ASSESSED TUTORIAL

a)

➢ Based on the Appendix F of Approved Document B, BS EN 12101-6 can be used as reference

for pressure differential systems specifications.
➢ Based on Chapter 4 BS EN 12101-6, the smoke control using pressure differentials is applied
in a few different classifications of systems, with varying requirements and design
conditions.
➢ The building of the IT company is assumed to have simultaneous evacuation that is when
the occupants of the building will all be evacuated on the activation of fire alarm signal
which means the design conditions for Class C systems will be applied.
➢ In the event of a simultaneous evacuation, it is assumed that the stairways will be occupied
for the nominal period of the evacuation, and thereafter will be clear of evacuees.
Consequently, the evacuation will occur during the early stages of fire development, and
some smoke leakage onto the stairway can be tolerated. The airflow due to the
pressurization system shall clear the stairway of this smoke. (BS EN 12101-6 Section 4.4.1)
➢ The occupants being evacuated are assumed to be alert and aware, and familiar with their
surroundings, thus minimising the time they remain in the building. (BS EN 12101-6 Section
4.4.1)
➢ Class C requirements are (BS EN 12101-6 Section 4.4.2):
1. The airflow velocity through the doorway between the pressurized space and the
accommodation shall be not less than 0,75 m/s when:
a) on the fire floor the doors between the accommodation and the pressurized staircase and
lobby are open
b) the air release path from the accommodation, on the fire floor where the air velocity is
being measured, is open
c) all other doors other than the fire floor doors are assumed to be closed

2. Minimum pressure differentials are as the table below:

Table 1: Minimum pressure differentials for Class C systems

 3. Door opening force
a) The force on the handle shall not exceed 100 N.
b) All doors between pressurized and unpressurized spaces shall be fitted with automatic closing
mechanisms (door closers).
c) The force that can be exerted to open a door will be limited by the friction between the shoes
and the floor and it may be necessary to avoid having slippery floor surfaces near doors opening
into pressurized spaces, particularly in buildings in which there are very young, elderly or infirm
persons.
➢ Small gaps and cracks together with open doors provide leakage paths from the pressurized to
unpressurized spaces. Additional over pressure relief shall be provided to ensure that the pressure
build up when doors are closed does not make it difficult to open doors into the pressurized space
(BS EN 12101-6 Section 5.1.2.4).
➢ External factors such as wind pressure forces must be considered. When wind blows towards the
side of a building, it is slowed down, resulting in a build-up of pressure on the windward face. At the
same time the wind is deflected and accelerated around the side walls and over the roof, creating a
reduction in pressure on the leeward side of the building, i.e. suction in these areas. The greater the
speed of the wind, the greater the suction. The main effect of these pressures is to produce a
horizontal movement of air through the building from the windward to the leeward sides. If the
building envelope is leaky, e.g. with openable doors and windows, then the effect will be more
pronounced. In a fire, if a broken window exists on the windward side of the building, the wind can
force the smoke through the building horizontally or in some circumstances vertically. It can be
difficult to predict accurately the wind pressures that will be exerted on buildings or the resultant
internal airflows, and computer or wind tunnel analysis may be necessary for a full understanding
(BS EN 12101-6 Section 0.1).
➢ Due to these uncertainties, it is better to implement an active pressurisation system to regulate
and maintain the required pressure at the stairwells during evacuation. Moreover, the 5-storey
building is considered as mid-rise building which large number of sets of stairs and many doors
so quite high risk of leakage. Active pressurisation consists of a direct feedback loop that
controls a fan output on the basis of a pressure measurement inside the stairs with pressure
relief dampers (Bellido, 2008).
.

b)

➢ Based on Appendix F of Approved Document B, BS 5839-1 can be used as reference to Code of

practice for system design, installation, commissioning, and maintenance of systems in non-
domestic premises.
➢ Table 2 is taken partially form Table A.1 from Annex A of BS 5839-1 which describes the Category of
systems that is typically installed in different types of premises.
 Table 2: Choice of appropriate category of fire detection and alarm

