How many fire exits should there be?

andrew_ob

me and my friends lived in a rented house ( 2 story semi detatched house). there was a flat built on to the back of the house, which meant our back door was blocked up, and there was a locked gate stopping us getting around back of the house. therefore the back windows were leading onto another persons property, which left us with only the from to escape from.


the oil and esb of the house and flat were joint, which sounds a bit dodgy, making us think it might not have gotten planning permission. this then made us wonder was there adequate fire escape. hope someone can clarify this please!!

joebobmick

no not really

andrew_ob

ya dont know what the regulations are? cant really find them...

Rachiee

the regulations themselves are pretty vague as far as i can remember havent read the act in about three years obviously there should be a route of escape out the back but i am pretty sure you can get away with not having one i worked in a four story building (which housed people with disabilities and a history of unmanageable behaviour) where the only route of escape was on the ground floor beside the front door and it passed fire regulations so if you ask me even though the legislation is there the officers are passing pretty much anything!

andrew_ob

yea i have read through them but its hard to make much sense out of them. it just seems that if a fire broke out at the top of the stairs, people at the back of the house only have the option of jumping out the window into the flat at the back, but as the gate can be locked, we could be stuck there. ok, we might be out of the fire, but if we are stuck there, we could still be affected by the smoke.

andrew_ob

like is it acceptable for the services to be joined between house and flat? it sounds dodgy to us. we were thinking it could of been just an extension that they converted without planning permission, which if is the case, fire escape might not have been considered.

Victor

Anywhere you are, there should be two means of escape. Ideally those should be doors, but in the case of a one- or two-storey house, some can be windows (minimum 450x900mm). If you have concerns, you can raise them with the council fire officer.

You can check you local council website to see if planning permission was applied for. Note, a self contained flat is not exempt from requiring planning permission, but a small extension to an existing residence can be.