Unprotected escape route
To help develop this article, click ‘Edit this article’ above.
Approved document B, Fire Safety, Volume 2, Buildings other than dwellinghouses, defines an escape route as:
‘...that part of the means of escape from any point in a building to a final exit’ where a final exit is, ‘The termination of an escape route from a building giving direct access to a street, passageway, walkway or open space and sited to ensure the rapid dispersal of persons from the vicinity of a building so that they are no longer in danger from fire and/or smoke.’
Escape routes can be protected or unprotected, where an unprotected escape routes is:
The unprotected part of an escape route, ‘…which a person has to traverse before reaching either the safety of a final exit or the comparative safety of a protected escape route, i.e. a protected corridor or protected stairway. Unprotected escape routes should be limited in extent so that people do not have to travel excessive distances while exposed to the immediate danger of fire and smoke. Even with protected horizontal escape routes, the distance to a final exit or protected stairway needs to be limited because the structure does not give protection indefinitely.'
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Approved documents.
- Automatic release mechanism.
- Building evacuation.
- Fire.
- Fire compartment.
- Fire detection and alarm systems.
- Fire door.
- Fire Door Inspection Scheme.
- Fire Prevention on Construction Sites.
- Fire protection engineering.
- Fire resistance.
- Firefighting route.
- Inner room.
- Joint fire code.
- Means of escape.
- Protected escape route.
- The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
- Visual alarm devices - their effectiveness in warning of fire.
- Vomitory.
Featured articles and news
This CIOB article explores the concept of value in building design and construction.
BREEAM and Measurabl announce integration to improve the financial performance of commercial real estate.
Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners' release new images of soon-to-open 3WTC tower in New York.
A document can be called a bond or a guarantee. Does the name matter and what is the difference between them?
New briefing note is launched focusing on increasing knowledge of housing that promotes health and wellbeing.
Arbitration is a private, contractual form of dispute resolution used in the construction industry.
The European Parliament has approved a revised Energy Performance of Buildings directive.
One in six MPs supports the ring-fencing of retentions as proposed in the 'Aldous Bill'.
A stakeholder is anyone who has an interest in the process or outcome of a construction project.
BRE launches online self-assessment tool for ethical labour sourcing.
Tower refurbishment failed to meet safety standards on several counts, according to leaked report.