Dead-End Corridors

Tim76

Good day all,

I'm designing an single classroom ground floor extension to an existing school at the moment.

The only place where the extension can go means that it will make an existing emergency exit obsolete. This is not a problem for the existing school as all TDs can be met by the other existing emergency exits.

My question is, does the existing corridor that was being served by the obsolete exit become a dead end?

Bear in mind, the new classroom will have an emergency exit to the outside that would afford an alternative escape route to someone in the "dead-end" section of corridor, they would just have to escape through the classroom.

Cheers in advance for any comments.

4Sticks

Who put you in charge of these childrens safety in case of fire? If you are not competence to address this question without resorting to the internet you have a moral obligation to resign.
Or are you happy to tell the parents here that you designed the extension by internet chat room?

Rabbo

That's a fairly harsh response, 4Sticks. As you may know, the design wont be getting fire cert approval if it is deficient.

Tim, if you intend outsourcing the fire safety cert application, I would suggest involving them now rather than later.

Generally speaking, dead end corridors are only acceptable in limited circumstances provided that the maximum travel distances arent exceeded from anywhere in the building,the corridor is protected and the dead end portion of the corridor is protected from the rest of the corridor if it exceeds 4.5m. It is generally not allowable to have a fire escape from a corridor through another room. This would make the corridor an inner room. You will also find that many corridors in old schools arent properly protected, i.e. no fire doors which may also need to be remedied.

A possible solution to your design is to extend the corridor and have your new classroom and a new fire escape off the corridor. You would have to ensure that the travel distances arent exceeded.

You might note that the BCA might also insist on additional accessible toilets if you are increasing occupancy in the building and the existing services aren't sufficient.

If you are not comfortable with fire and disability regulations, it would be very advisable to get someone onboard who is at the early design stages.

BryanF

4Sticks wrote: »

Who put you in charge of these childrens safety in case of fire? If you are not competence to address this question without resorting to the internet you have a moral obligation to resign.
Or are you happy to tell the parents here that you designed the extension by internet chat room?

go easy! No need for personnel abuse! Try a more helpful approach thanks:

OP have you read and understood part B and M of the building regulations?

sydthebeat

Has the OP assessed whether or not BS9999 Is the applIcable standard here?

Penn

Just a reminder that professional advice cannot be sought on these forums. The posts here amount to opinions only and the OP should ensure that any design meets or exceeds the minimum safety requirements in accordance with the Technical Guidance Documents. If you're unsure of anything OP, contact a suitable competent professional to advise.

Tim76

Opinions are all that I seek, Penn.

I ask the question because Part B would only seem to deal with dead-end corridors that are above ground floor level. In this situation escape through a room at the end of the corridor would, in most cases, not be viable. The definition of a dead-end corridor is one which escape is possible in only one direction, if one of the rooms off the end of a corridor at ground floor level offers an alternative means of escape then is the corridor truly a dead-end? I have not come across this situation before and I posted to see if anybody had. Thank you for your opinion Rabbo.

And don't worry 4Sticks, I would be consulting the fire officer with my query regardless of the thoughts of the members in this thread. The day when we can't discuss things with regard to architectural technology on an architectural technology forum is a sad day indeed.

galwaytt

....I'm trying to picture the scenario: but if the corridor in question has an entrance to a classroom as you say - then is it a dead end at all ?

Or is the corridor past the classroom door particularly long ?