HIGH RISE BUILDING

ASSIGNMENT-2
SERVICES – FIRE SAFETY IN HIGH BUILDING

SUBMITTED TO: - AR. SHIKHA AGGARWAL

SUBMITTED BY: - SHRUTI VERMA

1731685

8th SEMESTER
FIRE SAFETY IN HIGH RISE BUILDING
• An arrangement of firefighting within the building by means of vertical rising mains
not less than 100 mm internal diameter with landing valves on each floor landing
which is normally dry but is capable of being charged with water usually by pumping
from fire service appliances.
• High-rise buildings have unique challenges related to fire protection such as longer
egress times and distance, evacuation strategies, fire department accessibility,
smoke movement and fire control.

• PROVISION FOR FIRE SAFETY

• Thus, in case of high-rise buildings, the following provision should be made for safety
of buildings from fire:
1. National building code should be followed for fire-safety requirement of high-rise structures
and at least one lift should be designed as fire-lift as defined in the Code and be installed.

2. At least one stair-case shall be provided as a fire staircase as defined in the National Building
Code. Provided that this shall not be applicable if any two sides of a staircase are kept totally
open to external open-air space.

3. Water Supply: Underground tank of the capacity of one lakh liters and two lakh liters for the
buildings situated within the municipal limit and outside of the municipal limit respectively be
invariably provided in all the high-rise buildings. Water in the normal use tank should come
only through the overflow of fire tank so provided.

4. In high rise buildings, the internal fire hydrants shall be installed as provided in the National
Building Code or as prescribed in the Indian Standard Code of practice for installation of
internal fire hydrants in high rise buildings. The detailed plan showing the arrangement of
pipe lines, booster pumps and water-tanks at various levels shall be submitted for approval of
the concerned authority along with the plans and sections of the buildings.

5. In case of high-rise buildings, an external fire hydrant shall be provided within the confines of
the site of the building and shall be connected with Municipal Water mains not less than 4" in
diameter. In addition, fire hydrant shall be connected with Booster Pump from the static
supply maintained on site.

6. In case of high-rise buildings separate electric circuits for lift installation, lighting of passages,
corridors and stairs and for internal fire hydrant system shall be provided.

7. All the requirements under the above regulations shall be clearly indicated on plans duly
signed by the owner and the person who has prepared the plans. The Competent Authority
 may direct the owner to submit such further drawings as may be necessary to clarify the
implementation of the provisions of the above regulations.

8. Every building having a height of more than 25 Mts. shall be provided with diesel generators
which can be utilized in case of failure of the electricity.

9. The standard of National Building Code must be adopted fully in providing stair-case and
alarm system.

10. There should be Provision of dry-powder fire extinguisher to the extent of two on each floor
with a capacity of 5 kgs, in all the high-rise buildings.

NEED OF FIRE EXITS-

• They are effective for all building heights;

• They require no special skill or unfamiliar actions by evacuees;

• They are “systemic” (building-wide) solutions;

• They are suitable for all ages and physical conditions of evacuees, including disabled people;

• They have the ability to transport emergency responders and their equipment up and into
the scene;

• They enable rescue personnel to control the evacuation process; &

• They can evacuate many occupants with each rescue cycle.

NBC NORMS-
MEANS OF ACCESS

• The width of means of access shall be 6 m for residential occupancy and not less than 12 m
for other occupancies depending on the length of the means of access. In addition, the road
shall not terminate in a dead-end and shall join another street of 12 m width. The
compulsory open spaces shall not be used for parking.. Adequate passage way for fire-
fighting vehicles shall be provided at the main entrance with a minimum width of 4.5 m and
a head room of 5 m.

• An exit may be a doorway, corridor, internal or external staircase. It can be a verandah with
access to the street or the roof. It can be a horizontal exit leading to refuge area or adjoining
building.

• All exits shall be free of obstruction

• Exits shall be clearly visible and the path to the same shall be clearly marked and sign
posted. Exits shall be illuminated and wired to an independent electrical circuit.

• The floors of the areas for exits shall be illuminated.

