Pell Frischmann On Fire Extinguishers
Leaving aside for now the discussions about extinguishers in the common parts of blocks of flats and the issue of whether or not your fire risk assessment requires you to provide extinguishers at all, have you ever wondered if you have too many or maybe not enough fire extinguishers?
I realise that in the scheme of building management costs extinguisher supply and servicing fall towards the bottom of the list for potential savings, but in these lean times every little helps!
Have you ever wondered how many fire extinguishers you really need, the basics are not difficult to work out?
When selecting the types of extinguisher needed, you will need to consider the types of materials that might be involved in a fire and match the extinguishers to these.
In many cases an extinguisher that is suitable for wood, paper etc. (Class A) and something for use on an electrical fire will suffice. This will probably be water / foam for most risks, plus some Carbon Dioxide for electrical risks.
Extinguishers suitable for Class A fires always have a rating indicating the size of fire that they can extinguish. This rating is displayed on the extinguisher and will be the letter 'A' followed by a number, commonly 13 or 27. This indicates the size of fire that the extinguisher has been successfully tested on, for example a 13A extinguisher will have passed a test involving a 1.3 metre long standard test fire.
So, here's how to work out how many Class A extinguishers you need, if you want more information have a read of BS 5306 Part 8.
There should be at least two (with a minimum 13A rating) Class A extinguishers on each floor. In the case of a building in single occupancy with an upper floor area not exceeding 100 m2, it is possible to have just one (with a minimum 13A rating) on that floor.
For larger areas it's quite simple, take the floor area in square metres and multiply it by 0.065, this gives you the total 'A rating' needed for that floor. This figure is then divided by the rating of the extinguisher that you choose to give the number of extinguisher needed.
Here's an example for a floor area of 1500m2
Total A rating = 1500 x 0.065 = 97.5 A.
The number of extinguishers actually needed is the total A rating divided by the A rating of the chosen extinguisher. Always round the number of extinguishers figure up.
Using a 13 A rated extinguishers, the number of extinguishers = 97.5 / 13 = 8 (97.5 divided by 13 = 7.5 rounded up to 8).
Or if you are using 27A rated extinguishers you will need 4 (97.5 divided by 27 = 3.6 rounded up to 4).
The only other things to consider are that you will need to make sure an extinguisher can be reached within 30 metres of any potential fire and that these are the minimum numbers, your fire risk assessment may indicate that you need more.
By Mark Tutton, Associate
Pell Frischmann
Millars Three,
Southmill Rd,
Bishops Stortford,
Herts, CM23 3DH
Tel: 01279 507346
Fax: 01279758219
Website: www.pellfrischmann.com
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