when is a corridor just a corridor?

[jokar]

Yes,yes and no.  The 3rd point is about the 2004 Housing Act and the new classification.  Google it or I can send you a copy and some other bits.

[ps]

Hi Jokar - if you could I'd be grateful - the only stuff I can find is really generic.  Am I right in thinking it is common parts only of the building and no acount can be/will need to be taken of what tenants/owners get up to in their own flats?

Many thanks!

[steve walker]

A corridor with stuff in it becomes a room.  Thus rooms accessed from it are inner rooms. If my only escape is via another room (or corridor with stuff in it) then a fire in that room would leave me trapped.

Therefore I need to know about a fire in that room before it gets too big - providing AFD or suitable glazing will usually do the trick.

Wee brian, to expand on this; if there is a corridor with nothing in it that has more than one room coming off it with doors that can be left open, is the corridor an access room?

[jokar]

No, a corridor is a corridor.

[wee brian]

Jokar has it in one.

Its only a room if theres a reasonable chance of a fire in it.

[steve walker]

If there was a fire in a room coming off the corridor and the door was open then the smoke would fill the corridor.

If the corridor was a dead end then it could be protected by FR construction or perhaps smoke detection. But if it wasn't a dead end then the guides don't recommend any protection unless it links to sleeping accomodation.

If it is likely that a door will be left open then I would probably treat the corridor as part of an access room.

[wee brian]

Thats all coridors mate. You making up your own rules?

[steve walker]

Thats all coridors mate. You making up your own rules?

No nasty prescriptive rules anymore just good old risk assessment.

[wee brian]

so in your risk assessments all coridors (other than protected ones) will be regarded as access rooms?

[ps]

Hi all  - thanks for all your help on this issue. From the different opinions expressed - it seems there are no rights or wrongs anymore! On that basis I'll attempt to use common sence and logic and see where that takes me!

Jokar - if you could point me in the direction of the guide you were talking about, I'd be grateful.

Thanks again.

[potter 2]

The old BB7 for schools accepted corridors were used to some extent and called them Dual purpose areas ie the "corridor"was  a used space and as such was an access room to class rooms which were  by definition ,now inner rooms  and safety issues were in place by virtue of ,glazed classroom walls etc.

[PhilB]

Oh dear ......looks to me like some of us are missing the point about corridors! Why is/was corridor approach...not protected corridor....regarded as a suitable alternative to lobby approach to a stair? Answers on a postcard!

Steve I totally agree that there should be no prescriptive rules and risk assessment should be the way forward, however it appears that many making those risk assessments do not have an understanding of the general principles of fire safety.

[steve walker]

so in your risk assessments all coridors (other than protected ones) will be regarded as access rooms?

No, not all.

[wee brian]

If it is likely that a door will be left open then I would probably treat the corridor as part of an access room.

Just the ones with doors in?

[jokar]

We seem to have some difficulties with first principals here.  A corridor is a means of going from one place to another, it is not and never will be a room.  A room is somewhere where people work, sleep, store or do anything else.  A room accessed from a corridor is still a room, a room with access only from the first room is an inner room.  Some corridors, sleeping risks, require FR protection others do not.  Not all dead end corridors require afd or FR protection.  If we remove all corridors then we have rooms that may or may not need protection dependent on where the doors go to.  Rooms off of these will ne inner rooms.