Frequently Asked Questions
Statutory & Regulatory
The mandatory compliance of a building depends on the nature and use of the occupancy. For buildings in the Union of India, one can refer the National Building Code of India, 2016, Part 4, Clause 1.2 to know the nature of buildings which comes under the purview of the code of compliance.
The requirement of compliance is decided by the Authority of Jurisdiction (AHJ) of the local area. In the union of India, this is typically the Fire & Emergency Services department of the State Government. The decision on requirement of compliance is not decided by the owner or occupier of the building, but by the legislation and regulatory authority.
The responsibility of installation and maintenance of fire safety measures in buildings lies with the owner and/or occupier of the building. The responsibility is specific to various local jurisdiction, and hence, they may vary depending on the location, area or state in which the building is constructed. You may contact the local enforcing authority in your area.
It is unfortunate that owners and occupiers of buildings approach compliance of fire safety more as a statutory and legal compulsion. In reality, compliance of fire safety measure in a building is primarily required for the safety of its occupiers and to protect the property from risks of fire hazard. Hence, non-compliance of fire safety in a building which comes under the purview of the act, not only attract legal and penal actions from enforcing authority, but most importantly put the life of the people occupying the building at risk.
In most of the cases, the major fire safety compliance issues for old existing buildings is the absence of fundamental prerequisite like alternate egress routes for evacuation, protected staircases and availability of dedicated water source for firefighting purpose. For existing buildings, the enforcing authority assess these issues with due diligence and suggests means and measures to alleviate them with minimal changes which are practical and feasible. However, it most of the cases, due to the non-traditional approach, implementation of such measures involves high price points.
One must understand that fire is an accident and might occur in spite of the best precautions. Occurrence of fire does not have any co-relation with fire safety clearances from local authority. Fire Safety is a continual process of improving and upkeeping the mitigation measures required to combat the ever-changing risks and hazards of a building. If the installed fire protection measures in building under question respond positively during a fire incident, it is imperative that the occupancy is well prepared to combat a fire scenario. However, if the installed protection measures did not respond as desired, then an investigation will be carried out by the enforcing agency to understand whether the protection measure was not maintained by the building or any design flaw exists which prevented the system from responding. On instances, where there is fault on the part of the building to either maintain or change in risk, the enforcing authority might penalize the building as per provisions of the law applicable under its jurisdiction.
As per the existing provisions of National Building Code of India, 2016, Part 4, Clause E-7, for all high rise building above 15 m height, it is mandatory to carry out fire safety audit. The frequency of such audits should be once every two years and is to be undertaken by third party auditor having requisite experience in fire and life safety inspections.
As per provisions of the National Building Code of India, 2016, Part 4, Clause 1.2, all existing buildings and new constructions, in the Union of India, coming under the purview of the above clause needs fire safety clearance from local fire service authority.
For buildings in the Union of India, the primary referral code of practice is National Building Code of India, 2016, Part 4. Additionally, for implementation of various fire protection measures the relevant Code of Practice for Selection, Installation and Maintenance of Bureau of Indian Standards needs to be referred. If the occupancy under consideration has specific quality and compliance requirement to fire safety, they may follow international codes like NFPA, FM and BS.
The enforcing authority and codes standards provides building owners with the guideline that needs to be followed for arrangement of fire safety measures in a building. However, it is pertinent that the interpretation of the such codes and standards its implication to fire safety is not possible for the building owners to understand and decipher. Engagement of consultants help building owners to tangibly understand the interpretation of codes and its provisions. Fire Consultant carries out feasibility study, assessment of risks, scientific calculations, designs and drawing based on the codes and standards and provides building owners a quantitative summary of the tangible outcomes. Contractors on the other hand are system integrators who executes and implements measures based on the guidelines provided by consultants.
Knowledge Based
The requirement of fire sprinkler is dependent on the type of occupancy and the associated fire risk and hazard. For buildings in the Union of India, the requirement of fire sprinklers in an occupancy can be found in the Table 7 of National Building Code of India, 2016, Part 4.
Hydraulic Calculation of water base system provides the designer a precise information on various parameters of the system with regards to frictional loss, flow, pressure and velocity at various location of the piping network. Hence, without a hydraulic calculation, code compliance requirement cannot be quantitatively established.
