MODULE 4

FIRE SAFETY IN BUILDINGS &

PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION

BUILDING SERVICES III

Air Conditioning, Mechanical Transportation & Fire Protection

7) Introduction: Classification of fire, causes & hazards; Grading of structural elements for its fire resistance
as per NBC. Classification of building types as per NBC and brief description of characteristics of combustible
and non-combustible materials.

8) Concepts in passive fire protection in buildings: Escape routes, fire driveways, fire refuge area, fire
assembly areas, pressurization, travel distance, fire tower and Compartmentation, fire signage's etc.
 CLASSIFICATION OF FIRE

Incandescence is the light from heat. A

fireplace adds a warm incandescence to a
house in the winter. The glow of a fire is
known as incandescence. If you see a
shooting star, the bright light is due
to incandescence.

Source: http://www.iitb.ac.in/safety/sites/default/files/Fire%20Safety_0.pdf
CAUSES OF FIRE
CAUSES OF ELECTRICAL FIRE
CAUSES OF INDUSTRIAL FIRE

FIRE HAZARDS Five employees of a bar-cum-

Danger/Risk – Chance/Probability restaurant were killed in
their sleep when a major fire
broke out at Kumbaara
Sangha building in
Kalasipalya.

The restaurant is situated

on the ground floor of the
70-year-old building

It appears all the five died

of suffocation,"
 FIRE HAZARDS

The top floor of a building inside the Kamala Most of the victims were trapped in
Mill compound in Lower Parel caught fire in the toilet of the pub and died of
the early hours of Friday, at least 14 are suffocation.
reported dead, including 11 women, and
There is every possibility that during
several injured. The fire broke around 12:30
removal of lighted charcoal from the
am and was brought to control in more than
segree (stove) and or transferring it into
three hours. The building houses several
Hookah or during the fanning of the
commercial establishments, including the
charcoal the flying burning embers
offices of some media houses as well as a
came in contact with the combustible
handful of restaurants and resto-bars.
curtains/ decorative material nearby
and started the fire.
For buildings 15 m in height
or above non-combustible
materials should be used for
construction and the
internal walls of staircase
enclosures should be of
brick work or reinforced
concrete or any other
material of construction with
minimum of 2 h rating. The
walls for the chimney shall
be of Type 1 and Type 2
Construction depending on
whether the gas
temperature is above 200”C
or less.

