5.1 Introduction
R 1
GENERAL
This appendix
specifics the special requirements for the fire protection in buildings more
than 20 m
in height
R 5. 2 CONSTRUCTION
R 2.1 Construction
of all load bearing components like stairways, corridors and facades shall be
of noncombustible materials.
R 2,2 Internal
staircase walls shall be made of bricks or reinforced concrete with a minimum
of 2 hour fire rating.
R 2.3 The crown and
landings of a staircase shall be ventilated to atmosphere with 0.5 m openings
in the external walls and crown. Because of difficult location or other
compelling reasons, if it becomes impossible to ventilate
the staircase, a positive pressure of 50 pa shall be maintained inside the staircase by any approved means. Pressure sensitive Automatic
Fire Alarm System shall
be installed in the staircase. Stair roof shall be 1 m above the surrounding
roof level. Use of glazing or fire bricks in
the stair shall not be permitted.
R 2.4
Materials used for inner finish shall be restricted to Class 1 rating of
flarne spread ability.
R 3 LIFTS
Lifts installed in
tall buildings shall comply with the following requirements over and above those listed .
R 3.1 Walls enclosing the lift core shall have a
fire resistance rating of 2 hours. Lift shaft shall have a top vent area of not less than 0.2 m-.
R 3.2 The room
containing the motor operating the lift shall preferably be placed at the roof
of the lift core and shall be separated from the rest of the lift
core by a floor wall having same fire rating as that of [he
lift core walls.
R 3.3 Landing doors in lift core shall have at
least half an hour fire resistance rating.
R 3.4 Not more than
4 independent lifts can be assembled together in one lift bank core and the
core walls of individual lifts shall have a fire resistance
rating of at least 2 hour.
R 3.5
Lift car doors shall have a fire resistance rating of at least 1 hour.
R3.6 For lift in
tall buildings above 20 m in height, collapsible gates shall not be permitted.
Instead solid doors of fire resistance rating equal to that of
Sec A 3.5 shall be installed.
R 3.7 When lifts are located in a central core location of building,
exits from lift lobby shall be through a self closing smoke
door of half an hour fire resistance.
R 3.8 Lifts shall not normally serve the basement,
R 3.9 Grounding
switch of the lifts hall be provided at ground flo'or level so that fire
personnel can bring the lifts to ground level at the time of emergency.
R 3.10 Telephone or other voice communications facilities may be provided
in lifts installed in buildings of 26m or more in
height. The communication system, in such cases shall be connected to ground
command station.
R 3.11 Appropriate slope in floor shall be provided to avoid water
entering the lift shaft during fire fighting.
R highrise building showing the floor plan and exit stairways.
Cautions regarding use of lifts during a fire shall be
inscribed in the signs.
R 4 FIRE LIFTS
R 4.1 One or more lifts shall be exclusively designed and maintained for
the use of firemen is case of emergency. The lifts shall be so
designed and maintained as to be able to reach upper floors and are directly accessible to every dwelling or let table floor space on
each floor by fire personnel.
R 4.2 The lift or lifts shall
have a load carrying capacity of 545 kg (8 persons) with a minimum floor area of 1.4 m~ and auto close doors.
R 4.3 Power supply of the fire
lift shall be separated from the main source supplying the building.
R 4.4 In case of power failure from normal supply, it shall be so designed
as to trip automatically to alternate supply of power. In
tall apartment complexes such tripover could be accomplished by manually operated changeover switch. Other alternative could be an
electric wiring which shall be so designed as to bring the
lift car to ground level with door open in case of power failure.
R 4.5 Fire lifts shall be operated on a two-button switch system. Two
button switch is placed adjacent to the lift at
floor level and kept in a glass covered box. When the switch is on landing call
points become inoperative and the lift is controlled from the
car. When the switch is off the lift returns back to
normal operation and can be used by occupants at normal times.
R 4.6 On landing doors at each floor, the sign "FIRE LIFT" shall
be painted conspicuously in such sizes as to be easily noticeable by occupants
or users of the lift.
