AppDocBDomestic

[kurnal]

Escape from windows has been part of the UK fire safety strategy for domestic premises for donkeys years, it has appeared in numerous guises and the concept of rescue from windows - to my knowledge- first appeared in the 1936 Public Health Act in respect of flats (20 feet) and a further twist was added by guidance to the Nurseries and Childminder Act which spoke about childrens bedrooms on the first floor with escape windows through which rescues could be conducted.

Escape windows predate the installation of domestic smoke alarms and smoke detector technology, and it seems to me that NT is suggesting that a network of interlinked smoke alarms should have been treated as providing an equivalent level of safety to an escape window when the 1991 ADB was published.

Fact is it wasnt! So we have both mandatory escape windows  and smoke alarms in domestic premises and that has been the benchmark ever since. In buildings with a floor above 4.5m then we have to do more.

NT suggests that escape windows are a bad thing (I agree they have their drawbacks). However taking the logic further if you were to rely on smoke detection to alert persons before the escape routes from the dwelling become untenable would you limit it by height or travel distance? The 4.5m is due to the risk of injury lowering yourself from an escape window. If you are not contemplating this then limits based on the height of the building become irrelevant. What controls would you apply? 9m as in flats?

I must admit I misread the OP and thought that the escape window was not an option accepted by the BCO.

[wee brian]

You people are all nuts.

When replacement glazing became popular, lots of people fitted windows that had tiny fanlights in them. When their houses caught fire they died. So it was decided that windows on upper floors should be big enough to escape through.

I cant see what so hard about :

A) - providing a window (unless you are a mole)

B) - being able to open it (unless you dont need air to breath)

Come on Wee Brian.
Would your granny be able to do it?
Would a disabled person be able to do it?
Would a woman and baby be able to do it?
Would wee Jimmy with his leg in plaster be able to do it?
Would a disabled person be able to do it?

And when enforcing these prescriptive recommendations there is no mention anywhere on the ability of the person in the room.

What you all need to understand is that Building Regs isn't based on the specific person in the room. Otherwise you would have to have signs up saying - this bedrooom only suitable for young people etc. its about achieving a resonable standard of provision for all people across the stock. Clearly AFD and the front door are our prefered way out but things can, and do, go wrong. Asking for 1st floor windows to be big enough to escape from is hardly onerous - you already have windows so there's very little added cost. But for many people this will offer added safety.

Agreed, climbing out a window can be dangerous. But lots of people escape this way every year. The advice to householders is to - have a plan if you have a fine (hopefully they will spot that they have spiked railings etc) - and that they throw soft things out the window first (matresses etc).

In this case, the BCO is doing his job correctly - put the window in and stop moaning.

[col10]

You have a first floor bedroom in a single storey dwelling.  So what you mean is that you have a flat, with abedroom as an inner room. Have a look at the NHBC foundation publication on open plan flats. The research in that publication suggests that uprating the alarm system isn't enough.
When I was at fire service college the lecturers told us that the college were consulted on the size of window opening needed for access  for a fire fighter with BA on .  So it seems that fire service access was also in the minds of the regulaters, when drawing up the regs requiring escape windows. 

[Midland Retty]

I agree with Wee B

Don't forget the purpose of an escape window is to give occupants "another option" if their primary escape route of the building become impassable before they can make their escape - hence why we have to beef up the precautions for premises with floor heights exceeding 4.5 metres

I don't think any of us like the idea of escape windows for the reasons already discussed. But unless you are going to beef up your precautions with protected route and increased coverage of AFD then I would argue its better to risk a broken leg from dropping out of a window than being roasted in a fire.

[wee brian]

wrong.

From 2000, ADB asked for escape windows from all first floor habitable rooms.

the only other option is a protected route, so it would need to go direct to a final exit and be fire resisting construction.