3.3.2 It is required that an element/component shall have the

requisite fire resistance rating when tested in accordance with the
accepted standard [4(1)]. Tables 2 to 18 provide available data
regarding fire resistance ratings of various building components
such as walls, columns, beams and floors. Fire damage assessment,
post few structural safety assessment of various structural elements
of the building and adequacy of the structural repairs can be done
by the few resistance ratings mentioned in Tables 2 to 18.
1) Walls containing at least 1% of vertical reinforcement.
2) Minimum thickness of actual cover to reinforcement.
 Combustible & Non
Combustible materials
characteristics.
Source: ttps://www.slideshare.net/shekhu001/fire-proofing-42539453
Classification of Building Types as per NBC.
 Group B Educational Buildings:
Group A Residential Buildings: These shall include any building used for
These shall include any building school, college, other training institutions
in which sleeping for day-care purposes involving assembly
accommodation is provided for for instruction, education or recreation for
normal residential purposes with not less than 20 students.
or without cooking or dining or
both facilities, except any Further sub-divided as follows:
building classified under Group Sub-division B-1 Schools up to senior
C. secondary level
Sub-division B-2 All others/training
Further sub-divided as follows: institutions
a) Sub-division B-1 Schools up to senior secondary level
 Sub-division A-1 Lodging or — This sub-division shall include any building or a
rooming houses group of buildings under single management which is
used for students not less than 20 in number.
 Sub-division A-2 One or two-
b) Sub-division B-2 All others/training institutions —
family private dwellings This sub-division shall includ~ any building or a group
 Sub-division A-3 Dormitories of buildings under single management which is used
 Sub-division A-4 Apartment for students not less than 100 in number.
houses (flats)
 Sub-division A-5 Hotels If residential accommodation is provided
 Sub-division A-6 Hotels (Starred) in the schools/institutions, that portion of
occupancy shall be classified as a building
in sub-division A-3.
 Group C Institutional Buildings
These shall include any building or part thereof,
which is used for purposes, such as medical or
other treatment or care of persons suffering
from physical or mental illness, disease or b) Sub-division C-2 Custodial institutions — This
infirmity; care of infants, convalescents or aged sub-division shall include any building or a
persons and for penal or correctional detention group of buildings under single management,
which is used for the custody and care of
in which the liberty of the inmates is restricted. persons, such as children, convalescents and
Institutional buildings ordinarily provide sleeping the aged, for example, homes for the aged and
accommodation for the occupants. infirm, convalescent homes and orphanages.
Sub-division C-3 Penal and mental institutions
Buildings and structures under Group C shall be c) This sub-division shall include any building or
further sub-divided as follows: a group of buildings under single management,
Sub-division C-1 Hospitals and sanatoria which !s used for housing persons under
restraint, or who are detained for penal or
Sub-division C-2 Custodial institutions corrective purposes, in which the liberty of the
Sub-division C-3 Penal and mental institutions. inmates is restricted, for example, jails, prisons,
mental hospitals, mental sanatoria and
a) Sub-division C-1 Hospitals and sanatoria — reformatories.
This sub-division shall include any building or a group of
buildings under single management, which is used for housing
persons suffering from physical limitations because of health or
age, for example, hospitals, infirmaries, sanatoria and nursing
homes.
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/amanikr777/fire-resistive-construction
Passive Fire Protection
General Requirements of All Individual Occupancies:
Each portion of a building, which is separated by one or
more continuous fire resisting walls, having a fire resistance
of not less than 2 h, extending from the foundation to 1 m
above the roof at all points, may be considered to be a
separate building for the calculation of maximum
permissible height and floor area, provided openings, if any,
in the separating wall are also protected by fire assemblies
of not less than 2 h.
Mixed Occupancy: Openings in walls or floors which are necessary
When any building is used for more than one type of to be provided to allow passages of all building
occupancy, then in so far as fire safety is concerned, it shall services like cables, electrical wirings, telephone
conform to the requirements for the occupancies of higher cables, plumbing pipes, etc, shall be protected
hazard. Unless the high hazard area is separated by by enclosure in the form of ducts/shafts having
separating walls of 4 h rating, the occupancies shall not be afire resistance not less than 2 h. The inspection
treated individually. door for electrical shafts/ducts shall be not less
than 2 h and for other services shafts/ducts, the
same shall have fire resistance not less than 1 h.
Openings in Separating Walls and Floors Medium and low voltage wiring running in
At the time of designing openings in separating walls and shafts/ducts, shall either be armoured type or
floors, particular attention shall be paid to all such factors as run through metal conduits. Further, the space
will limit fire spread through these openings and maintain between the conduits pipes and the walls/ slabs
fire rating of the structural member. shall be filled in by a filler material having fire
resistance rating of not less than 1 h.
For Types 1 to 3 construction, a doorway or opening in a
separating wall on any floor shall be limited to 5.6 m2 in area Vertical opening
with a maximum height width of 2.75 m. Every wall opening Every vertical opening between the floors of a
shall be protected with fire-resisting doors having the fire building shall be suitably enclosed or protected, as
rating of not less than 2 h in accordance with accepted necessary, to provide the following:
standard [4(7)]. All openings in the floors shall be protected a) Reasonable safety to the occupants while using
by vertical enclosures extending above and below such the means of egress by preventing spread of fire,
openings, the walls of such enclosures having a fire smoke, or fumes through vertical openings from
resistance of not less than 2 h and all openings therein being floor to floor to allow occupants to complete their
protected with a fire-resisting assembly as specified in 3.4.9. use of the means of egress. Further it shall be
ensured to provide a clear height of 2 100 mm in
For Type 4 construction, openings in the separating walls or the passage/escape path of the occupants.
floors shall be fitted with 2 h fire resisting assemblies. b)Limitation of damage to the building and its
contents.
Air-conditioning and ventilating systems shall be so installed Smoke Venting
and maintained as to minimize the danger of spread of fire,
smoke or fumes from one floor to other or from outside to
Smoke venting facilities for safe use of exits in
any occupied building or structure.
windowless buildings, underground structures, large
area factories, hotels and assembly buildings
Air-conditioning and ventilating systems circulating air to
(including cinema halls) shall be automatic in action
more than one floor or fire area shall be provided with
with manual controls in addition.
dampers designed to close automatically in case of fire and
thereby preventing spread of fire or smoke and shall be in
accordance with the accepted standard [4( 10)]. Such a Natural draft smoke venting shall utilize roof vents
system shall also be provided with automatic controls to or vents in walls at or near the ceiling level; such
stop fans in case of fire, unless arranged to remove smoke vents shall be normally open, or, if closed, shall be
from a fire, in which case these shall be designed to remain designed for automatic opening in case of fire, by
in operation. release of smoke sensitive devices.