R 4.7 Irrespective
of height lift speed shall be such as to reach the top floor from ground level
in 1 minute.
R 5 SERVICE DUCTS
If there is any
service duct, they shall comply with the following provisions.
R 5.1 Services ducts, if any,
shall be enclosed by a 2 hour rated fire walls and doors. Ducts having area more than shall be closed at each floor level except the passage of pipes
etc. across the floors. The passage gaps of pipes, cables etc. shall be
suitably sealed.
R 5.2 A vent
opening at the crown of the service shaft shall be provided with an opening,
the of which shall be between 25 and 50 per cent of the duct
area.
R 5.3
Air-conditioning or other service shafts shall be located as far away as
possible from the exits of a building.
R 6 REFUSE CHUTES
Refuse chutes shall
be enclosed by wall of fire resistance rating of at least 2 hours and shall extend at least 1 m above roof level and shall be open to atmosphere.
Chutes in no case shall be located within the staircase
enclosure. Inspection panels and doors to refuse chutes shall be at least 1 hours fire resistance rating.
R 7 REFUSE AREA
Except multi-family
dwelling, all other buildings shall incorporate provision of refuge area on the external walls as cantilever projection or any other suitable manner.
Refuge area shall not be less than 15 m^ at the heights mentioned below:
Floors between 20
and 26 rn One refuge
area on the floor immediately above 20 m.
Floors above 26 m One
refuge area on the floor immediately above 26 m
and then one refuge
area per five floor above 26 m.
R 8 BASEMENTS
D 8.1 Each basement
shall be independently ventilated. Venting shall be achieved by grills,
breakable stall board lights or pavement lights or by way of shafts
of aggregates having cross-sectional area of not less than
2.5 per cent of floor area spread evenly around the perimeter of the basement.
Alternatively air flow inlet at floor level and smoke outlet at ceiling level
may be provided. Inlets and extracts may be terminated at ground level with stall
boards and pavement light, but ducts for conveyance of
fresh air to floor shall have to be laid. Stall boards and pavement lights
shall be so positioned as to be easily accessible by fire brigade personnel.
R 8.2 Basement staircase shall be encased and placed near the outer edge
of the basement with materials of 2 hours fire resistance. The stair shall be
entered at the ground level from open air so that the
smoke from a fire in the basement shall not obstruct any exit serving the
ground and upper floors. Communication with the basement in case of
emergency shall be maintained through a lobby provided with a
fire resisting self closing door of 1 hour fire resistance. Additional staircases shall be provided at appropriate locations if
travel distance exceeds 20 m.
R 8.3 Single intake duct may serve all the floors of a multi-storey
basement, but separate smoke outlet duct or ducts shall be provided for each
basement or basement compartment.
R 8.4 For lower basement floors, mechanical extractors for smoke venting
shall be provided. The system shall operate automatically by heat sensitive
elements or sprinklers. Devices with manual operation may also
be installed. The following features shall also be considered. Ventilating ducts shall be constructed with (he
brick masonry or cement concrete work as far as possible. Fire dampers shall
be provided when these ducts cross the transformer or electrical switch board areas.
Kitchen using gas, departmental
stores and shops shall not bo allowed to operate in basement or sub-basement. Open able windows on external walls shall be fitted with
such locks which can be opened by fire man axe. Floor area exceeding 750 m- shall be compartmented by fire separation
walls having 2 hours fire rating. Floor
areas provided with sprinklers may be increased by 50 per cent. In long
buildings distance between firewalls shall not exceed 40 m.
buildings distance between firewalls shall not exceed 40 m.
R 9 BUILDING SERVICES
Building services in tall buildings shall comply with the
following provisions.
