Afternoon all,

My first year in the world of h&s has been an adventure of knowledge, coming across new things to learn every day!

I was hoping for some advice/information in regards to the above topic for fire safety in apartment blocks/multi storey new builds. Is there any guidelines out there for this type of information? Everything I've come across so far is very vague. I appreciate all fire control measures are not the same from plot to plot, however, a document to specify all things fire exit requirements, compartmentalisation, emergency lighting requirements, signage etc would be beneficial to me.

NEBOSH Fire would probably immerse me with all the information I need but BABY STEPS and all that.

Thanks in advance.

Try the following link for fire safety in purpose built blocks of flats:

http://www.local.gov.uk/...0-400c-bf81-9a3c4dbd6575

Timber Frame Construction need to follow guidelines as detailed by the STA and in particular "Sitesafe" - a code of practice to minimize fire risk during construction (16 steps to fire safety in timber frame construction). Key part of this is the risk to occupied dwellings, and, dependent upon the distance to these, mitigation methods must be built in.

However, risk is minimized if the source of any fire is reduced to its absolute minimum and this is pretty straight forward. Most important is site security, out of hours, as arson is the most common cause of fire during timber frame construction.

Ron is correct to state they are vulnerable under construction, but risks can be minimised to a very low level. There have been a couple of fires recently and mitigation such as the use of fire retardant materials in the construction have prevented spread and minimized damage.

Check out the Fire Protection Association website and the 9th edition of Fire Prevention on Construction Sites: The Joint Code of Practice.
The highly regarded Joint Code of Practice is widely recognised as best practice and is commonly referred to in insurance contracts. It applies to activities carried out prior to and during the procurement, construction and design process.

http://www.thefpa.co.uk/...ition-now-available.html

£35 for non FPA members including the site checklist.
If you are employed by a principal contractor, you should also check to see if their insurance policy requires the JCOP to be utilised on contracts above a certain value. It is usually a policy warranty (or now a condition precedent to policy liability) that you do so on contracts above a certain size.