Emergency Plan - Block of Flats

[StuartH]

I have been asked to write an Emergency Plan for a nineteen storey block of flats. To save me reinventing the wheel, has anyone else here written a similiar EP who can give me some pointers. Unlike other EP's I have written, there are some peculiarities here, such as know one knowing if a particular flat is occupied at the time of the evacuation, no responsible person being on site, a large number of non english speaking residents and visitors etc etc.

[kurnal]

Hi and welcome to the forum.
The fire strategy for blocks of flats is different to most other buildings.

The building should have full fire compartmentation, protected and ventilated escape routes and staircases, sterile common areas, fire doors to all flats and no alarms in the common areas. Provided these remain in good condition and well maintained, the convention is not to evacuate the building, that persons should stay in their flats in the event of a fire elsewhere in the building.

You will find this design strategy explained in BS5588 part 1 1990. Maintenance of the original standards is the main stumbling block but believe me it just isn't practicable to have a fire full evacuation strategy for a tower block for all the reasons you mention.