Air-conditioning system serving large places of assembly

Where smoke venting facilities are installed for
(over 1000 persons), large departmental stores or hotels
purposes of exit safety, these shall be adequate to
with over 100 rooms in a single block shall be provided with
prevent dangerous accumulation of smoke during
effective means for preventing circulation of smoke through
the period of time necessary to evacuate the area
the system in the case of a fire in air filters or from other
served, using available exit facilities with a margin of
sources drawn into the system, and shall have smoke
safety to allow for unforeseen contingencies. It is
sensitive devices for actuation in accordance with the
recommended that smoke exhaust equipment
accepted standards.
should have a minimum capacity of 12 air changes
per hour. Where mechanical venting is employed, it
From fire safety point of view, separate air handling units
shall be fire safe.
for the various floors shall be provided so as to avoid the
hazards arising from spread of fire and smoke through the
air-conditioning ducts. The requirements of air-conditioning
ducts shall be in accordance with good practice
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/gauravhtandon1/fire-protection-systems-uniti
Source: https://www.slideshare.net/gauravhtandon1/fire-protection-systems-uniti
 Exits shall be clearly visible and the route to
reach the exits shall be clearly marked and
signs posted to guide the occupants of the
floor concerned. Signs shall be illuminated and
wired to an independent electrical circuit on
an alternative source of supply. The sizes and
colours of the exit signs shall be in accordance
with good practice. The colour of the exit signs
shall be green.
Number of Exits
All buildings, which are 15 m in height or above, and all buildings used as
educational, assembly, institutional, industrial, storage, and hazardous
occupancies and mixed occupancies with any of the aforesaid occupancies,
having area more than 500 m2 on each floor shall have a minimum of two
staircases. They shall be of enclosed type; at least one of them shall be on
external walls of buildings and shall open directly to the exterior, interior
open space or to an open place of safety. Further, the provision or otherwise
of alternative staircases shall be subject to the requirements of travel
distance being complied with.
Doorways: Notwithstanding the detailed provision for exits in accordance
with the following minimum width shall be provided for
staircases:
Every exit doorway shall open into an enclosed
a) Residential buildings (dwellings) l.0 m
stairway or a horizontal exit of a corridor or
b) Residential hotel buildings 1.5 m
passageway providing continuous and protected
c) Assembly buildings like auditorium, 2.0 m theatres & cinemas
means of egress.
d) Educational buildings up to 30 m in height
e) Institutional buildings like hospitals 2.0 m
No exit doorway shall be less than 1000 mm in
f) All other buildings 1.5 m
width except assembly buildings where door
width shall be not less than 2000 mm.
Doorways shall be not less than 2000 mm in
height.

Exit doorways shall open outwards, that is, away

from the room, but shall not obstruct the travel
along any exit. No door, when opened, shall
reduce the required width of stairway or landing
to less than 900 mm; overhead or sliding doors
shall not be installed.

In the case of buildings where there is a central The maximum height of

corridor, the doors of rooms shall open inwards riser shall be 190 mm for
to permit smooth flow of traffic in the corridor. residential buildings and
150 mm for other
The minimum width of tread without nosing shall
buildings and the number
be 250 mm for internal staircase of residential
shall be limited to 15 per
buildings. This shall be 300 mm for assembly,
flight.
hotels, educational, institutional, business and
other buildings. The treads shall be constructed
and maintained in a manner to prevent slipping.
Pressurization of Staircases (Protected Escape
Routes)

Though in normal building design, compartmentation plays

a vital part in limiting the spread of fire, smoke will readily
spread to adjacent spaces through the various leakage
openings in the compartment enclosure, such as cracks,
openings around pipes ducts, airflow grills and doors, as
perfect sealing of all these openings is not possible. It is
smoke and toxic gases, rather than flame, that will initially
obstruct the free movement of occupants of the building
through the means of escape (escape routes). Hence the
exclusion of smoke and toxic gases from the protected
routes is of great importance.