R 9.1
Air-conditioning shall conform to the following:
Escape passageways
like staircases, common corridors, lift lobbies shall not be used as return air passage. Gauge metal of thickness and quality approved by the
authority' shall only be used in ducting. Openings exerted by the passage of ducts across fire
walls or floors shall be properly sealed with fire resisting
materials like vermiculite concrete or asbestos fiber materials. Duct insulation (inside and outside) materials shall be of
noncombustible nature {such as glass wool) which shall not be
wrapped or secured around the duct by any material of combustible nature. Metallic ducts shall be used as far as possible instead of using the
space above false ceiling as return air passage. Individual floor areas more than 750m^ shall be partitioned for
isolation by fire walls and automatic fire dampers.
Air ducts serving
main floor areas and corridors shall not pass through the staircase enclosure.
h) Air handling units and ducts shall be
independent for each floor and there shall be no interconnection
of ducts between floors.
i) In case of air handling units serving more
than one floor, the system shall comply with the following
provisions, in addition to the conditions mentioned above.
1. Individual floors shall be
isolated from the main riser by incorporating automatic fire dampers working on fusible link
2. Respective air handling units
of air-conditioning system shall automatically be switched off as soon as the automatic fire alarm become active.
j) Treated fresh air conveyance through the
vertical shaft shall be of masonry
construction.
k) Ceiling and its fixtures shall be of non cornbustible
materials when these will be
used as return air
passage.
1)
The air filters of the air handling units shall be of noncombustible
materials, m) Air
handling equipment room shall not store any combustible material.
n) To have access to main fire dampers and for
cleaning the duct of accumulated dusts, the main air duct trunk
shall be fitted with appropriate inspection panels of tight fitting nature.
R 9.2 Fire Dampers
Fire dampers shall
be located in the line of air-condition ducts and return air ducts or passage
in the following places:
At the fire
separation wall,
Where ducts or
passages entre the central vertical shaft,
Where the ducts
pass through floors, and At the inlet of supply air ducts and the- return air duct
of each compartment in every floor.
R 9.2.1
Auto-operation dampers shall come into operation when air handling fans shall
switch off. Devices with manual operations shall also be made
available. Blowers using extraction and dust accumulation
system shall be provided with dampers.
R 9.2.2 For smoke extraction, smoke dampers shall be installed in
building of 26 m or more in height. In apartment houses,
non-ventilated lobbies and corridors shall be covered by smoke dampers operated
by fusible link and also manual control. In other buildings operation of
dampers shall be manual in nature.
R 9.2.3 Operated by fusible link, automatic fire dampers shall be so
arranged as to be closed by gravity in The direction of air
movement and shall remain tightly closed.
R 10 GAS SUPPLY
R 10.1 Gas supply in tall buildings shall be from city gas main or L.P gas
and shall conform to the provisions detailed in Chapter 8, Part 8.
R 10.2 Gas pipe lines shall run in exclusive shafts on external walls and
shall be away from staircase. These shafts, shall be
exclusive for each floor. L.P. gas distribution pipes in shortest possible run shall always be below false ceiling. Entire cooking range area in the
kitchen shall be covered by an exhaust system of 50 rnm/
permr of hood projected area. The hood
shall be fitted with metallic grease filter to trap oil vapor of the fume.
R 10.3 Power line wiring in the fume hood shall be in fiber glass
insulation. Kitchens for hotels, hospitals or such
other places in high rise buildings shall have heat detectors fixed in fume
hood which will automatically cutoff LP gas and trip off
exhaust fan in case of fire. Actuation of the devices
shall be 24v or l00v DC with external rectifier.
R 11 BOILER
LOCATION AND BOILER ROOMS
The following
provisions shall be complied with for location and housing of boilers.
R 11.1 Boilers shell! be allowed to be installed in basement
away from escape route but shall not be allowed in sub-basement.
R 11.2 Boiler room shall he situated on the periphery of the basement and
shall have a 4 hour fire resistance wall. Floor shall be sloped to a catch pit.
R 11.3 fresh air supply to the boiler room, it shall be fitted with air
inlets and srnoke exhaust system directly open to the
atmosphere.
R 11.4 Entry to boiler room shall be through a 2
hour fire resistance composite door.
