Posted By J Knight It is possible to have an office within an office; however certain requirements for fire safety need to be met. The most fundamental is that people in the inner room should be aware of an outbreak of fire in the access room. There are several ways of achieving this, and the guidance gives the follwiwng alternatives The access room around the inner room should not be an area of high fire risk Automatic Fire Detection in the access room A vision panel in the wall of the access room A gap of at least 500mm at the top of the wall seperating the two rooms. Using several of these will enhance safety. The furthest point in the inner room should not be more than 18 metres from either a place of ultimate safety (i.e. outside away from flames and stuff!) or a choice of escape route, if it is a choice of escape the total distance to the point of ultimate safety shoud not be more than 45 metres. The distances quoted are for areas with 'normal' fire risk, such as offices etc. The inner room should not be used for sleeping, so you may have to stay awake for the whole working day, which is always difficult on a Friday.... John

Posted By Stuart Nagle Review of Fire Risk Assessment required, in line with fire prevention and fire precaution regulations (many as above). Designer should also take into consideration the need for fire and other H&S risks in the design of the office - irespective of the fact that it is unlikely to be covered by CDM regs. Stuart