Fire alarm system in the plant and storage areas of a block of flats

[Mar62]

Views please....

a purpose built block of flats. single enclosed staircase. basement, ground and 4 upper levels. there are 2 escape routes from the staircase, one through the main entrance and one down to basement and along a corridor (past a basement flat entrance) to a side exit. The building is on a slope so the side exit is actually at ground level and the main entrance is up a few steps. Currently they have battery smoke detectors outside each flat entrance. All flat entrances apart from the basement one exit into hallways separated from the staircase. Normally I would be saying to take out the detectors etc etc but on this occasion there is an issue. off of the basement level there is a boiler room and also a large residents storage area. the storage area is basically a dumping ground. Each tenant has their own small area and as you can imagine there is everything dumped there with no control. Would you be inclined to recommend a fire alarm system in the basement areas only with sounders throughout, a fire alarm system within the common areas or none...?
at the moment it seems unlikely that the residents or the storage area will change from what it is.

a caretaker is on site for a period during the day 6 days a week. Not live in though.

Against my principals on flats but i'm considering some level of detection but any comments / discussion gratefully received.

[kurnal]

If there is a fire the staircase would be impassable so there would be little benefit in alerting people even if they could hear the alarm. In my opinion the best solution would be to eliminate or mitigate the risk of fire. Is there any chance of a door separating the basement from the ground floor?

[Mar62]

Hi Kurnal. I would much prefer to go down the road of mitigating the risk of a fire. There is an old type of 'fire door' between the basement corridor and the staircase up to the ground floor. The storage area also has a door on it but there is not control over who has access to it and residents are bound to leave it open. I think we may have to go to the residents committee and get them involved. Clear out all the unwanted junk and make it under the strict control of the caretaker. They also have old incandescent light bulb fittings with no covers and as you can imagine the stored items are close to the bulbs.....

[Davo]

Hi Martin
Are we talking elderly or disabled residents here?

As K says, mitigate down to residual risk first...


davo

[Mar62]

Hi Davo. Private general needs. Normally I don't even consider alarms in the common areas but this one I was sort of sitting on the fence a little for some reason.....

[Argyle]

Martin - I have several blocks as you describe and where at the ground floor level there is resident storage areas/cages. The areas occupy a large percentage of the the ground floor with all of the resident flats on the upper floors. The storage areas are seperated by FD30s doors. However over the years we have had a number  ( albit a small number) of fires in these areas that have developed and resulted in the fire service attending. I have had  smoke detection fitted in these areas with alarm sounders fitted only to the ground floor common areas. The purpose being to alert residents or passers by to a fire for an early call to the fire service. I would rather nip the probelm in the bud than let it develop undetected and cause a major problem. In many ways it is no different than fitting detection into a flat  !. If the flat is empty, when a fire occurs the purpose of the alarm will by default alert other residents to it and they will call the fire service - or you hope they will !

[William 29]

Martin - I have several blocks as you describe and where at the ground floor level there is resident storage areas/cages. The areas occupy a large percentage of the the ground floor with all of the resident flats on the upper floors. The storage areas are seperated by FD30s doors. However over the years we have had a number  ( albit a small number) of fires in these areas that have developed and resulted in the fire service attending. I have had  smoke detection fitted in these areas with alarm sounders fitted only to the ground floor common areas. The purpose being to alert residents or passers by to a fire for an early call to the fire service. I would rather nip the probelm in the bud than let it develop undetected and cause a major problem. In many ways it is no different than fitting detection into a flat  !. If the flat is empty, when a fire occurs the purpose of the alarm will by default alert other residents to it and they will call the fire service - or you hope they will !

Not sure this would work as an evac strategy? So the ground floor is on full evac and the upper floors stay put?
How do you communicate this to the residents so that some know to evacuate when the alarm goes off but if they hear it on the upper floors they stay put?

[William 29]

Hi Kurnal. I would much prefer to go down the road of mitigating the risk of a fire. There is an old type of 'fire door' between the basement corridor and the staircase up to the ground floor. The storage area also has a door on it but there is not control over who has access to it and residents are bound to leave it open. I think we may have to go to the residents committee and get them involved. Clear out all the unwanted junk and make it under the strict control of the caretaker. They also have old incandescent light bulb fittings with no covers and as you can imagine the stored items are close to the bulbs.....

I think I would tend to agree with what has been said already with regards to risk mitigation.
Remove as many combustibles as possible, particularly any flammables, paints, etc. Maybe suggest a lock on the door with all residents having access to a key.
Caretaker to check and monitor on a daily basis?
Strips and seals on the basement door if not already fitted?

[Mar62]

Hi Sorry I have only just logged back in and noticed further replies, also been on holiday.

Thanks for all your comments. A good varied input as usual.

Many thanks