R 11.5 Furnace oil
for boiler, if stored in oil tank in an adjacent room, shall be separated by a
4 hour fire resistance wall. Entrance to this room shall be controlled
by double composite doors. To prevent spread of accidental spillage of furnace
oil, a suitable curb shall be erected at the entrance door opening.
R TI.6 For the
convenience of Fire Department personnel to work with foam from outside the
building, suitable foam inlet facilities shall be in built on the
external wall.
R 12 STAIRCASE
AND CORRIDOR LIGHTS
Staircase and
corridor lights shall comply with the following provisions.
R 12.1 The staircase and corridor lighting shall be connected to a
separate independent circuit so that at times of emergency the fire fighting
personnel can operate the same from an easily accessible location on the ground
floor disregarding individual control of light points. The circuit shall be
equipped with a miniature circuit breaker type of switch.
R 12.2 To avoid connection to two sources of supply at the same time,
lighting installed in the staircase and corridor shall be suitably mounted on a
double throw switch. To terminate standby supply, double throw switch shall be
installed in the service room.
R 12.3 Staircase and corridor lighting shall also
be connected with an alternate supply.
R 12.4 Staircase and corridors
shall be provided with emergency lights.
R 13 ELECTRICAL SERVICES
Electrical Services
shall confirm to the following provisions.
R 13.1 The electric distribution cables and wiring shall run through
separate ducts. The duct shall be sealed with
noncombustible materials at every floor level having the same fire resistance
rating of that of the duct. Low and medium voltage wiring running in shafts and
false ceiling shall run in separate conduits.
R 13.2 The duct carrying the electric cable shall not contain any other
services like water mains, telephone lines, intercom
lines, gas pipes etc.
R 13-3 Electric power supply to water pumps, lifts, staircases, corridor
lighting and blowers to keep pressure system running shall
directly be provided through main switch gear panel. Power lines shall be laid in separate conduit pipes, so
that her in one circuit will not affect the others. Master switch circuit
elements shall be dearly labeled.
R 13.4 Openings and inspection panel doors in the shaft shall be fitted
with air-tight fire doors having fire rating of at least 2 hours.
R 13.5 Medium and low voltage power lines in the shaft and within false
ceiling shall run within metal conduits. 220v wiring for lighting and other
services above false ceiling shall have a 660v grade insulation. The false
ceiling and all the materials and fixtures used its suspension shall be of noncombustible materials.
R 13.6 Electricity supply from the public authority and alternate supply
cables shall lead to an independent well ventilated room on the ground floor for
the purpose of termination for eventual distribution into the
building. The door fitted in the service room shall be at least 2 hours fire resistance rated.
R 13.7 It the power authority agrees to install meters on upper floors,
the authority and consumer cable lines shall be
segregated by a partition in the duct. Meter rooms on upper floors shall not
open on staircase and shall be directly ventilated to open air
outside.
R 14 STANDBY GENERATOR
The standby
generator shall comply with the following.
R 14.1 A standby electric generator shall be installed to supply power for
staircase and corridor lighting, fire lifts, standby
fire pump, pressurization fans and blowers, smoke extraction and damper systems in case of failure of normal electricity supply.
R 14.2 The generator shall be capable of taking starting currents of all
the machines and circuits stated above
simultaneously.
R 14.3 When the standby pump is connected to diesel engine for supply of
power, the pump may be withdrawn from standby generator supply.
R 14.4 For emergency, if supply is available from a separate sub-station
with appropriate transformer, the provision of generator may
be waived with the approval of power authority.
R 15
TRANSFORMER
Transformers shall
conform to the following provisions.
R 15.1 Without proper oil drainage arrangement, a sub-station or a switch
station along with accompanying machines having more than 2000 liters oil
shall not be located in the basement of the building in normal circumstances.
Transformers, when housed below ground level, shall be housed in the first basement in a separate 4 hour rated room located on
the periphery of the basement floor. The entrance to this room shall have a
fire resisting door of 2 hour fire rating. To prevent
spread of accidental spillage of oil, a suitable curb shall be erected at the
door opening. Direct access preferably from outside shall be provided to
the transformer room. Switch gears and transformer bays
shall be separately housed with a 4 hour fire rated wall in between.
