Hi all,

Can anybody tell me what the required distance is for a landing area on the outside of a final fire door? At present we have a step down from the outside of the fire door and the step is only approx .5 meter in length! I believe this could represent a potential fall risk in the event of an evacuation.

I believe that the length of the step needs to be increased to approx 1.5 meters, would I be correct with this? And is there a BS standard for this?

Thanks & regards

Paul

Keep the legal requirement as a minimum requirement and try to exceed as maximum.
If you have received approval from civil defence, then no probs. Try out a mock drills to find out the real time problems, resolve it.

Jesu

Paul

As ever with fire safety - the answer is it depends on your risk assessment! The requirement is not the same for an exit likely to be used by 5 able-bodied employees familiar with the premises as it would be for an exit likely to be used by 50 residents of a care home half of whom can't walk on their own.

Approved Document B to the Building Regs (available online) does indicate that a single step may be acceptable if clearly marked and in line with the door (para 5.21) but also has a caveat covering accessibility for the disabled (para 5.32)

http://www.planningporta...s/br/BR_App_Doc_B_v2.pdf

If you think it presents an unacceptable risk for your premises then get it changed.