Building Reg's help please
Discussion
We have three quarters built a two storey granny annexe on the side of the house.
The building reg plan specifies that the door between the house and the GA needs to be a fire door and we're happy with this BUT There is no specification on the plan for any other doors in the GA at all and therefore no requirement for internal doors in the GA to be fire doors.
The stairs from the first floor of the GA come down to just inside the front door to a small hallway which the bathroom comes off and the you also go into the rest of the ground floor where the first part of the room is a small kitchenette.
We have been working on the assumption that as the escape route from upstairs passes parallel to the kitchen that we would have to have a fire door adjacent to the kitchen and a fire resistant partition to the side of the staircase to provide a protected route of access.
I know the answer is we need to talk to the Building Reg officer at the LA and/or the architect (we're self building) but I wondered if this was anyone's specialist subject?
Now it's in existence it's clear that we don't really want to put a door at the access way to the kitchenette/living room, it's going to make the hallway very boxy, and will make it difficult for Dad to get around and we'd end up blocking the firedoor open anyway.
There was no specific requirement for a fire door and/or partition on the building reg plan so can we work on the basis that we don't need them. There was no fire resistance specified for the staircase and that's going to burn first anyway!
Sorry it's a bit long winded....
The building reg plan specifies that the door between the house and the GA needs to be a fire door and we're happy with this BUT There is no specification on the plan for any other doors in the GA at all and therefore no requirement for internal doors in the GA to be fire doors.
The stairs from the first floor of the GA come down to just inside the front door to a small hallway which the bathroom comes off and the you also go into the rest of the ground floor where the first part of the room is a small kitchenette.
We have been working on the assumption that as the escape route from upstairs passes parallel to the kitchen that we would have to have a fire door adjacent to the kitchen and a fire resistant partition to the side of the staircase to provide a protected route of access.
I know the answer is we need to talk to the Building Reg officer at the LA and/or the architect (we're self building) but I wondered if this was anyone's specialist subject?
Now it's in existence it's clear that we don't really want to put a door at the access way to the kitchenette/living room, it's going to make the hallway very boxy, and will make it difficult for Dad to get around and we'd end up blocking the firedoor open anyway.
There was no specific requirement for a fire door and/or partition on the building reg plan so can we work on the basis that we don't need them. There was no fire resistance specified for the staircase and that's going to burn first anyway!
Sorry it's a bit long winded....
Hi,
you can get around this problem by making sure all the windows in habitable rooms on the first floor of your annex are escape windows, ask your architect. If this is the case you do not need firedoors on the ground floor, from the way you describe it. If not, I always advise you use firedoor specs anyway, because the doors feel heavier and better quality, and do not cost that much more.
Dan
you can get around this problem by making sure all the windows in habitable rooms on the first floor of your annex are escape windows, ask your architect. If this is the case you do not need firedoors on the ground floor, from the way you describe it. If not, I always advise you use firedoor specs anyway, because the doors feel heavier and better quality, and do not cost that much more.
Dan
Hi thanks D8evo, I've been through the building reg's and had come to the same conclusion. The windows in the upper floor are twice the necessary size so that seems fine.
That's fantastic news - the real practical issue is that we can't probably can't get the kitchen we have ordered in if we have to have a doorway as we have managed to lose a couple of inches from the spec! Apart from the fact that as the space is quite limited we really don't want doors everywhere which if his mobility gets worse will be difficult for him to open.
We think we'll put a decent fire door upstairs on the entrance to Dad's bedroom so that if there is a fire he can at least sit and wait for assistance (to some extent) as realistically he isn't going to get out of a first floor window no matter how big it is...
Thanks for the help.
That's fantastic news - the real practical issue is that we can't probably can't get the kitchen we have ordered in if we have to have a doorway as we have managed to lose a couple of inches from the spec! Apart from the fact that as the space is quite limited we really don't want doors everywhere which if his mobility gets worse will be difficult for him to open.
We think we'll put a decent fire door upstairs on the entrance to Dad's bedroom so that if there is a fire he can at least sit and wait for assistance (to some extent) as realistically he isn't going to get out of a first floor window no matter how big it is...
Thanks for the help.
Yep there is a requirement for mains fire detection which we've got covered off...it was the door which was giving us an issue.
Will get Building Control out in the new year, they need to come and look at the insulation before we cover it all up anyway.
We were just having a kitchen panic as it won't fit if we have to have a door!
Will get Building Control out in the new year, they need to come and look at the insulation before we cover it all up anyway.
We were just having a kitchen panic as it won't fit if we have to have a door!
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