Building standards and Rules

Fire safety:

Building planning consideration for Fire prevention

Passive Fire protection (PFP) – PFP attempts to contain fires or slow the spread through use of fire
resistance walls, floors ,and doors.

Non- combustible materials- Building components like floors, walls, columns, beams, ceilings, roofs,
shafts, etc. should be fire resistance rating as stated in the NBC.

Building planning consideration for Fire prevention-

Staircase and lift lobbies-

-The external enclosing walls of the staircase shall be off the brick or the R.C.C construction having
fire resistance of not less than two hours.

-All enclosed staircases shall have access through self-closing door of one-hour fire resistance.

-The staircase enclosures on the external wall of the building shall be ventilated to the atmosphere
at each landing.

-There shall be no glazing or the glass bricks in any internal closing wall of staircase.

-If the staircase is in the core of the building and cannot be ventilated at each other landing, a
positive pressure of 5mm. eg, by electrically operated blower/blowers shall be maintained.

Staircase and lift Lobbies

Components of Fire Fighting shaft

-Provision of the lifts shall be made for all multi-storeyed building having a height of 15.0m and
above.

-All the floors shall be accessible for 24 hrs by the lift. The Lift provided in the building shall not be
considered as a means of escape in case of emergency.

-walls of lift enclosure shall have a fire rating of two hours. Lift shafts shall have a vent at the top of
area not less than 0.2sq.m.

-For buildings 15.0m, and above in height, collapsible gates shall not be permitted for lifts and solid
doors with fire resistance of at least one hour shall be provided .

If the lifts and solid and lobby is in the core of the building a positive pressure between 25 and 30 pa
shall be maintained in the lift shaft.

Glazing

1. Wired glasses should have a minimum ½ hour fire- resistance rating.

2. The sashes and frame should be entirely made of iron/ stainless steel or other suitable metal.
3. Electro copper glazing, casement, the skylight will also follow the same criteria.
4. The glass used for the façade of a high- rise building should have a minimum of 1-hour fire
resistant rating.
5. Louvers should have a minimum fire resistance rating of ½ hour.

Fire Escapes or External stairs

-All fire escapes shall be directly connected to the ground.

-Entrance to the fire escape shall be separate and remote from internal staircase.

-The route to fire escape shall be free of obstructions at all times except the doorways leading to the
fire escape.

-Fire escape shall be constructed of non-combustible materials.

-Fire escape stairs shall have straight flight not less than 125 cm wide with 25cm treads and risers
not more 100cm.

-No combustible material shall be allowed in the fire tower.

Internal Staircase

1. It should be constructed of non- combustible material.

2. Self- contained unit with one external wall and completely enclosed.
3. Should not be arranged around a lift shaft.
4. No gas piping or electrical panels. Ducting allowed only if it has 1hr fire- resistance rating.
5. The minimum headroom in a passage under the landing should be 2.4m.
6. Maximum 15 in number per flight.
7. Handrails at a height of 1000mm. Minimum width= 1000mm. Minimum width of tread (with
nosing)= 250mm Maximum height riser= 190mm.
Fire exits (As per part 4 of NBC, ‘Fire and Life safety’)

Building Type: Commercial

Location: 18M in one direction and 45m in more than one Direction

Number of exits based on number of user: 500 people – 2 Exits

1000people-3 Exits

2000 people- 4 Exits

Minimum width of Escape Route: 50 people-800mm

110 people-900mm

220 people-1100mm

220+people-5mm/person

If angle of 45 degree cannot not achieved, then alternative escape route separated route by fire
resisting construction should be provided on maximum travel distance will be that allowed for one
direction of travel.

Arrangements of Exit

1. Total time taken to evacuate a floor by all its occupants should not exceed 2 ½ min. The travel
distance to an exit from the dead- end of a corridor should not be more than 22.5-30m.(in case of
fully sprinklered building, the travel distance can be increased by 50%).
2. In case of more than one exist, it should be placed as remote from each other as possible and
should have direct accesses in separate directions from any point.
3. The internal walls of staircase enclosures should be of brickwork or reinforced concrete or any
other material of construction with a minimum of 2h rating. They should be of enclosed type.
4. At least one of them should be on the external walls and should open directly to an open space of
safety.
5. All corridors (minimum 1000mm) and staircase lobbies should be adequately ventilated.

Exit Doorways

1. It should open into an enclosed stairways or any exit.

2. The exit width should not be less than 1000mm.
3. It should open outward.
4. It should have a landing before the flight of stairs, equal to the width of the door.
5. It should be openable from the side which they serve.
6. All high- rise building having floor area more than 500sq.m on each floor should have a minimum
of two staircases.

Dry Riser

An arrangement of fire fighting within the building by means of vertical rising main not less than
100mm internal diameter with valves on each floor/landing, which is normally dry but is capable of
charged with water usually by pumping from fire services appliances.

Wet Riser

An arrangement for fire fighting within the building by means of vertical rising mains not less than
100mm nominal diameter with landing valves on each floor/landing for fire fighting purposes and
permanently charged with water from a pressurized supply.
Water storage for Fire fighting in Residential buildings

Static water storage(SWS)- Fire protection system needs sufficient water which should be available
at all times to fight the fire. The static storage is provided at the ground level and terrace level of the
building by means of water storage tanks. The storage is provided generally in such a way that the
municipal water supply is first received in the fire static storage tank from where it overflow to the
domestic tank. Thus, water will always be available in the event of a fire.

Static water storage (SWS)

-For building upto 15m SSWS is not required but it is mandatory to have 5000-1000 litre capacity
OHT.

For building higher than 15m but less than 35m SWS is not required but it is mandatory to have
25,000 litre capacity OHT.

For building higher than 35m but less than 45m SWS should have 75,000 litres and 5,000 litre in OHT
as reserve.
For building higher than 45m but less than 60m SWS should have 1,50,000 litres and 10,000 litre in
OHT as reserve

For building higher than 60 m SWS should have 2,00,000 litres and 10,000 litre in OHT as reserve.

Refuge Area

1. The refuge area shall be provided on the periphery of the floor & open to air at least on one
side protected with suitable railing.
2. For floors above 24m & up to 39m one refuge area on the floor immediately above 24m.
3. For floors above 39m, one refuge area on the floor immediately above 39m & so on after 15m
refuge area shall be provided.

Ramps

1. They should comply with all the requirements for staircase regarding enclosure, capacity and
limiting dimension.
2. The slope of the ramp should not exceed 1:10.
3. In danger of slipping, non- slipping material should be applied on the surface.
Emergency Lighting

A complete but discrete lighting installation from the standby power source to the emergency
lighting lamp(s), for example, self – contained emergency luminaire or a circuit from central
battery generator connected wiring to several escape luminaries.

Escape Lighting
That part of emergency lighting which is provided to ensure that the escape route is illuminated at
all material times, for example, at all times when person are on the premises, or at times the main
lighting is not available, either for the whole building or for the escape routes.

Fire Fighting System

1. The fire appears to by far the most common extreme situation that will cause damage in
structures, it must be a primary consideration in the design process.
2. The characteristic feature of a fire such as temperature and duration can be estimated from a
knowledge of the important parameters involved, particularly the quality and nature of
 combustible material present, possibility and extent of ventilation and the geometric and thermal
properties of the fire compartment involved.
3. Once the temperature at the various surfaces have been determined, from the gas temperature
curve, it is possible to estimate heat flow through the insulation and structural members.

The parameters that govern the approach are stochastic in nature, and the results of any
calculation can be given only in probabilistic terms. The aim should be to achieve a
homogeneous design in which the risks due to the different extreme situations are
comparable.