Colin - me, live in Morningside? I wish. You should know that my salary hardly stretches to that. I don't even live in Edinburgh anymore - West Lothian for the last 6 years. My heart will always belong to Edinburgh though, I'm sure you understand
TMprojects, I think we perhaps got off on the wrong foot. I take your points but was commenting on what I've found in small, privately run nurseries in what were previously domestic premises (rather than purpose built or converted school buildings). These premises are generally single stair with each floor no more than 200m. I am surprised just how many have unprotected stairs as they should have gone through the Building Warrant process for a change of use, even if no works were carried out.
And although I personally have never said its fine to wedge s/c fire doors open, I can understand why people do it. You have to admit that its common practice in hotels whilst rooms are being cleaned. Infact, I know of several enforcement officers who just advise the occupants to kick the wedge away when the room is left empty. Same with hot kitchens with s/c fire doors - they are frequently wedged open. My question was whether it could be justified BY THE DUTHOLDER in THEIR risk assessment through compensatory measures such as enhanced AFD and specific training, given the move away from a prescriptive regime to a more flexible risk assessed approach.
To be clear, I am not saying that this is the line I would advocate, I'm simply posing the question, could the dutyholder justify this approach in their risk assessment. I might not like it, but I can sympathise and understand their reasoning. A determination would be interesting.
