Passive Fire Safety 1

Means of Escape – General Principles

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Aims

• To examine the factors that affect means of escape from

buildings.

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Means of Escape: Definition

Means of Escape
'Routes provided to ensure the safe egress from the
premises or other location to a place of total safety.'
Total Safety
'A place away from the premises, in which people are at no
immediate danger from the effects of fire.'
CLG Guide

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Means of Escape: Definition

Means of Escape
'Means of Escape is a structural means whereby a safe
route is provided for persons to escape in case of fire, from
any point in a building to a place of safety, clear of the
building, without outside assistance.'
Fire Precautions Act Guide 1971

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Means of Escape: Definition

Reasonable Safety
'A place within a building or structure where, for a limited
period of time, people will have some protection from the
effects of fire and smoke. This place, usually a corridor or
stairway, will normally have a minimum of 30 minutes fire
resistance and allow people to continue their escape to a
place of total safety'
CLG Guide

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Means of Escape

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Means of Escape

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Means of Escape

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Means of Escape

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Means of Escape

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MOCTET
Principal factors affecting means of escape:

Management control
Occupancy
Construction
Time of evacuation
Exits
Travel distance

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 MOCTET
Occupancy
• The use of the building
• Number of occupants
• Density of occupants
• Distribution of occupants
• Physical condition of occupants
• Expected reactions of occupants
• Discipline of occupants
• Asleep or awake?

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MOCTET
Construction
• Primary
• Secondary
• Compartmentation
• Vertical openings.

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MOCTET
Class A Class B Class C

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Construction/Evacuation Time

Class A construction  3 minutes

Class B construction 2.5 minutes

Class C construction 2 minutes

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MOCTET
Time of Evacuation
Main principle:

Time needed for evacuation

must be less than…
Time for the means of escape to become
untenable.

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 Available Safe Egress Time
Tenability
Required Safe Egress Time Limit

Influenced by Human Behaviour

Fire Development Factor of
Travel Safety
Time Required?
Response
Time
(people)
Recognition
Alarm Time
Fire
Time
Detection development
Time

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Calculating Expected Occupancy
Occupancy for any given building use can be estimated by
dividing the usable floor area by the density (or
‘occupancy’) factor:

Example:
A room measuring 10m x 10m used for lounge
with mixed seating and standing (0.5 m / person):
100 divided by 0.5 = 200 persons

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MOCTET – Floor Space Factors
ADB Appendix C – Table C1
• Standing spectator areas, bars 0.3
• Dance floors, bars – no fixed seating 0.5
• Dining rooms / restaurants 1.0
• Offices 6.0
• Shops – supermarkets etc. 2.0
• Shops – furniture, floor coverings etc. 7.0
• Snooker hall 10.0

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MOCTET – Occupancy Capacity
Usable floor area
Usable floor area excludes areas not normally occupied:
• Stairs
• Toilets
• Lifts
• Escalators.

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MOCTET
Exits
• Width
• Number
• Disposition in building
BS type sign
• Exits in everyday use
• Exits for emergencies only.

Euro sign

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MOCTET
Travel distance
• Actual distance
• Single escape routes
• Escape in more than one direction

Measured to a place of safety:

• Place of total safety
• Place of reasonable safety

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Measuring Travel Distance

Actual Travel Distance
Direct Distance

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MOCTET – Travel Distance
Definition:

“The distance to be traversed in order to reach

a place of safety”

Total safety Reasonable safety

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MOCTET – Travel Distance

• Travel distance is measured to the nearest final

exit or storey exit

• If escape is only available in one direction

(dead-end) and the travel distance is excessive,
escape must be provided in more than one
direction.

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 MOCTET – Travel Distance

Escape routes Suggested range of travel distance

Where more than one escape route is provided
Where only a single escape route is provided
25m in higher fire-risk area1
45m in normal fire-risk area
60m in lower fire-risk area2
12m in higher fire-risk area1
18m in normal fire-risk area
25m in lower fire-risk area2

Note 1:
Where there are small high-risk areas this travel distance should apply. Where the risk
assessment indicates that the whole building is high risk, ask advice from a competent
person.

