Audibility of Fire Alarm System in Sheltered Housing Scheme

[kurnal]

Depends on the level of support available. One housing association I worked for used a stay put policy in the sheltered housing, and had a part 1 alarm in the commmunal areas generally inaudible in flats, in the event of an alarm the response team were mobilised by the call centre. Their performance criteria were to attend within 15 mins. Whilst the communal system was generaly intended to be  inaudible in flats, those who could hear it invariably came and stood at their flat entrance doors leaning against the frame and propping the doors open.....

[colin todd]

Tam,  there is no need for those in flats to hear the communal alarm.  Like Suppers says, it is better that they don't, but it is inevitable that some will hear the communal alarm.  All that is required is that they know to stay put if they happen to hear the alarm.  This is all very simple and staightforward. It need not be complicated.

[kurnal]

Tam,  there is no need for those in flats to hear the communal alarm.  Like Suppers says, it is better that they don't, but it is inevitable that some will hear the communal alarm.  All that is required is that they know to stay put if they happen to hear the alarm.  This is all very simple and staightforward. It need not be complicated.

Not complicated but the competent risk assessment will have regard to the need for a fire emergency plan which will cater for both stay put strategy in the domestic accommodation where appropriate (in many existing buildings the areas overlap without any fire separation and stay put is really not an option) and an evacuation strategy for the communal areas where there is a fire alarm and detection system, how this information is delivered to building users such as community groups as well as residents , how the evacuation of the communal areas will be managed and by whom, calling the fire service and those responsible for investigating and re-setting the alarm when appropriate, and welfare/ repairs and emergency accommodation for those vulnerable persons displaced by the fire event. Most sheltered housing schemes built in the 60s and 70s were designed on the basis of having a full time live in warden, and the layout, design and fire safety arrangements reflected this. The working time directive was used as an excuse by most short sighted councils as an excuse  to dispense with wardens to save a few bob and in my experience little or no consideration was given to the implications for fire safety arising from their removal quite apart from the huge beneficial effect on wellbeing and security that they brought.

[Tom Sutton]

It has not been established that this sheltered housing scheme is a stay put situation and I cannot accept the the concept of a FA system where not everybody knows the alarm has operated also who is going to put his name to such a variation?

[kurnal]

It has not been established that this sheltered housing scheme is a stay put situation and I cannot accept the the concept of a FA system where not everybody knows the alarm has operated also who is going to put his name to such a variation?

Tom you are right that Tadees has not yet established whether  a stay put policy is appropriate in this building. However I bet in your fire service career you attended many fires in sheltered housing schemes and if your experience mirrors mind invariably irrespective of the incident residents would either ignore the alarm or more usually stand at their flat entrance doors leaning on the frame waiting to be told what to do. In such a case would they be better to stay in their flat and not be alerted to the fire alarm? This is current thinking where the building design and layout is in accordance with current Building Regs guidance.
As for silent alarms you will no doubt recollect the silent staff only alarm systems in theatres and cinemas, and the staged alarm systems in shopping centres and hospitals. BS5839-1 provides for such systems.
In blocks of flats there is no alarm system in the communal areas. Persons are only alerted to an alarm in their own flat. Sheltered housing mirrors this principle but usually incorporates some additional communal facilitites such as common rooms and kitchens. If there is sufficient fire separation between the communal areas and the domestic accommodation such that the stay put policy may be adopted in the domestic accommodation then there is no need for any communal alarm system to be audible in the flats.

On the other hand, take as an example a 4 storey building used for sheltered housing served by a single staircase. The sheltered housing flats are on the upper floors and the ground floor has common rooms and other accommodation used by the community and the former wardens flat now used for general housing. There is only single door protection to the staircase. In such a case a stay put policy could not be deemed appropriate notwithstanding the expected response of tenants to an alarm. Furthermore the care in the community policy has led to persons with ever more complex needs being housed in these schemes, many of whom could not self evacuate if the need arose.   Thats one example of a situation in which I persuaded the major  housing association involved to set up 24 hr response teams and PEEPS systems which have operated successfully for several years.  Many less diligent social housing providers just leave it to the fire service to investigate, intervene, assist and support the tenants with no prior knowledge   of their needs.

[colin todd]

Tam, it is not a variation for them not to hear the alarm.  Where did you get that idea.  It is the accepted good practice, to which I (and I would hope any competent practitioner of fire safety, including old Suppers, who has been known to talk a fair bit of sense) would sign their name. Consider it signed.

[Tom Sutton]

As far as I am aware this thread has not established if a fire alarm is or is not required and the results of the FRA would need to be known before making this assumption.

CT if the reason they could not hear, was because they deviated from section 2 item 16 would that not constitute a verification?

Kurnal I have no problem with stay put procedure although I prefer the terminology stay put if it is safe to do so, also if there was good compartmentation between the common rooms and the remainder of the sheltered housing I would consider a FA in the common rooms with the remainder using a stay put policy, depending on compartmentation.

I fully accept the procedures you discuss and what happens after the FA operates but I see this thread about the extent of cover of the FA.

I thought sheltered housing was for individuals and gives older people the independence of having their own flat with the security of having a personal alarm system however if they are more like care homes I stand corrected.

