The other day I heard about somebody advising that because
the commercial listed building they were in was listed Part B of the Building
regulations didn’t apply. Many of you reading this blog will know that this is
not true, but it is very alarming that there are people out there who believe
that it IS true. The terrible events
at Grenfell reminded us all about the importance of fire and the need to work
within Part B.
I work on many listed churches. These can prove especially
challenging as you can have existing situations where hundreds of people are
squeezing into a building on a Sunday when there are only one or two exists
with Victorian or older ironmongery. This is where the real challenge can lie,
as you either will not get permission to physically alter the doors or you will
be restricted on the number of people who may safely occupy the church. Often
the permission giving bodies will carry no responsibility for their ‘advice’
which will leave your client with no re-assurance on the safety of their building.
I often find that the early appointment of a fire consultant
can help you overcome the particular challenges of the building. The fire
safety consultant can be briefed with your requirements and you can advise him
or her which parts of the Historic fabric are unlikely to gain consent for
change. The consultant can then advise how these issues can be mitigated. I
have found that if you then approach the approval system with this justifiable
document it is often easier to overcome the issues as it enables people who may
not be as aware of the fire restrictions on a building as they should be to
understand them.
Hotels and conference buildings suffer from the same issues
to some extent. The buildings often have their own character and consequent layouts
which create issues for fire escape or fire partitioning. A fire consultant
will allow your client to find the reasonable middle ground where the building
is safe and the mitigation can be put in place where physical obstacles are in
the way.
The challenge can sometimes be persuading the client to pay
the money for their fees. I have found that sometimes the client will only pay
for them once you have hit the problem of fire towards the end of the approval
process, where they have no other option, which is often frustrating as the
Architect as you know the value that these consultants can bring to the project
at an early stage.
While you would never be able to comply to the letter of
Part B in a Grade 1 Listed Mansion, there are a lot of subtle things which you
can and should do which will bring you in line with the legal requirements of
the regulations. I personally find the challenge is overcoming the threat of
the building control or fire officer walking around and condemning the timber
panelling and the lath and plaster. It is a constant frustration that people
seem all to easily convinced that they have to remove their original lath and
plaster walls or do totally unsympathetic alteration’s to timber panelling to
make it fire proof. Therefore caution should
always be exercised in the response to the challenges of overcoming the Listed
Building’s particular issues and early consultation with a fire safety
specialist may provide very cost-effective solutions.
I was in a stove shop a couple of years ago and the salesman
was telling a lady who owned a French chateau that she would need to remove the
oak beam over her fire place because it would be a fire risk! My wife had to
stop me from going over and making what she called ‘a scene’. I have been in countless
medieval buildings where the beautiful old oak beam has provided the support of
the fire place opening since the building was built, and the charring fire
protection levels of these large timbers are incredibly good. The old standard
log length was 4ft, this is what the fire places were built to fit, thus why
you will see so many fire places in these old buildings a similar size. The
heat which would come from these logs would have been wonderful, but not a risk
for the timber beam in the fire place.
An eccentric old relative of mine would use a longer log,
and insert it ‘up’ the chimney, light the bottom and as it burned it would
slowly move down the chimney until it was gone, not before the next one was
inserted up the chimney next to it! It was a wonder she didn’t set the chimney
alight although you could argue the chimney was always alight with the special
logs!
Anyway, the use of a fire consultant is often the best
course of action to ensure the compliance with Part B of the Building Regulations
for any Listed Building, because where ever you are and what ever Grade Listing
the building Part B WILL apply.
Thanks for reading.
James
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