R1 R&R Sept '16 52 cc

Fire Protection, Safety & Security
No Compromise on Safety
Rex Taylor, Technical Support Manager of Kidde Safety, calls for better provision of smoke and carbon monoxide alarms with
housing refurbishment.
Without doubt, smoke and heat
alarms save lives and housing
refurbishments offer an ideal
opportunity to update them. Definitive
guidance can be found in BS 5839, Part 6,
which lists the minimum ‘Categories’
(locations for the alarms) and ‘Grades’ (types
of power source in the alarms)
recommended for different types of housing,
including owner-occupied and rented.
Heat Alarms in all Kitchens
For most homes up to 3 storeys, the Code
recommends ‘Category LD2’. This means
smoke alarms in any areas where fires might
start, such as living rooms, as well as escape
routes, plus heat alarms in every kitchen. With
converted properties and new-builds, national
Building Regulations apply and those for
Scotland and Northern Ireland mirror the
Code.
But in England and Wales, Approved
Document B falls short, requiring only
Category LD3 with smoke alarms just in
escape routes and heat alarms only in kitchens
open to escape routes. Yet, as the Code
stresses, with Category LD3 the evacuation
time once fire is detected in the escape route
“might not prevent death or serious injury of
occupants of the room where fire originates”.
Building Regulations and the Code are all
agreed in demanding Grade D mains with
back-up, interconnected smoke and heat
alarms for all new and most existing homes.
These should always be interconnected so
that all the alarms sound when one is
triggered. But there are often reasons to avoid
interconnect cabling in existing buildings.
Here, wireless interconnection is an ideal
solution, with each alarm simply powered
from a lighting circuit nearby. Some wireless
ranges also offer additional facilities, for
example a remote switch to control an alarm
that might otherwise be difficult to access.
This is particularly useful for elderly or disabled
people, or where alarms are fitted on higher
ceilings.
Curbing CO Poisoning
There is also a strong case to fit carbon
monoxide alarms in all homes. The latest
guidance is provided by BS EN 50292:2013. It
recommends that, ideally, a CO alarm should
be installed in every room containing a fuelburning
appliance and also in other well-used
rooms remote from the appliance, as well as
all bedrooms. In addition, rooms with
extended or concealed flues passing through
should also have an alarm.
Building Regulations throughout the UK all
require CO alarms to varying degrees but only
with installation of new or replacement
combustion appliances – and that excludes
those used for cooking. In particular, BS EN
50292’s more rigorous approach contrasts
starkly with Approved Document J for England
and Wales. This only demands a CO alarm
with installation of certain, solid fuel heating
appliances. The continuing toll of deaths and
illness associated with other fuels and types of
combustion appliances – including cookers –
highlights the need to raise the bar with
carbon monoxide.
For more information, email
sales@kiddesafety.co.uk,
call 01753 766 392 or visit
www.kiddesafetyeurope.co.uk
30 Refurb retrofit
magazine
Sep/Oct 2016 R1