signs

pointing to them that can function in a power failure) Compliance with electrical codes to prevent overheating and ignition from

electrical faults or problems such as poor wire insulation or overloading wiring, conductors, or other fixtures with more electric current than they are rated for.

Placing and maintaining the correct type of fire extinguishers in easily accessible places.

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Properly storing and using, hazardous materials that may be needed inside the building for storage or operational requirements (such as solvents in spray booths).

Prohibiting flammable materials in certain areas of the facility.Periodically inspecting buildings for violations, issuing orders to comply and, potentially, prosecuting or closing buildings that are not in compliance, until the deficiencies are corrected or condemning it in extreme cases.

Maintaining fire alarm systems for detection and warning of fire. Obtaining and maintaining a complete inventory of fire stops. Ensuring that spray fireproofing remains undamaged. Maintaining a high level of training and awareness of occupants and users

of the building to avoid obvious mistakes, such as the propping open of fire doors.

Conduct fire drills at regular intervals throughout the year.