Posted By Cliff Fitzgerald Can anyone give me any guidance on this, we have an area of the factory which has been divided into two units-one an ESD protected assembly area the other a secure development area, this latter area has restricted coded access. because of security restrictions each unit will potentially only have one means of access or egress which opens out on to the general factory area, there will be at least four people in each area-would this satisfy Building/Fire regulations?

Posted By Messy As has been said, it's probably your best bet to seek advice from your local fire brigade as it's difficult to comment without more details. However: Is there a window so that the occupants of the store can see the factory? OR an automatic fire alarm in the factory area outside the store? In the event of fire, can the occupants of the store hear the alarm? and escape without the use of a key or code? If the answer is yes to these questions, you may be OK. If this is a change of use/layout/risk, you will need to update your fire risk assessment (You should have a written copy as you state you have at least 7/8 employees) Is the building (fire) certificated? If so, The fire brigade will have to be informed re changes of layout.