Fire regulations - glass partition

[Hugh B]

I'm looking for advice on fire regulations for a renovation project.

Building: 3 story, end of terrace Victorian house. 3rd story is a loft conversion.

An existing stud partition separates the entrance hallway from the living room (which is located at the front of the house). I'd like to replace this with a crittal style glass partition with matching door.

The stairs run through the middle of the house. Coming down the stairs you arrive at the end of the entrance hallway. Left takes you to the front door and past the living room entrance. Right takes you into the kitchen and directly to the back door.

I've been advised (by a builder) that the frame and glass of the partition may need to be fire resistant which, of course, will add considerably to the cost. Can anyone suggest whether this advice is correct?


Many thanks.

 

[londoner1]

I had a similar issue, put a window into a room on 3rd floor landing of loft conversion, its 600mm x 600mm and double glazed, passed with no questions with BC.

On paper it should be fire resistant, a fire resistant pane with wire mesh would have cost me £33 only. Yours may be different, if it s a big pane then that would cost more and will be subject to more scrutiny.

 

[^woody^]

Yes, you need a protected exit route, where walls, doorsets, floors, ceilings, partitions, should have at least 30 minutes fire resistance.

Whether your life and that of occupants is worth the "considerable" extra cost, is a valid point.

 

[tony1851]

If you are looking to form a protected escape route, then Georgian wired glass in large panes is not acceptable (though your BCO may inadvertantly say it's OK).
Strictly, you would need true fire-resisting glass such as Pyroguard, which is very expensive, and is usually only found in commercial/leisure buildings.

An alternative is to have the house sprinklered if you want to maintain an open-plan layout.

 

[Hugh B]

Appreciate the responses.

On the point about protecting the exit; a rear exist is also accessible and doesn't require passing by the proposed glass partition to access. Does this have any impact on the requirement?

I've attached an example of what I'm trying to achieve.

 

[Nakajo]

It's pretty easy to provide 30 mins fire resistance to this detail. I won't pretend it's cheap. It's not. But nothing in that photograph is cheap. Speak to Clements or Crittall

 

[^woody^]

On the point about protecting the exit; a rear exist is also accessible and doesn't require passing by the proposed glass partition to access. Does this have any impact on the requirement?

It's not about passing, but the whole route from upstairs to the external doors is required to be protected from flame and smoke.

 

[AxisGlass]

we get this question regularly from customers wanting to bring extra light into an area but without the budget. We would be very interested to hear from anyone who has come up with an attractive solution that does not break the bank.

 

[^woody^]

we get this question regularly from customers wanting to bring extra light into an area but without the budget. We would be very interested to hear from anyone who has come up with an attractive solution that does not break the bank.

An LED daylight bulb

 

[chappers]

With regards

Appreciate the responses.

On the point about protecting the exit; a rear exist is also accessible and doesn't require passing by the proposed glass partition to access. Does this have any impact on the requirement?

I've attached an example of what I'm trying to achieve.

Only if the alternate escape route can be accessed without going through a habitable room or kitchen AND the risk area can be isolated from that escape route by 1/2 hour protection.
As Woody says the risk is up to you as no one would know and as mentioned there are ways to minimise the risk with say sprinklers or interlinked smoke alarms in all habitable rooms and the kitchen