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BS-5839 part 6 LD3

Sergio Fernandez

Does BS-5839 part 6 LD3 need to be reviewed?  Points to consider.

LD3 is considered the Minimum Protection for a domestic dwelling.

Normally in a 3 bed semi detached house Detectors are in all circulation areas that form part of the escape routes (hallways and landings) ONLY.  Would/Could it beneficial to include or mandate a heat alarm for the kitchen and/or plant room if present?  (Plant room could contain kit from Solar PV battery storage or inverter etc)

LD3 also seems to infer that the fire will/could start inside the dwelling rather than elsewhere.  As an couterargument example an e-bike may be left directly outside the front door or rear door.  Does LD3 take into full consideration the shear amount of electrical and electronic items now in the average dwelling?  Most dwellings will contain at least 1 mobile phone which may or may not be left charging overnight, same could be said for a laptop or tablet or small battery pack (20000mAh USB Power Bank or less).  With direct reference to the small battery pack reference is made to the fact that China requires CCC certification for power banks sold within the country and strictly prohibits non-CCC certified, unclear, or recalled power banks on domestic flights.


LD3 seems to only really apply in England & Wales as Scotland changed their law in 2022.  In Scotland every home (owner-occupied, private rented, social housing, and new build) must meet a minimum standard that is functionally equivalent to Category LD2.



As always please be polite and respectful in this purely academic debate.





Come on everybody let’s help inspire the future.

Parents

  • Is it now mandatory that built-in garages are fitted with inter-linked heat detectors, or smoke alarms?

    I don't believe it always had been, and this seemed a potentially serious flaw because garages have long been recognised as posing an elevated risk of fire, presumably from the presence of a car containing petrol or diesel, and quite likely from presence of other flammable materials in the garage, and in future from EVs with their battery. This risk is recognised in the fire requirements for the garage construction, where typically these require provision of fire doors, intumescent door sealing and fire resistant boarding or materials in ceilings and walls to provide a minimum fire resistance time.

    But of course using construction materials that can withstand fire for a certain period, say 30 minutes, much of the benefit comes from an alarm being raised so that occupants can safely exit before the fire containment is significantly breached. But if there's no heat or smoke detector in the garage, to raise the alarm and trigger a safe evacuation, then in situations where the fire goes unnoticed such as over-night, the fire could burn for an extended period, breaching the containment and releasing smoke and fire into the living space and potentially up into the bedrooms, so the benefit of that fire containment must be significantly compromised.

    Seems to me that all built-in garages should have inter-linked heat detectors as a mandatory requirement.

  • in reply to TurboGen
    TurboGen said:
    Is it now mandatory that built-in garages are fitted with inter-linked heat detectors, or smoke alarms?

    in a word no. 

    If a garage is attached to or forms an integral part of a dwellinghouse, the garage should be separated from the rest of the dwellinghouse by fire resisting construction (minimum REI 30)

  • in reply to Will Lloyd

    Agreed.

    It does seem a bit odd that a detector is not required in an integral garage. I wonder whether a hot engine would be sufficient to trigger a heat detector?

  • in reply to Chris Pearson

    The car  would have to be very hot and just beneath it - you can't be sure of tripping the 90C ones even with an open flame gas hob and oven combo, but 'sometimes'  you can (yep, sorry about that.. )

    The saving grace in the UK is that most attached garages are too full, or too narrow, or both, to get a car into it.


    Mike.

  • in reply to Chris Pearson

    Domestic heat alarms have a trigger point of 58 degrees plus or minus 4 degrees. It would have to be a very hot car to set one off

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  • in reply to Chris Pearson

    Domestic heat alarms have a trigger point of 58 degrees plus or minus 4 degrees. It would have to be a very hot car to set one off

Children
  • in reply to Will Lloyd

    Modern cars seldom have (water) temperature gauges, but 70ºC is where I aim in my ancient R-R, where adjustment is purely manual. Granted, there is a bonnet, but the radiator is not enclosed by it.

    I suppose that the detectors must measure the temperature at ceiling level, else detecting a pan of boiling spuds could be a problem in a kitchen.

    On the other hand, if the burning chip pan or salamander has got the ceiling temperature up to 58 deg, it must have been going for a while.

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