Architectural Drawing Conventions

Drawing Contraventions When involved in Fire Safety it is an important skill to be able to read architectural drawings correctly and the following drawing conventions should help you in that task. The source for these drawing conventions are BS 1192 : 5 : 1998. Construction drawing practice. Guide for structuring and exchange of CAD data. [...]

Graphical Symbols and Abbreviations Standard BS 1635:1990

Introduction The current standard is BS 1635 : 1990 and has been produced with the agreement of the Fire Standards Policy Committee and replaces BS 1635: 1970. During preparation the international standard ISO 6790 “Graphical symbols for fire protection plans”, was considered and those symbols have been used wherever possible, with consideration of the content [...]

The British Standards Specification

When installing any fire safety items or equipment in a premises it is very important that it meets the highest quality standard and is installed correctly. Also when it is called upon, in a fire situation, it will achieve its function and will operate as expected. This is achieved by ensuring the equipment and the [...]

British Standard 476 Fire Tests

When designing a building a very important consideration is how it will behave in fire and ensure the elements of structure will not collapse but remain standing or hold back the fire for a prescribed time. The building regulations stipulates the rules and the degree of fire resistance of the elements of structure. However the [...]

Community Fire Safety

All Fire and Rescue Services throughout the UK have a policy on community fire safety which involves working with local communities to address fire safety issues in their area. For a long time, they have aimed to educate people about the dangers of fire, using a mixture of approaches. Fire station staff play a pivotal [...]

Fire Investigation

The knowledge required to conduct a fire investigation is considerable and is outside the remit of this guidance. There are many books on the subject an excellent example is The Principles of Fire Investigation by R. A. Cooke and Rodger H. Ide. You can amass a large amount of information on the theory of fire [...]

History of Fire Safety Legislation

Current statutory provisions within the United Kingdom have evolved from measures introduced slowly over many centuries. Most fire safety legislation was introduced as the result of a major fire or fires that killed a large number of people. It is known as stable door legislation, (Closing the door after the horse has bolted), because it [...]

What is a Fire Engineer

It is not an easy task to define fire engineering which should become clear when the following is considered. It could be argued that any person involved in the fire safety industry could call themselves fire engineers and because they do not belong to a professional body does not negate this. In the profession there [...]

Role Structure in the British Fire Service

Insignia worn in the British Fire and Rescue Service At the turn of the century the Fire Brigade was a branch of the the Police Force (thus fire bobby) and the rank structure was that of police. When the Fire Service was made independent of the police a new rank structure and markings was designed [...]

UK Fire & Rescue Service’s Details

Fire Brigades in England A B C D E G H I K L M N O S T W Avon Fire and Rescue Service Avon Fire and rescue Service Temple Back Bristol BS1 6EU Tel: 0117 926 2061 | View Website Bedfordshire & Luton Fire and Rescue Service Bedfordshire & Luton Fire and Rescue [...]

Information about the Fire Triangle/Tetrahedron and Combustion

In order to understand how fire extinguishers work, you first need to know a little about combustion. Unfortunately, it is impossible in this short introduction to completely describe all the complex chemical and physical reactions that take place during a fire. However this page will attempt to introduce the fundamental theories of fire and explosion. [...]

Graphical Symbols and Abbreviations for Fire Protection Drawings

Architects have their own abbreviations, symbols and drawing conventions to enable all persons in their profession to understand drawings produced for their use. Drawing Conventions are subject to BS 1192 : 2007 Collaborative production of architectural, engineering and construction information. Clicking on the above link will provide you with some information on this standard. I [...]

What to expect if a Fire Safety Inspector Calls

This is a brief guide for Responsible Persons (RP) as designated under The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and indicates how most UK fire authorities will conduct themselves. Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) conduct regular inspections on high risk non domestic premises to ensure they comply with the above order. The inspection program is [...]

How to Write a Technical Report

Summary 1. The Need For Guidelines 1.1. Aims 1.2. Using this Report 2. Communications 2.1. The Channel and the Message 2.2. The Writer 2.3. The Reader 3. The Structure of the Whole Document 3.1. The Title 3.2. The Content 3.3. The Summary 3.4. The Conclusions 4. The Body of the Report 4.1. The Material Content [...]

Introduction to Fire Safety in the UK

If you are new to Fire Safety then you may find the following general information of use in giving you an understanding of the basics before you get involved in detailed matters regarding Fire Safety legislation. Current fire safety statutory provisions within the United Kingdom have evolved from measures introduced slowly over many years. Most [...]

The Enforcement Concordat

All enforcing authorities in the UK should abide by the Enforcement Concordat which was introduced by the government in 1998 and it is incumbent on them to apply it to their enforcement procedures. The Cabinet Office, in partnership with the Local Government Association and other principal local authority associations, business and consumer groups, published the [...]

Fire Safety Statistics for the United Kingdom

For information on the latest fire statistics go to Fire Statistics Monitor at the Department of Communities and Local Government. The Fire Statistics Monitorprovides the latest quarterly figures and also provides previous quarters. Fire statistics – a user guide for research Department of Communities and Local Government fire statistics provide a general purpose description of [...]