 • Exits shall be so arranged that that they may be reached without passing through an
occupied unit

CAPACITY OF EXITS

• The total population from a particular floor must evacuated in 1.5 to 2.5 minutes depending
on the type of construction. The unit width for capacity of exit shall be taken as 50 cm. The
number of people for different occupancies at or near the same levels and the number per
unit exit width for different occupancies is also given.,

• Horizontal exits shall be provided in certain occupancies. Horizontal exit is an arrangement

which allows alternate egress from one floor to another floor in an adjoining building or an
adjacent part of the same building

TRAVEL DISTANCE

• The distance from any point to the final exit shall not be less than 22.5 m for residential
occupancies. For others it should not be less than 30m. Wherever more than one exit is
required thy shall be placed as remote as possible in opposite direction

NUMBER OF EXITS

• All buildings shall have minimum two exits in the form of enclosed staircases. opening to the
open space Every doorway shall open into corridor leading to an exit or to an enclosed
staircase. Exit doorways shall open outwards, i.e. away from the room but shall not obstruct
the travel along the passageway except where there is a central corridor when the door can
open inwards. Exit doors shall not open on to a staircase. Exit doorways shall be openable
without a key. Mirrors shall not be placed in the path of exit doorways.

• Corridors and passages shall be of width not less than the doorways.

INTERNAL STAIRCASE

• A staircase shall not be arranged around a lift shaft. No gas piping shall be laid in the stair
case. Minimum width has been specified for different occupancies and it should not be less
than one meter.

• The minimum head room shall be not less than 2.2 meters. The main staircase and internal
one shall be continuous from ground to terrace

EXTERNAL STAIRCASE.

• Entrance to the external staircase shall be remote from the internal one. It shall not be
inclined at more than 45 degrees.

• Exit signs and the floors shall be properly illuminated at all times with independent electric
supply or other means.

• These requirements are applicable to all occupancies. Additional requirements for individual
occupancies have also been specified.
 • For the safety of the general public and the occupants it is imperative that the architect
provides for all the exits as mandated and the fire services check these points before
construction is started.

FIRE ESCAPES OR EXTERNAL STAIRS:

• Fire escape shall not be taken into account while calculating the number of staircases for a
building.

• All fire escapes shall be directly connected to the ground.

• Entrance to the fire escape shall be separate and remote from internal staircase.

• The route to fire escape shall be free of obstructions at all times except the doorway leading
to the fire escape which shall have the required fire resistance.

• Fire escape shall be constructed of non-combustible materials.

• Fire escape stairs shall have straight flight not less than 125 cm wide with 25 cm treads and
risers not more than 19 cm.

• Handrails shall be at a height not less than 100 cm.

• Fire escape staircase in the mercantile, business, assembly, hotel buildings above 24 m.
height shall be a fire tower and in such a case width of the same shall not be less than the
width of the main staircase. No combustible material shall be allowed in the fire tower.
PROVISION OF LIFTS
• Provision of the lifts shall be made for all multi-storeyed building having a height of 15.0 m.
and above.
• All the floors shall be accessible for 24 hrs. by the lift. The lift provided in the buildings shall
not be considered as a means of escape in case of emergency.
• Grounding switch at ground floor level to enable the fire service to ground the lift car in case
of emergency shall also be provided.
• The lift machine room shall be separate and no other machinery be installed in it.
FIRE LIFT

• To enable fire service personnel to reach the upper floors with the minimum delay, one or
more of the lifts shall be so designed so as to be available for the exclusive use of the fireman
in an emergency and be directly accessible to every dwelling/lettable floor space on each
floor.

• The lift shall have a floor area of not less than 1.4 [Link]. It shall have a loading capacity of not
less than 545 kg. (8 persons lift) with automatic closing doors.

• The electric supply shall be on a separate service from electric supply mains in a building and
the cables run in a route safe from fire, that is within a lift shaft.

• Lights and fans in the elevator having wooden paneling or sheet steel construction shall be
operated on 24-volt supply.

• In case of failure of normal electric supply, it shall automatically switch over to the alternate
supply. Alternatively, the lift should be so wired that in case of power failure, it comes down
at the ground level and comes to stand still with door open.

• The operation of a fire lift shall by a single toggle of two-button switch situated in a glass-
fronted box adjacent to the lift at the entrance level. When the switch is on landing; call
points will become inoperative and the lift will be on car control only or on a priority
control device. When the switch is off, the lift will return to normal working. This lift can
be used by the occupants in normal times.
 • The words 'F1RE LIFT' shall be conspicuously displayed in fluorescent paint on the lift
landing doors at each floor level.

• The speed of the fire lift shall be such that it can reach to the top floor from ground level
within one minute.

FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM

• The requirements of fire detection and alarm systems are covered for each occupancy in
and under for annunciation to occupants in view of the ensuing vulnerability and to warn
occupants early of the existence of fire, so as to facilitate orderly and safe egress.

