Access to buildings

[Bill G]

Can you please help -

I have a question regarding the access to a large single storey building using table 19 from ADB.

My building less than 11m high but with a floor area of 20000 metres square, from table 19 the access requirement is for 75% of the perimeter  by a pump .

My question is how far off the building can the access road be ? .

[kurnal]

paragraph 16.9 states that the access for the pump appliance should be adjacent to the building. However adjacent is not defined in the ADB. Of equal or greater importance is the provision of doors- paragraph 16.5.

I always interpret it that if the track is not immediately alongside the building ( and by far the majority are not) it will need discussion with the fire authority. I find that provided they can get within a reasonable distance to carry ladders and pitch to the face of the building and not have to run hose too far, along with  good provision of  access doors then they are happy. I think BS5588 recommends that the fire service access point for vehicles should be within 18m of the access doors.

[Mike Buckley]

Personnally I never liked the vehicles to be right next to the buildings, they have a habit of collapsing if they are going really well.

[Dragonmaster]

When considering access, you need to take into account the amount of hose needed to fight a fire. This is usually taken as 60m actual travel (or 40m direct measure on plans). The 75% of the perimeter must include suitable access points, so in the past i've usually taken the 45m distance for small buildings as being as good a figure as any.

Of course, the nature of construction should be considered, as, for example, i may wish to be farther away from a sandwich panel wall than from a concrete block construction.

[Bill G]

Many thanks for the replys - I get the drift that in the case of "pump access" it is a question of proffesional judgment as opposed to a set definition.

[wee brian]

Yes - the perimiter acces rules are very sketchy. Its much better to talk to the fire service and find out what they would actually need.

In many cases this is less onerous than a pointless road running around your building.

[nearlythere]

Yes - the perimiter acces rules are very sketchy. Its much better to talk to the fire service and find out what they would actually need.

In many cases this is less onerous than a pointless road running around your building.

Quite. And depending on the setup of your Service it is better to talk to the operational side rather than the Safety dept. The Ops end will have a much better view of the issue. Normally they will like to talk to you about matters such as this as it could make their job a lot easier.

[wee brian]

I did a job where fire safety swore blind that a high reach appliance would never be used.

First incident on the site - guess what turned up (and couldn't get under the bridge)

[FSO]

Yes - the perimiter acces rules are very sketchy. Its much better to talk to the fire service and find out what they would actually need.

In many cases this is less onerous than a pointless road running around your building.

Quite. And depending on the setup of your Service it is better to talk to the operational side rather than the Safety dept. The Ops end will have a much better view of the issue. Normally they will like to talk to you about matters such as this as it could make their job a lot easier.

I think that depends very much on the Brigade in question.

Some brigades have very close links with FS and ops. In fact most, if not all FS officers have been or are operational as flexi duty officers.

Personally I would speak to the FS office, after all they will know the legislation. Usually if there are any 'issues' the FS office will consult with Ops.

However, if the legislation is adhered to, there should never be an issue with fire services access.