Pressurization is a method adopted for protected escape

routes against ingress of smoke, especially in high-rise
buildings. In pressurization, air is injected into the
staircases, lobbies or corridors, to raise their pressure
slightly above the pressure in adjacent parts of the building.
As a result, ingress of smoke or toxic gases into the escape
routes will be prevented. The pressurization of staircases
shall be adopted for high rise buildings and building having
mixed occupancy/ multiplexes having covered area more
than 500 m2.
FIRE DRIVE WAYS

Road width & building entrance: The road where a high-rise is

If your building height is not
constructed should not be less than 12 metres wide. This is to ensure
mentioned in the above table, the
easy movement of fire services vehicles in case of an emergency. This
maximum height of the building
road should be hard-surfaced so as to withstand a minimum of 45,000
should not exceed 1.5 times the
kgs, which is also the maximum weight of a fire engine. The entrance of
width of the road abutting, plus
these buildings needs to be a minimum of six metres wide. Here, the
the front open space. In case the
height should be five metres or above. building abuts on two or more
streets of different widths, the
Setbacks: High-rises also need to have setbacks in the front, sides, and building shall be considered as
rear portions of the building. The width for this differs with different
facing the street that has the
types of buildings. greater width.
The compulsory open space around the building should not be used for parking. If parking space is provided on the
setbacks, then it should be done only after leaving a distance of a six-metre-wide open space from the building line in the
form of a hard-surfaced driveway which should again be able to withstand a load of 45,000 kgs.
Stairways are exits:
A staircase is the only safe means of escape during fire emergencies. Lifts and escalators
are not considered as exits. According to the norms, all high-rises must have a minimum
of two staircases, each at a remote distance from the other. The minimum width of these
staircases will be based on the type of the building.

Residential buildings (dwellings) – 1.6 m

(For row housing with two storeys, the minimum width shall be 0.75 metres)
Residential hotel buildings – 1.5 m
Assembly buildings like auditoria, theatres, and cinemas – 2 m
Educational buildings – 1.5 m
Institutional buildings – 2 m
All other buildings – 1.5 m

These staircases should be enclosed, and at least one of them should be on the exterior
walls of the building and should open directly to the exterior or interior open space or to
an open space of safety. The staircases need to be constructed of brick or reinforced
concrete with a minimum of two-hour fire rating.

The staircases also need to be ventilated. If this is not possible for some reason, then it
has to be pressurised. They also need to be enclosed with smoke-stop swing doors on the
exit to the lobby. These doors need to have at least a two-hour fire resistance to prevent
smoke and fire from entering the staircases, and vice versa. To prevent the entry of fire
and smoke, extension of the staircase to the basement is prohibited. A separate
staircase, not connected to the main staircase, should connect the basement to the
upper floors.
Elevators Exit routes

Every high-rise should have a minimum of one lift (or All escape routes should be
elevator) which can carry eight persons or a maximum marked with a signboard on
weight of 545 kgs. The landing doors of the lift the corridor and passage to
enclosures should open into a ventilated lobby and guide during evacuation. The
have a 30-minute fire resistance. The exit from the lift escape route lighting should be
lobby should be through a self-closing smoke-stop on separate circuits and
door of a 30-minute resistance. The lift should also independently connected so
have a switch at the ground floor level to ground the that it can be operated by one-
lift car in case of an emergency. One fire lift of eight- switch installation on the
person capacity (545 kgs) for 1,200 square metres of ground floor, making it easily
floor area should be provided and be available accessible to the fire personnel.
exclusively for the fire personnel to contain the fire. The staircase and the corridor
Lifts should have solid doors with at least one-hour fire lighting shall be connected to
resistance. No lift should have collapsible gates. an alternative supply.

Service ducts and electricity supply

If service ducts are provided in the building, they need to be enclosed by walls of at least two-hour fire
rating and doors of one-hour fire rating. All such ducts/shafts shall be properly sealed and fire stopped at
all floor levels to prevent possible travel of smoke and fire from lower floors to upper floors.
In case of power failure, alternate power supply also needs to be provided through a generator to supply
power for staircase lighting, corridor lighting, fire pump, pressurisation fan and blowers.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/09/nyregion/trapped-by-a-fire-inside-apartment-20d.html
Refuge Area
Provisions contained in 4.12.3 shall apply for all buildings except multi-family dwellings, refuge area
of not less than 15 m2 shall be provided on the external walls.

For buildings more than 24 m in height, refuge

area of 15 m2 or an area equivalent to 0.3 m2 per person to accommodate the occupants of two
consecutive floors, whichever is higher, shall be provided as under:

The refuge area shall be provided on the periphery of the floor or preferably on a cantilever
projection and open to air at least on one side protected with suitable railings.
a) For floors above 24 m and Up to 39 m —
One refuge area on the floor immediately
above 24 m.

b) For floors above 39 m — One refuge area on

the floor immediately above 39 m and so on
after every 15 m. Refuge area provided in
excess of the requirements shall be counted
towards FAR.

NOTE—Residential flats in multi storied building with balcony, need not be provided with refuge
area, However flats without balcony shall provided with refuge area as given above
Fire Tower
Fire towers are the preferred type of escape route for
storeyed buildings and these shall be considered as the
safest route for escape. Their number, location and size
shall depend on the building concerned, and its associated
escape routes.