[colin todd]

Tam,  I am not 100% sure of what you mean by section 2 item 16, but, if you are referring to clause 16 of BS 5839-1, that standard specifically excludes sheltered housing from its scope and has done so for over 2 years.  Moreover, the PB Flats guide recommends that SPLs in flats from any communal fire alarm system should not exceed 45dB(A).  Hence Suppers is ok to put a cross where the strategy that he and I advocate says signed by!  I shall of course sign with a flourish, followed by the designatory letters MSNP.

[kurnal]

My point is only that  the fire safety solution in any situation  should be identified by a fire risk assessment rather than by clinging to arbitrary numbers in miscellaneous guidance that does not address the holistic circumstances of the case.

[Tom Sutton]

CT I do mean clause 16 of BS 5839-1 I wasn't sure the correct word to use. I have reread that clause and accept that it does not apply to hospitals and residential care homes place where occupants need assistance to evacuate but I do not see that as describing sheltered housing where people should be independent and in no in need of assistance.

I fully accept that the SPLs in flats from any communal fire alarm system should not exceed 45dB(A) because what SPL would you need in the common area to achieve 65dB though the walls and front door of the flat, it would blow your head off.

[William 29]

The FA category, configuration is clearly given in BS5839:6:2013, do we need anything further as that seems to provide all the info for this thread? Extract below:

CT can you point us to the 45dB(A) ref please.

Fire alarms for sheltered housing schemes are now included in current fire safety guidance, BS 5839-6:2013 Fire detection and fire alarm systems for buildings ? Part6: Code of practice for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of fire detection and fire alarm systems in domestic properties. In general, the design of sheltered housing is very similar, or identical, to the design of purpose built flats, and each flat is an independent, fire-resisting compartment, within which a fire is expected to be contained. This facilitates a stay put policy, in which only the occupants of the flat of fire origin need to evacuate, while it is safe for other residents to remain within their own flat. However, as in general needs flats, a stay put policy is predicated on the assumption that the fire and rescue service will attend and extinguish the fire. It is also assumed that, if necessary, the fire and rescue service will instruct residents, in flats that might ultimately be affected by the fire, to evacuate. In the case of sheltered housing, residents might be slower to evacuate if required to do so and accordingly, there is a need to compensate for this by earlier attendance of the fire and rescue service.
Therefore the objectives of fire warning arrangements in sheltered housing are:

a) To alert residents of a fire within their flat to enable their early evacuation ? with a category LD3, grade D fire alarm system.
b) To alert the fire and rescue service to the fire, so facilitating early attendance while avoiding, as far as practicable, attendance to false alarms ? this can be achieved by connecting the flat fire alarm to the 2 way communications system in each flat thereby sending a signal to the scheme manager or remote alarm receiving centre.
c) Early detection of a fire in any communal facilities (such as lounges, laundries or guest bedroom) that might grow to affect common escape routes - fire alarm system for the communal areas only.

This configuration of fire alarm system reduces the number of false alarms and unrequired attendance of the fire service, causes the minimum of disruption to residents, residents can stay put and only need to evacuate if their flat is involved in fire or from the communal areas if the communal fire alarm sounds.

[Tom Sutton]

But what happens when each flat is not an independent, fire-resisting compartment, within which a fire is expected to be contained which I am sure do exist in converted sheltered housing and flats?

[Tom Sutton]

Check out page 159 of Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats.

A6.26 The communal fire alarm system in these cases need not always extend into the individual flats, provided it is considered that, in the event of a fire anywhere within the building, residents are safe to remain within their own flats. In that case, the sound pressure level of the fire alarm system in the common parts should be low enough to avoid sound pressure levels of more than 45dB(A) within the flats.

[William 29]

But what happens when each flat is not an independent, fire-resisting compartment, within which a fire is expected to be contained which I am sure do exist in converted sheltered housing and flats?

Conversions are different if we can't determine the date of conversion or its pre 1991 building regs. A mixed system is normally installed in flats. I haven't personally come across a converted sheltered housing scheme where the compartmention was not designed to be 60mins. Not sure if the fire alarm would compensate for this given the occupancy profile?? The compartmention would need to be to be sorted.

[kurnal]

my former clients included 8 local authorities and two large housing associations. There are many older sheltered housing schemes dating from the 50s to the 80s in which whilst elements of structure may be to a one hour standard, the communal areas are not separated from the flats in any way, or , particularly in 60s buildings large fully glazed floor to ceiling pine and gw screens form the boundary between the communal rooms and the flats.  Originally built as sheltered accommodation for older persons, with a live in warden, they are now occupied as sheltered accommodation for all persons, young or old with special needs. Wardens no longer exist, the scheme manager will visit usually one day per week. Care in the community means that many of the residents have profound special needs including mental health, bariatric mobility  ans sensory issues. Invariably the support services are all managed by individual gps and consultants and so not coordinated or managed in any way. I recollect one case in which due to mental health issues the health authority required the social housing provider to remove the self closer from a flat door and to allow the door to be left open all the time as the service user would otherwise feel closed in. This service user had already had three cooking related small fires!
Whilst fire alarms are not the answer due to the known and predictable response of the occupiers, detection certainly is. As the guidance suggests, the intercom systems can be fitted with detectors to give some warning if fires in individual flats, the benefit is limited as the addressable information is down to the intercom, there is no priority for fire or urgent calls and the whole thing is wired in bell wire.  There is no means of wiring detectors in the communal areas to this type of system.
No Tom sheltered housing is not residential care far from it. It's a real problem and increasingly so due to an absence of coordinated care and support.