The requirement of fire water for an occupancy can be derived from Needed Fire Flow (NFF) equation, which is one of the many formulas, which is used to calculate the amount of water required for suppression of fire in an occupancy. As a generic reference, one can refer Table 7 of National Building Code of India, 2016, Part 4 for fire water requirement of buildings in the Union of India.
The requirement of static water reservoir for fire-fighting and its capacity and location has been explicitly mentioned in the building codes for various nature and category of occupancies. Further, replenishment arrangement of fire water is also required. In buildings, where it is not feasible to provide static fire water reservoir, a gas-based suppression system may be envisaged. However, gas-based suppression may not be effective in all areas of the occupancies, especially in non-compartmented open areas. Further, gas-based suppression system has very high price points and expensive to maintain.
If the local fire authority and the risk assessment permits, the building may be provided with dry mains with fire inlets at strategic locations for injection of water from external source in case of an emergency.
To limit potential damage to property and life, during a fire scenario, one of the first actions the fire responders undertake on arrival at a fire scene, is disconnection of electrical supply. Needless to mention, without electrical supply, the emergency evacuation lights guiding occupants through egress routes, fire pumps, electrically operated auto suppression systems, pressurization fans will be defunct and cannot perform operations for which they are intended for. An alternate source of power supply, like diesel generators, powers the emergency systems during emergency.
Fire Protection implementation in a building comprises of parameters which are varied and specifically depends on building characteristics, its risk and hazards. Depending on the complexity matrix, the risks are assessed and design considerations are made. Hence, without a physical design, quantitative assessment of implementation cost is practically cannot be determined. Thus derivation of unit area cost is not only a unscientific but an impractical proposition which should not be encouraged.
It has been statistically established that 85 to 88 percent of root cause of fire in buildings arises out of electrical reason. Whether it the use of an improper capacity circuit breaker or the use of lower amperage electrical cabling, majority of fire occurrence points to electrical shortcomings. Hence it is imperative, that a periodical proper assessment of electrical installation and arrangement in a building can eradicate the probability of fire occurrence up to 85 percent.
Fire doors are required for confinement of smoke and heat during a fire scenario within a compartment. During fire, heat and toxic smoke travel through unprotected opening like service shafts, lift well and stair wells to other parts of the occupancy creating untenable condition for safe evacuation of occupants. Installation of fire door, especially at the entrance of stair wells prevent percolation of heat and smoke to stairs thereby creating a safe travel path for occupants to use the protected staircase to evacuate the affected building. Thus, the purpose of fire doors and fire equipment are completely different and does not have any correlation.
Refilling of fire extinguishers for occupancies located in the Union of India needs to be done as per provisions of BIS 2190-2010 Annex D vide Clause No. 11.4.1 and Clause No. 12.3. As per the provisions of the Code, different types of extinguishers need to be refilled either once is every two, three or five years. For details of the refilled schedule one can refer Annex D of BIS 2190-2010.
Technical
Fire Sprinklers or QB (Quartzoid Bulb) Detectors have different temperature ratings. Rating of a sprinkler typically determines the temperature at which the glass bulb of the QB detector will rupture to actuate the sprinkler head. Depending on the temperature rating of the QB detectors, the liquid colour inside the glass bulb varies. Typically, Orange, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue, Mauve and Black are the colours for temperature rating of 57, 68, 79, 93, 141, 182, 204 degrees centigrade respectively.
Pump head or static head of fire pumps denoted in meters, defines the maximum height at which the pump can lift water against gravity. Realistically put, from the perspective of fire hydraulics, it is the maximum pressure the pump can generate with the specified flow rate of the pump.
Pressurization in buildings in made to prevent smoke from percolating and leaking passed closed doors into stairs of a building. This is done by injecting fresh air through a ducting system to the stair well or lift well such that pressure in the stair well or lift well is greater than the adjacent compartment. Ideally the pressure difference should be 50 Pa.
A concept introduced in the 2016 version of National Building Code, a fire tower or fire shaft is an enclosed shaft of 120 mins fire resistance capacity comprising of a protected lobby, staircase, and fireman’s lift directly connected to the exit discharge or exit passageway.
As per the provisions of Clause 2.6 of National Building Code of India, Part 4, the height of a building in a hilly terrain should be calculated from the lowest level that is approachable by a Fire Service Vehicle to the terrace level.