R 15.2 When housed in basement, transformer rooms shall be equipped with
automatic high velocity water spray system.
R 15.3 When a transformer is housed in complete segregation by a 4 hour
fire rated wall all around and has direct access from outside,
the transformer room may be protected by CC>2 (carbon dioxide), 13CF- (Bromo - chlorodifuoromethane) or 1JTM (Bromo-trifiouromethane)
fixed system.
R 15.4 When the transformer is on the ground level, the room shall be
completely segregated from rest of the premises by
4 hour fire rated walls all around
R 15.5 Oil filled transformers shall not be housed
above ground level.
R 15.6 Where aggregate oil capacities of all machines do not
exceed 200 litre, they shall be provided with a catch pit. When the aggregate
capacity exceeds 200 litre, an RCC tank capable of holding the entire need
shall be provided at lower level to collect the oil from catch pit in case of
emergency. The connection between catch pit and tank shall be of noncombustible
construction and provided with a flame arrester.
R 5.16 FIRST
AID FIRE FIGHTING APPLIANCES
First aid fire
fighting appliances shall be provided on all floors, basements, lift room etc.
as required by the authority. Location and distributions of
fire fighting appliances shall also be as required by the authority.
R 5.17 FIRE ALARM SYSTEM
Fire alarm system
shall comply with the following provisions.
R 17.1 All buildings with a height of more than 20 m shall be equipped
with manually operated electrical fire alarm system and automatic fire alarm
system. Offices and apartment buildings between 20 and 26 m
in height, however, may be exempted from installing automatic fire alarm system, if they do not pose threat towards safety of adjacent buildings
and inmates of the buildings itself are safe in the opinion of the
authority.
R 17.2 Manually operated electrical alarm system shall be installed in a
building with single or multiple call boxes located
on each floor and shall conform to:
location of call
boxes shall be decided after careful review of the floor plan so that all the occupant can approach to any one of the call box without having traveled
more than 22.5 m Usually call boxes shall be of the type having no moving
parts, but in case they have, they are to be approved by
the authority to ensure timely function. Usual boxes shall be "break
glass" type and the act of breaking the glass shall constitute
fire alarm transmission to the command station. All call boxes shall be wired in a closed circuit to a control panel in
the command station which clearly indicates the origin or location of the
alarm. The circuit shall be equipped with a rechargeable
batter}' with capacity for full normal working load for 2 days. The circuit may
be connected to an alternate source of supply. The call boxes shall be installed
1 m above the floor on the corridor or passage so that they are easily visible, yet do not obstruct the safe means of egress at
times of emergency .The call boxes are installed to actuate single or multiple
sounders so that all inmates can hear the alarm.
R 5.18 COMMAND STATION
All buildings above
26 m in height shall have a command station on the entrance lobby with suitable public address system having communication to all floors as
well as facilities to receive messages from all floors. The command station
shall be equipped with detailed floor plans along with clearly demarcated locations of fire detection and fighting devices
and through the panel board able to detect fire alarm from any floor. The
command station shall be manned with properly trained personnel having responsibility
of maintenance and operating fire fighting facilities within
the building.
R 5.19 CAKHTAKIIR/FIKE OFFICER
All residential,
business, hotels, and other buildings having height more than 53 m shall keep standby one trained fire officer round the clock. He shall be
responsible for maintaining fire fighting equipment in good working
condition all the time. Layout fire orders and operational plans. Impart training to inmates of the building in handling available
equipment and keep them informed of fire crisis and evacuation plan. Keep contact with local
fire authority.
R 5.20
HOUSEKEEPING
To reduce or
minimize fire hazard, good house keeping within and outside shall be strictly maintained by the occupants and owner of the building.
R 5.21 FIRE DRILLS
Fire notices or
orders shall be prepared in fulfillment of the requirements for fire fighting
and evacuation in case of fire or other emergency. Such notices and orders
shall be so displayed as to make the occupants well
conversant with needed action in the event of emergency.
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