The &shed fire safety strategy, as submitted for planning permission. Let me know if you can think of any improvements.
Introduction
This document is the Fire Safety Strategy for the proposed single-storey freestanding garden room at the above property.
Revision: 1.0
Means of Warning
If there is a fire in the garden room, occupants will quickly see, hear and/or smell it as the building consists of a single open-plan space. As an added means of warning, a battery-powered smoke alarm will be fitted.
Means of Escape
The means of escape from the garden room is the large doorway in its front elevation. The doorway is clearly visible from any point within the structure. To reach the doorway, occupants do not need to navigate any internal stairs or doors because the building is single-storey and open-plan. Due to the small size of the building, occupants will never be more than 5 metres from the doorway.
Evacuation Strategy
In the event of a fire, occupants should leave the garden room via the large front doorway. Once occupants have evacuated the garden room, they should assemble at the front of the property, on the driveway of the house. They can reach the front of the house by traversing the garden and then:
- walking through the house via the rear and front doors, or
- walking around the house via the side passage adjacent the main house (hereafter, the “side road”)
Fire and Rescue Services Access
Pedestrian Access
The primary methods of access for Fire and Rescue Service personnel are via the side road and the garden. The garden can be entered from the main house (using the rear doors) or from the side road. These allow the Fire Service access to all four sides of the garden room.
Vehicular Access and Pumping Appliances
The nearby road is wide enough to accommodate many types of vehicles and may be wide enough to accommodate a fire engine (the road is approximately 3 metres wide at its narrowest point).
If vehicular access to the rear of the property is not possible, firefighting services (e.g. water hoses) can be run from the front of the property. At the front of the property, vehicles and pumping equipment can be situated on the driveway, on the side road, or on the main road. The distance from the main road to the garden room is not more than 30 metres.
Internal Fire Spread
There are no specific passive or active fire control measures that need to be fitted or maintained in the garden room to slow the spread of fire. The design of the garden room (a single, open-plan volume) and its intended use (as mixed home-office/storage/exercise space) means that additional measures are either not warranted or are not applicable.
The construction of the garden room will be of high quality to ensure that it is structurally sound for long enough for occupants to evacuate. In addition, domestic water and CO₂ fire extinguishers will be fitted so that they can be used, if necessary, to assist evacuation.
External Fire Spread
The garden room is detached, so a fire in the garden room cannot spread directly to any other buildings. The side road and garden act as natural firebreaks, to prevent the spread to other structures. In the event of a fire, the adjacent fences can be dampened from both sides to mitigate the risk of fire spread along them.