Protected Escape Route

A chestnut, I know but this appeared in the Wiring Matters annual and I am unclear what the author is intending to convey, but my understanding of the article is that this would not be an example of a protected escape route;

If this is a bedroom corridor then, no matter what, it is required to be a protected corridor as far as building regulations are concerned. Protected corridors serving bedrooms in a hotel will give access to a place of safety. They might exit to the open air and provide direct access a safe route away from the building, which is regarded as a place of ultimate safety, or they might give access to a protected stair, which is regarded as a place of relative safety. Either way, they are part of the means of escape and are required to be of specified fire resisting construction and lead to a place of safety, whether ultimate or relative.

Now the definition in BS7671 for a protected escape route reads; A route enclosed with specified fire-resisting construction designated for escape to a place of safety in the event of an emergency.

To me that fits with the notion of "protected corridor" which will form part of the means of escape to either the protected stair or to the outside of the building. 

The definition in BS7671 for  escape route reads; path to follow for access to a safe area in the event of an emergency.

That is exactly what the bedroom corridor does and since the corridor is protected it follows that it is a protected escape route.

If the intention of 422.2 is to place additional limitations only on electrical services in protected stairs and the route that leads from the foot of the stairs to the final exit, then why not say that explicitly.

So my question then; is a bedroom corridor in a hotel a protected escape route as far as BS7671 2018 A2 is concerned?

Parents
  • It is incorrect to think of a protected stairway serving bedroom floors in a hotel as necessarily clinical with bare concrete treads. Yes, they will provide the required function as a means of vertical escape in an emergency but so might the main stairs, they usually do. They may be fitted with plush carpet and there may be fancy wallpaper and decorative light fittings. They will serve the same purpose as the bare concrete version in providing an alternative means of vertical escape in an emergency.

    Hotels are purpose group 2(b) so all floors will be required to be compartment floors with a fire resistance depending on height above or below ground. Stairways therefore need to be in protected shafts which are required to have the same fire resistance as the floor. 
    These stairways are places of relative safety and are accessed through fire doors from the bedroom floors via protected corridors and sometimes protected lobbies. 
    AJ is correct that the emergency escape stairs, including the main stairs if used for that purpose, must be reached in a time before escape along the protected corridor becomes untenable. The time element is provided in terms of travel distance, typically 45m from the bedroom door when more than one direction of escape is available or 18m including travel within the room if only one direction is available. 
    The bedroom corridors are protected escape routes and were always used as building service routes. Recently, because of the ambiguity in 7671, there is confusion over whether protected corridors, in whatever type of building, can continue to accommodate electrical services unless they are above a fire resisting ceiling.

    There may be good reason to do that anyway, but I would really like to understand the actual 7671 intention and have this matter resolved.

Reply
  • It is incorrect to think of a protected stairway serving bedroom floors in a hotel as necessarily clinical with bare concrete treads. Yes, they will provide the required function as a means of vertical escape in an emergency but so might the main stairs, they usually do. They may be fitted with plush carpet and there may be fancy wallpaper and decorative light fittings. They will serve the same purpose as the bare concrete version in providing an alternative means of vertical escape in an emergency.

    Hotels are purpose group 2(b) so all floors will be required to be compartment floors with a fire resistance depending on height above or below ground. Stairways therefore need to be in protected shafts which are required to have the same fire resistance as the floor. 
    These stairways are places of relative safety and are accessed through fire doors from the bedroom floors via protected corridors and sometimes protected lobbies. 
    AJ is correct that the emergency escape stairs, including the main stairs if used for that purpose, must be reached in a time before escape along the protected corridor becomes untenable. The time element is provided in terms of travel distance, typically 45m from the bedroom door when more than one direction of escape is available or 18m including travel within the room if only one direction is available. 
    The bedroom corridors are protected escape routes and were always used as building service routes. Recently, because of the ambiguity in 7671, there is confusion over whether protected corridors, in whatever type of building, can continue to accommodate electrical services unless they are above a fire resisting ceiling.

    There may be good reason to do that anyway, but I would really like to understand the actual 7671 intention and have this matter resolved.

Children
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