➢ Based on Table 2 and Section 5 of BS 5839-1, Category M of fire detection and alarm systems, which
is a manual system, can be implemented because the building consists of mainly an open plan office
space, with additional offices, meeting rooms and cafeteria. During daytime, these spaces are
occupied by people who able to see/smell when there is smoke/fire and activate the fire detection
and alarm system manually e.g., by manual call point.
➢ The system is coupled with Category P2 intended for property protection (Section 5 of BS 5839-1).
This is because the building is unoccupied at night so automatic fire detection and alarm system is
needed to protect the properties at critical room such as the data centre space at the basement that
has various high value computer systems and associated equipment. Moreover, other rooms such as
offices, meeting rooms and cafeterias also must be equipped with automatic detection and alarm
system to protect important documents, personal computers, projector, cooking equipment, tables
and chairs, etc.
➢ Category P2 is chosen so that the systems are installed only in defined part of the building, i.e., the
areas of high fire hazard level, or areas in which the risk to property or business continuity from fire
is high (Section 5 of BS 5839-1) to reduce the cost compared to the Category P1 choice.
➢ There is no/very low risk from activities such as sleeping so no Category L are not relevant in this
case.

c)

➢ For the data centre space at the basement, aspirating systems smoke detector should be used as
detection systems because it is a critical room with high value computer systems and associated
equipment which if exposed to even a small fire can have an unacceptable damage (Section 21.1.7
of BS 5839-1). Aspirating systems has a very high sensitivity – and high cost but reasonable to
protect high value equipment.
➢ For open plan office, office rooms and meeting rooms, either optical or ionization chamber smoke
detectors is sufficient with the assumption that the spaces have valuable property such as important
documents, personal computers, etc. Based on Section 21.1.7 of BS 5839-1, both optical and
ionization chamber smoke detectors complying with BS EN 54-7 have a sufficiently wide range of
response to be suitable for most applications in which a smoke detector is appropriate. In general,
smoke detectors give appreciably faster response to most fires than heat detectors but are more
likely to give false alarms (Section 21.1.7 of BS 5839-1).
➢ In the cafeteria, heat detectors are used in the kitchen space with assumption that cooking process
produce smoke. Section 21.1.7 of BS 5839-1 states that “Where there are production or other
processes that produce smoke, fumes, dust, etc., which might operate smoke detectors, an
alternative type of fire detector needs to be used”. Heat detector must not be placed directly above
or near the area of cooker to avoid false alarm. In the dining area, smoke detectors are used instead
due to faster response (Section 21.1.7 of BS 5839-1).
➢ A typical heat and smoke detectors are used in open plan office, additional offices, meeting rooms
and cafeteria which have lower sensitivity compared to other fire detection technology because it
does not contain large numbers of high value equipment that are sensitive to smoke damage like in
the data centre. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to install.
➢ One of the hazards on escape routes and stairways is visible smoke, which might obscure the
visibility of the route and of exit signs. Optical smoke detectors are therefore well suited for use in
escape routes because they detect visible smoke and might operate before the escape route
becomes impassable (Section 21.1.7 of BS 5839-1).

d)

➢ Based on the Approved Document B, PD 7974-4 can be used as reference for Application of fire
safety engineering principles to the design of buildings which adopted performance-based
design considerations.

➢ The Sub-system within the Section 7 of PD 7974-4 allows for a more site-specific assessment by
prompting a full analysis of every part of the premises to be monitored. This analysis may allow for
life safety and/or property protection objectives but also for the results of a risk assessment of the
building and any other factors introduced as part of the fire safety engineering design. In Section
7.2.2 there are a review of failure modes for automatic fire detection system as risk assessment
which is absent in BS 5839-1.
➢ Furthermore, PD 7974-4 adopted a performance-based design. The assessment tries to take into
account the real-life situation in a more detailed way. For example, in Section 7.2.3, there are
calculations of overall response time of the smoke detector with consideration of potential delays.
While BS 5839-1 introduced a system of categories to allow a designer to designate rooms and areas
to be fitted with fire detection. The categories are based upon the objectives for the system (i.e. life
safety or property protection) and are sub-categorized based on the extent of detection monitoring
without implementing a risk assessment (Section 7 of PD 7974-4 ). For example, automatic
detectors, are used for Category P and L.
➢ The scope of PD 7974-4 also covers for fire suppression systems and fire barrier systems which are
not under the scope of BS 5839-1.
➢ Section 6 of PD 7974-4 describes the design input by Qualitative Detection Review and the
Subsystems through assessment and the design outputs help predict the likely time to activation of
the following:
—fire warning systems within the building;
—remote signalling systems to external bodies such as the fire service;
—smoke control systems – those systems positively designed to affect smoke movement;
—fire barrier systems – those systems positively designed to prevent or channel fire movement;
—fire suppression systems – those systems designed to suppress and/or extinguish a fire.
While in BS 5839-1 there are no predictions of the output