• Fire detection and alarm systems in buildings shall be so planned and programmed so as to
enable operations of various systems and equipment to facilitate requirements leading
to life safety, compartmentation and fire protection.

• These systems and equipment may include electromechanical systems such as air
handling units; pressurization systems; smoke management systems; creation of
compartmentation through the release of fire barrier, hold-up fire doors, etc.; and
monitoring of fire water storage tanks and pumps, pressures in hydrant and sprinkler
system, etc.

• These planning and requirements shall be based on building occupancy and other
requirements on case-to-case basis.

• For assembly buildings, institutional buildings and all buildings above 30 m in height where
fire alarm system is provided in accordance, detectors shall also be provided inside the
electrical shafts, and lift machine rooms, etc., besides occupancy areas.

• Fire alarm panels shall be connected in peer-to-peer network or with redundant cables, run
in different shafts. Each panel shall be able to work in standalone mode and master slave
architecture may be used where required.

• The fire detection system shall be in accordance with accepted standards.

FIRE DETECTION AND ALARM SYSTEM

• The fixed firefighting installations and systems shall be maintained in accordance with good
practice and the Part 12. Asset and Facility Management. Of the Code.

FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY AUDIT

• Fire and life safety audit shall be carried out for all buildings having a height of more than
15m.

• Such audits shall preferably be conducted by a third-party auditor having requisite

experience in fire and life safety inspections.

• Frequency of such audits shall be once in two years.

HORIZONTAL EXITS/REFUGE AREA
• A horizontal exit shall be through a fire door of 120 min rating in a fire-resistant wall.

• Horizontal exit require separation with the refuge area or adjoining compartment through
120 min fire barrier.

• The adjoining compartment of the horizontal exit should allow unlocked and ease of egress
and exits for the occupants using defend in place strategy.

• Each refuge area shall be ventilated and provided with first aid box, fire extinguishers,
public address speaker, fire man talks back, and adequate emergency lighting as well as
drinking water facility.

• Refuge areas shall be approachable from the space they serve by an accessible means of
egress.

• Refuge areas shall connect to firefighting shaft (comprising fireman’s lift, lobby and
staircase) without having the occupants requiring to return to the building spaces through
which travel to the area of refuge occurred.

• A prominent sign bearing the words. REFUGE AREA. shall be installed at the entry of the
refuge area, having height of letters of minimum 75 mm and also containing information
about the location of refuge areas on the floors above and below this floor.
The same signage shall also be conspicuously located within the refuge area.

• The refuge area shall always be kept clear. No storage of combustible products and
materials, electrical and mechanical equipment, etc. shall be allowed in such areas.

• Refuge area shall be provided with adequate drainage facility to maintain efficient storm
water disposal.

• Entire refuge area shall be provided with sprinklers.

• Where there is a difference in level between connected areas for horizontal exits, ramps of
slope not steeper than 1 in 12 shall be provided (and steps should be avoided).

• NOTE. Refuge area provided in excess of the requirements

FIRE PROTECTION
• For residential occupancies above 120 m in height and other occupancies above 60 m in
height, the sprinklers shall be fed from the main and an alternate/standby riser with suitable
isolation valves.

• The entire sprinkler system shall be designed in accordance with good practice.

• Where the height of the building exceeds 150 m to 175 m, fire water static storage and
pumps shall be required to be provided at 160 m to 180 m and thereafter at intermediate
floors at higher levels enabling efficient and functional firefighting installations.
 • The static free water storage tanks located at such levels shall have capacity at minimum
half of the storage of underground static water storage tank.

• Such tanks shall be supplemented with water supplies through one working and one
standby pump of capacity 2 850 liter/min with two risers at alternate locations feeding to
such fire water static storage tanks.

• The fire pumps requirement and capacity shall also be derived for occupancy type
substituting the diesel pump with electrical pump.

• The fire pump room at such level shall have dedicated connectivity through passageway
(with 120 min integrity) from the firefighting shaft.

• Such fire pump room shall have 120 min fire resisting wall and provided with adequate
ventilation with talk-back connectivity to the main fire pump room and Fire Command
Centre.

• For high rise buildings, seismic bracings shall be considered for firefighting installations
depending on seismic vulnerability of the region and the type of occupancy.

HELIPAD
• For high rise buildings above 200 m in height, provision for helipad is recommended for
specific requirements like landing of fire equipment, and support facilities or other
emergencies.

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