Part B - Means of escape and fire safety

Information is available from the Communities and Local Government website (external link).

The Regulations consider five aspects of fire safety in the construction of buildings. Other aspects such as the management of a premises may be dealt with under different legislation. The five aspects are:

1. that sufficient provisions are made in design of the building that in the event of fire the occupants can escape to a place of safety by their own efforts and from 1 July 2000 that adequate provisions are made to alert people of the presence of fire;
2. that the internal linings of a building do not support a rapid spread of fire;
3. that the structure of the building should not collapse prematurely and should slow the spread of fire through the building and in unseen cavities and voids by providing fire resisting walls and partitions where necessary;
4. that the spread of fire between buildings be discouraged by spacing them apart sufficiently and controlling the number and size of openings on boundaries;
5. that the building is designed in such a way to aid the fire brigade fight fire and effect rescue of persons caught in a fire.