Note 2:
The travel distance for lower risk premises should only be applied in exceptional cases in the
very lowest risk premises where densities are low, occupants are familiar with the premises,
excellent visual awareness, and very limited combustibles.

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 Single Exit
Allowed providing:
• Less than 60 persons
• Normal or low risk
• Within ‘single direction’ of
travel limits 60 persons max.

• Outward opening if used

by more than 60
persons.

Pg 66
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Alternative Exits

45°
+

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Alternative Exits

45°
+

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Inner Rooms

Note: In the DCLG

guides, the access room
is sometimes referred to
as the outer room

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Inner Rooms – General Principles

The following points also to be considered:

• Aggregate number of persons in the inner room &
access room should not be more than 60
• Access room under the same control as the inner room
• Travel distance from any point in the inner room to the
exit from access room to be restricted to single travel
distance
• No one should pass through more than one access room
• The access room should not be a higher risk than the
inner room.

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Initial Dead End

• A – B Travel distance in
single direction only
• A – C Total travel
distance – to the nearest
final exit or storey
• Angle of divergence
greater than 45°.

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Dead End Corridors

Single direction of travel

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Dead End Corridors

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Dead End Corridors

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Corridor Subdivision

• If a corridor provides access to two storey exits and are

over 30 metres in length they should be subdivided
around the midway point between the exits
• The function is to prevent smoke spreading along the
corridor making both routes impassable before all
occupants have escaped
• Corridor sub division doors should be fire resisting, self
closing fire doors.
• Accepted in existing buildings doors of substantial
construction, capable of resisting the passage of smoke
and are self closing should be acceptable.

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Corridor Subdivision

SC

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Staircases

General rule
• Once a person has entered a protected staircase they
should be able to exit the building without having to
leave that staircase
• If a storey has an occupancy of more than 60 persons it
should be served by more than one stair.

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Protected Stairways

‘Protected stairway’
• Separated from the remainder of the building by 30
minutes FR
and
• Leads to a final exit or provides alternative routes at the
base separated by a line of FR.

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Single Protected Stairways

The provision of a single protected stair is allowed

providing:
• Any storey has an occupancy of less than 60 persons
• Travel distance is limited
• The building height is limited (guidance to be sought
from the relevant CLG guide)
• In some cases a higher degree of protection is required
to a single staircase building – may be achieved by a
‘protected lobby’ or ‘protected corridor’ approach
• Any accommodation in the stairway must be minimal.

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Lobby Approach to a Protected Stair
Protected
stairway
30 min FRSC fire
doors

Storey exit

Final exit

Protected
lobby

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Protected Stair with Lobby or Corridor Approach

Note: ‘two door’

protection not
required on the top
floor

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Two Escape Routes from a Protected Stairway to
Final Exits

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Staircase By-Pass

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Basement Stairs

A stairway serving the upper floors of a building should not

extend to the basement. If the stairway does extend to the
basement it is preferable to separate the basement flight
from the remainder of the building by:
• 2 x 30 min FR doors (one at the top and one at the
bottom)
• or exceptionally
• 1 x 60 min FR door ( at the bottom)

Note: Ceiling to basement is usually 60 minutes FR

construction

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External Stairs

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External Stairs
External stairs may be considered acceptable as
forming part of the means of escape providing:
• Protected by 30 minutes of FR
• Protected 1.8m horizontally either side
• Protected 9m vertically below and 2m above treads
• Windows fixed shut
• Doors self closing.

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 Any
Questions?

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Presentation History
Passive Fire Safety 1
Date created: 22nd March 2016 Author: Unknown Approver: S Skarratt

Superseded presentation:

Videos / linked objects:

Version control info: FSFRA3D_PassiveFireSafety1_v1_20160322_SS

Amendments
Date Summary of Change Requester Approver

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