Rank: New forum user 
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Hi everyone, I want to know what you think about electrical input fire protection. I recently assumed management of a building that houses three flight simulation machines. They are arranged in a vast hall and are powered by separate computer rooms, each of which has an electrical intake. Being from a residential background, I was taken aback to discover that the computer rooms containing the electrical intakes lacked fire doors and were not equipped with adequate fire compartments. Do you have any opinions on whether these rooms should be equipped with suitable fire compartments, or if the commercial aspect of the building waives this requirement?
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Rank: Super forum user 
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You need to look at this the other way round - why are fire doors specified? Invariably it relates to doors which open on to escape routes i.e. maintaining the integrity of the escape path for a period of time. What you have described is a large hall rather than a narrow corridor likely with multiple available exit doors. Compartmentation (or rather removal of the concept) is one of the recommendations from the Grenfell enquiry given the original compartmentation had been disturbed by the activity of retrofitting cladding.
Compartmentation is necessary where a "stay put" policy is being adopted a situation I would suggest would not exist for technicians in a computer room.
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Rank: Super forum user
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You need to look at this the other way round - why are fire doors specified? Invariably it relates to doors which open on to escape routes i.e. maintaining the integrity of the escape path for a period of time. What you have described is a large hall rather than a narrow corridor likely with multiple available exit doors. Compartmentation (or rather removal of the concept) is one of the recommendations from the Grenfell enquiry given the original compartmentation had been disturbed by the activity of retrofitting cladding.
Compartmentation is necessary where a "stay put" policy is being adopted a situation I would suggest would not exist for technicians in a computer room.
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Rank: Super forum user
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My first port of call would be to look at the Fire Risk Assessment and see what it says about the room/s. Although it is difficult to give specific advice regarding your situation, fire doors are fitted to assist with the compartmentation of an area of a building. Compartments can be created for two reasons: life safety and/or to protect the building. Suppose the computer rooms lacked a fire door, and you have automatic fire detection within the rooms, and a fire started; there is the possibility the building can be safely evacuated and, therefore, life safety may not be affected. However, the lack of a sufficient fire door may eventually compromise the building (and possibly the expensive flight simulator machines), especially if there is delayed detection. It's important to note that while it's standard practice for electrical switchgear rooms to have fire protection and be compartmented, computer and IT rooms are unique. They would be assessed on an individual basis, taking into account their specific requirements and potential risks.
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Rank: Super forum user
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This sounds like a relatively recent building and I am going to assume that it is in Great Britain. So, my starting point would be to ask about the design and how fire scenarios were envisaged being mitigated. The key parts of which information should have been taken forward to EITHER the Health and Safety File(s) required to be provided to the Client (and hopefully end user) under the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 1994 or 2007 or 2015 AND/OR Operations & Maintenance Manual(s). Hence rather than looking at this only with hindsight, why not look at it on the basis of how the facility was supposed to perform, then consider whether it has been designed to appropriate standards, then built to the design, and then whether it is being used as imagined, particularly as regards occupancy numbers. If you don't get comfort from what you find, then may be time to bring in a fire safety specialist?
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