Open Plan kitchen - means of escape?

[Romanik]

Dear Forum!

Hope to find some advise here.

I bought a flat in a 7-storey block of flats on the 2nd floor. It is a one-bed. I am a leaseholder. I requested permission from the freeholder to remove some partition walls. I also phoned Building Control telling them of my plans and they said a. if the works are internal I don't need planning permission, b. I can remove the walls if they are not load-bearing without requesting any other permissions. (No mentioning of fire safety) I hired a structural engineer and got his Report that that's the case (non-load-bearing).

I proceeded with the works.

Then a fire safety officer from the Building Control visited and said that I jeopardise means of escape.

Please have a look at the plans of the flat before and after the alteration. The entrance door is at the cantre top of the picture. The kitchen is top-left.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmatiyenko/FlatOP?authkey=zEbLiYiTkas

I desperately seek answers to the following  questions:

- is there any way that I can keep the existing layout of the flat?
- if not, what minimal alterations should I do to satisfy the regulations and keep the open plan layout?
- does the fact that the bedroom was an inner room before makes my situation any better?
- can I use fire curtains to keep the open plan layout and how?
- can I move in before I alter the layout to satisfy the regulations?

Any other advise?

Many thanks!

Roman

[Romanik]

I have now thought of some solutions, can anyone advise on the best one please?

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmatiyenko/FlatOPSolution?authkey=kKn6GPhqv8Q

On the third one the opening will be equipped with the automatic fire curtains.

[kurnal]

Is this in UK or Russia?
Sorry but due to problems encountered with phishing emails from russia our computers automatically bar access so cannot view your plans.

[Romanik]

UK
you guessed my accent!

[Romanik]

Is this in UK or Russia?
Sorry but due to problems encountered with phishing emails from russia our computers automatically bar access so cannot view your plans.

Sorry, didn't notice the address was .ru!

that's "before" and "after"

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmatiyenko/FlatOP?authkey=zEbLiYiTkas

that are possible solutions:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmatiyenko/FlatOPSolution?authkey=kKn6GPhqv8Q

[kurnal]

Sorry Romanik but solution 1 is the only one that works for me.

It is the only one that protects the route from the bedroom to the flat entrance door. Any other solution leaves the bedroom as an inner room.

Ignoring the above problem curtains could be used to protect others in the building by maintaining a lobby approach but you cannot have curtains meeting each other at an angle of 90 degrees. You would have to provide a pillar to provide the corner or place a single curtain diagonally across the room.

I find it hard to believe that it was originally built with an inner room as a bedroom - was it altered at some time in the past?

[Romanik]

Thanks!

It's a 1930s block of flats. I don't think the layout was altered since then. Perhaps different rules were in place.

Solution 3 also incorporates a single fire curtain in the opening (about 2.5m wide) and seems to be an equivalent of Solution 1 that you see as the only one. Would that one work? Are fire curtains considered as equivalent for walls? The Coopers site says only that. Shall I believe them?

Are there any other means that can "compensate" the existing problem?

[kurnal]

The building Regulations came into being in 1966 . Prior to that there was the Public Health Act  and there were many buildings built to standards that would not be allowed today. I dont think there were any rules about inner rooms but am happy to be corrected if anyone knows better.
If you alter a 1930s substandard building the Building Act requires that your alterations must not make the building any less safe than it was before.
So perhaps no enforcement action can be taken over  the inner room situation- though we should improve it if we can for your own safetys sake.

The curtain will not protect the occupier of the bedroom as it will have to be heat detector operated (kitchen) so the room will already be impassable due to smoke before it descends.

But yes you can use a curtain to protect other occupiers of the building - it should be automatic in operation - smoke or heat  detector controlled and should work on a time delay so persons are not trapped in the kitchen/lounge. There should be no significant fire loading between entrance door and fire curtain, thus creating the protected lobby, and wyou should be able to demonstrate how you will keep the curtains route  free from obstructions.

You could offer a sprinkler or water mist solution? Again it may not do much for the person in the bedroom.
Or move the front door to open in the bathroom lobby.

[John Dragon]

One of our local councils came up with the answer - "fit a sprinkler system in the kitchen ", I don't yet know whether the landlord did so.

[Romanik]

Or move the front door to open in the bathroom lobby.

This one is genius! I would then *improve* overall fire safety of the original design! The freeholder should therefore be on my side. And it should not be that expensive.

I have a discussion with Building Control on Tuesday thanks both of you for the ideas! I will also suggest a sprinkler. They should also feel sympathetic because I did call them before I committed myself to the alterations - they never mentioned fire safety and who am I to know all this stuff?..

I would appreciate some indication of a price for sprinkler and for curtains in my situation?

[Romanik]

I keep drawing those walls.

What can anyone say about this solution:

http://picasaweb.google.com/rmatiyenko/FlatOPSolution/photo?authkey=kKn6GPhqv8Q#5120514355662536050

Fire curtain can now be smoke detector controlled because it is now far from the kitchen area. In this case we maintain the route of escape from the bedroom. However it now doesn't make a big difference whether that is a fire door or a curtain because of the long wall... Well, just forget about it.

[Romanik]

The curtain will not protect the occupier of the bedroom as it will have to be heat detector operated (kitchen) so the room will already be impassable due to smoke before it descends.

Can one install a smoke detector that operates the curtain in the corner of the kitchen/living area remote from the kitchen minimising the chance of false alarms?

[kurnal]

Generally for sleeping risks, smoke detectors are not considered a suitable risk control measure for inner room situations. Tenability in the access room will be greatly reduced by the time the detector operates, coupled with your slower response from sleep compared to when awake. So the curtain may work for protecting others outside the flat but not those within it.

In terms of sprinklers and water mist systems generally these are also not considered suitable for inner room sleeping risks, but are safer because the fire growth will be reduced if not extinguished once the system operates. These are invariably heat operated so tenability will already be diminished before it operates. However if you are clutching at straws they are worthy of consideration. There was talk of a self contained water mist system being developed (in the Liverpool area I think) that was designed for single room protection and looked similar to a standard lamp. I think Liverpool Brigade were looking at them for a possible quick fix where someone is at extreme risk through substance abuse or diminished awareness

[Romanik]

Would domestic fire escape ladder (steel, compact, up to 15m long) in combination with interconnected smoke sensors/alarm improve the situation? Provided the window opening in the inner room is bigger than 450mm (all dimensions). The flat is on the second floor of the building.

[Romanik]

Kurnal,

Many thanks for your answers! At the moment moving the front door to the corridor between the rooms and a bathroom is the Plan A. I've consulted my builder. I will consult the freeholder on Monday, and Building Control on Tuesday.

Have a good (and very safe) weekend!