Unusual internal flat layout

[JC100]

A surveyor undertaking a decent homes survey has found the following.

A 4 storey block of maisonettes, built in 1972, access to all upper maisonettes is off a common deck / balcony with lower maisonettes having their own door off garden area / patio.

The only access to the lounge in the maisonettes is through the kitchen making the lounge an inner room. The separating wall between the kitchen and lounge is blockwork and an obscured glass panel. The lower maisonettes have egress windows provided but the floor level on the upper maisonettes is 4.8m. Property has no smoke detection. At present if the resident is in the lounge and a fire occurs in the kitchen that was unpassable they would effectively be trapped.

Ideally, there would be another exit from the lounge. Is there another way around this? Would a heat detector in the kitchen operate early enough to give resident enough time to leave lounge? Your thoughts

[wee brian]

The heat detector would be almost pointless.  By the time it operates they won't be using the kitchen to make their escape.  

Maybe one of the more all singing all dancing smoke detectors would worth considering, I dont know if their are any domestic ones about. I'm sure one of our number will know.

[Big T]

What were people doing in the 70's? Were building controls smoking something? Inner room with a kitchen in the access room. Tidy.

[wee brian]

There weren't any real controls until a few years later.

[nearlythere]

A surveyor undertaking a decent homes survey has found the following.

A 4 storey block of maisonettes, built in 1972, access to all upper maisonettes is off a common deck / balcony with lower maisonettes having their own door off garden area / patio.

The only access to the lounge in the maisonettes is through the kitchen making the lounge an inner room. The separating wall between the kitchen and lounge is blockwork and an obscured glass panel. The lower maisonettes have egress windows provided but the floor level on the upper maisonettes is 4.8m. Property has no smoke detection. At present if the resident is in the lounge and a fire occurs in the kitchen that was unpassable they would effectively be trapped.

Ideally, there would be another exit from the lounge. Is there another way around this? Would a heat detector in the kitchen operate early enough to give resident enough time to leave lounge? Your thoughts

Maybe complied with the old CP3 Flats and Maisonettes at the time. Was there a connecting door one time between adjoining occupancies via the lounges or a balcony?

[JC100]

Maybe complied with the old CP3 Flats and Maisonettes at the time. Was there a connecting door one time between adjoining occupancies via the lounges or a balcony?

As far as i'm aware there are no connecting doors in these properties. I've looked at CP3 and all the diagrams mentioned have the kitchen as the inner room and not the lounge.
CP3 states that in maisonettes "living rooms and bedrooms should have direct access to the hall or a landing without passing through another room"

If we were to make the kitchen and lounge one large room (removing partition wall), keep the cooking equipment as far away from the door to the hall and site a smoke detector just inside the lounge. Do you think this would suffice?

[kurnal]

Look at the DCLG website- theeres a recent determination on flat layout under building regs that is very enlightening.

It sounds like a job that went wrong- if you remeber at that time CP3  part 1 chapter 4 1971 was newly introduced and Means of escape under the building regs was enforced by the fire serivce - perhaps this one slipped through the net.

[nearlythere]

Maybe complied with the old CP3 Flats and Maisonettes at the time. Was there a connecting door one time between adjoining occupancies via the lounges or a balcony?

As far as i'm aware there are no connecting doors in these properties. I've looked at CP3 and all the diagrams mentioned have the kitchen as the inner room and not the lounge.
CP3 states that in maisonettes "living rooms and bedrooms should have direct access to the hall or a landing without passing through another room"

If we were to make the kitchen and lounge one large room (removing partition wall), keep the cooking equipment as far away from the door to the hall and site a smoke detector just inside the lounge. Do you think this would suffice?

Any chance that maybe the lounge was a kitchen at one time and vice versa or are all maisonettes of this layout? May have been all those years ago that a kitchen was not classed as a habitable room.
I would think that if you made both rooms into one it would resolve the issue.

[JC100]

Any chance that maybe the lounge was a kitchen at one time and vice versa or are all maisonettes of this layout? May have been all those years ago that a kitchen was not classed as a habitable room.
I would think that if you made both rooms into one it would resolve the issue.

A bit of confusion has occured. It turns out the properties in question are flats. Maisonettes occupy the lower floors and have egress windows.

I still think that removing the partition wall and installing smoke detection will aleviate all issues.

[nearlythere]

Any chance that maybe the lounge was a kitchen at one time and vice versa or are all maisonettes of this layout? May have been all those years ago that a kitchen was not classed as a habitable room.
I would think that if you made both rooms into one it would resolve the issue.

A bit of confusion has occured. It turns out the properties in question are flats. Maisonettes occupy the lower floors and have egress windows.

I still think that removing the partition wall and installing smoke detection will aleviate all issues.

Don't see why not.

[Big T]

Theyll love a modern open plan kitchen. Can I have the keys

[nearlythere]

Theyll love a modern open plan kitchen. Can I have the keys

Not for me. I hate to see the wife up to her elbows in fairy bubbles when I'm watching the rugby. There is also the noise of her scrubbing the sauce pan. No consideration.