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Posted By N Derbyshire
Could anyone advise me if this is true or false..... I have been told that with the installation of new double glazing, all upstairs windows have to be fitted with fire escape windows.... is this now regulation?
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Posted By Bill Elliott
I am not so sure it is ALL windows - but there must be fire escape capability - the Building Regs Approved Document B, Fire Safety 2000 edition refer.
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Posted By Pauline Reid
Hi
Bills response is correct, you have to have a means of escape. If you are in doubt as to the best means then your local fire station will be pleased to assist as they will have to approve the fire certificate anyway.
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Posted By Graham Bullough
Perhaps the building regulations have changed for the better in recent years, but I gather at one time in England & Wales it was permissible to have fixed single or double glazing without any escape size opening windows in upstairs rooms in domestic dwellings. In Scotland where, so my Scottish friends tell me, they do things differently and usually better, there has apparently always been a requirement for at least one person-sized accessible opening window from rooms like bedrooms of domestic dwellings. No doubt better informed readers of this thread will be able to confirm or counter these aspects.
Double glazing is notoriously difficult to break, as was demonstrated during a BBC "Watchdog" programme some years ago when Lynn Faulds Wood (with full PPE!) tried unsuccessfully to break an ordinary double glazed window panel by hitting it with a chair. It was explained that the air gap between the 2 sheets of glass effectively cushions the impacts and stops the sheets breaking.
The programme also demonstrated that double glazing can be broken by using an object such as a screwdriver, chair leg or metal poker to punch such a window adjacent to a corner. The cushioning effect is less at the corners and allows glass there to break. As this also destroys the containment of the air in the gap, you can then proceed to break the glass sheets in the same way that you would for ordinary single glazed windows. (However, you'll have problems with laminated glass whether it's used for single or double glazing.)
Although fire fighters will know how to break through fixed double glazing it's worth knowing how to do it yourself in case you ever find yourself trapped behind it. Also, if you've got double glazing at home or work and think that your building contents are secure, I gather that determined burglars also know the corner impact method!
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Posted By Ken Taylor
Building Regs aren't retrospective, but, if we are talking dwellinghouses here, the latest Approved Document requires, where there is a single stair, floors <4.5m above ground to have in each habitable room (except kitchens) to have a window or external door of min 0.33m2 openable area and min 450mm x 450mm. One floor above 4.5m would need further measures and above that an alternative escape route is required. For existing property, I would certainly want an openable window of at least the above dimensions.
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