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The car park

Sergio Fernandez

There are several main types of car park in the UK

Open air
Multi-storey open sided
Basement
Basement with dwellings or commercial space above

The UK is seeing a large move towards EV (Electric Vehicles) from traditional ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) there have also been several well documented Car park fires in the last decade.  Eg Luton Airport Car park October 2023 with over 1500 vehicles destroyed or damaged

Should all UK Car Parks apart from Open air have 
Fire detection with 24/7/365 monitoring with backup power supply
Increase amount of manual fire call points per floor and throughout stairwells to increase evacuation alert
EVSE auto shut off for power in the event of a fire or an alarm
Battery backup for emergency lights for a min of 6 hours
Increased amount of illuminated fire exits signs
Fire resistant cabling throughout
Fire restitant cable management/containment throughout
Increase IP rating throughout in case of fire due to the amount of water that may be used
Annual EICR
Technology/Mechanisms to assist evacuation of disabled and mobility impaired persons, this could include evacuation lift replacing the passenger lift



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





Come on everybody let’s help inspire the future

Parents

  • What is it you're trying to achieve?

    The density of people in and around car parks tends to be quite low - as far as I know even where there have been fires, evacuation hasn't been an issue. If what's left to protect against is basically just property, then it's really just down to cost benefit - I would wonder if there would really be sufficient savings from the few-in-a-miillion fires to justify the costs of the measures for all car-parks.

    As for mobility impaired evacuation, there tends to be ramp access to all areas anyway (so cars can get in and out in normal conditions) - so maybe wheelchairs etc already have a means of escape?

      - Andy.

  • in reply to AJJewsbury

    The vehicle ramps aren't always on the outside of the building. I can think of a car park I regularly use has them in the interior.

  • in reply to AJJewsbury

    Below is an extract from

    A ROUND-ROBIN STUDY FROM 12 UK FIRE

    SERVICES ON THE FIRE SAFETY OF OPEN-SIDED

    CAR PARKS: IS CURRENT GUIDANCE ADEQUATE?

    Recent incidents such as the London Luton Airport Car Park fire, question the validity of

    current fire protection measures recommended in Approved Document B (ADB) Vol. 2. This research

    carried out a critical evaluation of a fire strategy for an open-sided car park (developed in accordance

    with ADB), in collaboration with the fire engineers/protection managers from 12 UK Fire Services. The

    fire strategy focuses on supporting life safety in an eight-storey car park with spaces for electric vehicles

    (EVs). This study focuses on five key areas: means of warning and escape (B1), internal fire spread (B2

    and B3), external fire spread (B4), access for Fire Services (B5), and EV-related issues. Results

    demonstrate that nine out of 12 Fire Services suggested improvements to evacuation measures,

    especially for disabled persons, recommending an evacuation lift and calculating the occupancy based

    on car park usage.

Reply
  • in reply to AJJewsbury

    Below is an extract from

    A ROUND-ROBIN STUDY FROM 12 UK FIRE

    SERVICES ON THE FIRE SAFETY OF OPEN-SIDED

    CAR PARKS: IS CURRENT GUIDANCE ADEQUATE?

    Recent incidents such as the London Luton Airport Car Park fire, question the validity of

    current fire protection measures recommended in Approved Document B (ADB) Vol. 2. This research

    carried out a critical evaluation of a fire strategy for an open-sided car park (developed in accordance

    with ADB), in collaboration with the fire engineers/protection managers from 12 UK Fire Services. The

    fire strategy focuses on supporting life safety in an eight-storey car park with spaces for electric vehicles

    (EVs). This study focuses on five key areas: means of warning and escape (B1), internal fire spread (B2

    and B3), external fire spread (B4), access for Fire Services (B5), and EV-related issues. Results

    demonstrate that nine out of 12 Fire Services suggested improvements to evacuation measures,

    especially for disabled persons, recommending an evacuation lift and calculating the occupancy based

    on car park usage.

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