4.13.1 In high rise buildings with over 8 storeys or 24 m in

height, at least one required means of egress shall
preferably be a fire tower.

4.13.2 The fire towers shall be constructed of walls with a

2 h fire resistance rating without openings other than the
exit doorways, with platforms, landings and balconies
having the same fire-resistance rating.
http://www.akritishantiniketan.com/separate.php
 Fire Assembly Area:

The main goal of an evacuation is to facilitate the safe exit of people

from the emergency site to bring them to a more secure location
referred to as the assembly area. Without this pre-planned destination
at the end of the evacuation, chaos, panic, and more threats can ensue.
It could potentially put people back into harm’s way or worst, hinder
emergency response operations. Take note that not all places around
your facility are deemed to be a safe venue for evacuees to occupy
during an emergency procedure.

1 Distance and Accessibility

In picking an assembly area, you must consider its distance from the
emergency site and size. The venue should not be too close to the
emergency site, but not too far for walking either. It should be accessible
and as close to the boundary of the evacuation area as possible. The
destination must also be easily identifiable to the community to avoid
evacuees from getting lost. It should make entry easier for the
emergency response team.
2 Safety
Safety is one of the most important
emergency assembly area requirements to
fulfil. Assess whether the venue is safe for
evacuees. Not only that, but you must also
ensure that the path to the assembly area
does not pose further threat or risk to people.
Are there obstacles along the way? Are the 4 Contingency plan
evacuees going to cross a bridge or a high The ECO must make sure that there is a contingency plan for
traffic road to reach the assembly point? How the assembly area. In case the first planned destination ends
about the structure of the venue? Is it strong up being inaccessible or blocked, at least there’s another one
enough to hold the number of evacuees that evacuees could go to. Tenants and personnel must be
expected to use it as temporary shelter? How duly informed about the primary and secondary assembly
about the facilities surrounding the assembly points.
area? Are they going to be a threat to the Informing tenants and staff about exit routes is futile if they
evacuees? Should the venue be an open don’t have a clue on where to go after vacating the
space? emergency site. Ensuring that everyone in the building is
duly informed about the evacuation plan including the
3 Space primary and secondary areas would make the evacuation
safer and faster for everyone.
The assembly area is where the Emergency
Control Organisation (ECO) will conduct the
headcount of evacuees. Basic first aid
treatments are also done there. Hence, the
venue must be spacious enough to
accommodate tenants, personnel, members
of the emergency response team, as well as
the equipment of the emergency response
team.
Travel Time:
The total occupants from a particular floor must
evacuate within …
2.5 minutes for Type 1 construction,
I.5 minutes for Type 2 construction and
1 minute for Type 3 construction.
Size of the exit door exit way shall be calculated
accordingly keeping in view the travel distance as per
Table 22.
Fire Lifts — Following details shall apply for a fire lift:
1) To enable fire services personnel to reach the upper floors with the
minimum delay, one fire lift per 1200 m of floor area shall be provided
and shall be available
for the exclusive use of the firemen in an emergency.

2) The lift shall have a floor area of not less than 1.4 m2. It shall have
loading capacity of not less than 545 kg (8 persons lift) with automatic
closing doors of
minimum 0.8 m width.

3) 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 the
lift shaft.
Lights and fans in the elevators having wooden panelling or sheet steel
construction shall be operated on 24 V supply.

4) Fire fighting lift should be provided with a ceiling hatch for use in
case of
emergency, so that when the car gets stuck up, it shall be easily
operable.
To preserve views for other buildings in the development, the author designed several four-unit townhouses (see
floor plan, above) with sloping rooflines at the building ends. Roof and floor loads are borne by the fire-resistance-
rated unit separation walls. Because the building has fire sprinklers (mandated by Massachusetts law), the wall
separating the dwelling units needs only a one-hour fire rating. The wall is constructed with 2x4 studs, fiberglass
batts, and 5/8-inch Type X drywall on both faces. Engineered wood ledgers support the floor framing running from
wall to wall.
Fire separating wall: The wall
provides complete separation of
one building from another or part
of a building from another or part
of a building from an other part of
the same building to prevent any
communication of fire or heat
transmission to wall itself which
may cause or assist in the
combustion of materials on the side
opposite to that portion which may
be on fire.(NBC 2005).

Fire separating wall: They have minimum fire

resistance of 4-hrs. Combustible materials on
the other side of the fire separating wall can be
segregated before the wall collapses, and the
fire enters the segregated compartment. This
reduces the overall damage and material
losses.(NBC 2016).