FIRE SAFETY IN BUILDINGS

Each of these three elements must be present at the same time to have a
fire. A fire will burn until
one or more of the elements is removed.

Fuel
Oxygen
Heat

GENERAL CAUSES OF FIRE IN A BUILDING

Electricity
o Short Circuit
o Static Electricity
o Overheating
o Improper selection of equipment
Arson (result of riot, strike and malicious damage types)
Heating systems
Misuse of ignitable material
Mechanical or electrical failure
Error in operating equipment
Lighted ends
o Cigarettes, matches
o Gas cutting, welding
Any installation in contravention to the established standards.
Design, construction or installation deficiency
Natural causes like earthquakes, etc.

MATERIALS THAT CAN IGNITE

Building materials
Interior and exterior finishes
Contents and furnishings
Stored materials and supplies
Trash, lint and dust
Combustible or flammable gases or liquids
Volatile solids

FIRE TYPES BASED ON IGNITION MATERIAL

CLASS A-Ordinary solid materials (Ordinary combustibles or fibrous material, such
as wood, paper, cloth, rubber, and some plastics.)

CLASS B-Flammable liquids (Flammable or combustible liquids such as gasoline,

kerosene, paint, paint thinners and propane.)
CLASS C-Electrical equipment (Energized electrical equipment, such as appliances,
switches, panel boxes and power tools.)
CLASS D-Combustible metals (Certain combustible metals, such as magnesium,
titanium, potassium, and sodium.)
FIRE PROTECTION SYSTEMS

Portable extinguishers
Small bore hose reels
Hydrant system
Automatic sprinkler system
Automatic water spray system
Automatic fire alarm system
Foam system
Gas suppression systems
Other systems

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BUILDINGS FOR NBC COMPLIANCE

1. FIRE PREVENTION
The building shall be constructed in a fire zone, where it is allowed as per its
occupancy and the construction type shall conform to the fire zone.
The height above the ground level and the number of floors of a building
have to be restricted according to occupancy and type of construction of the
building. Also for height of the building the width of street fronting the
building, FAR and local firefighting facilities have to be taken into
consideration.
Floor area ratio tor a building shall be as per Table 19 of the code.
At the time of designing openings in separating walls and floors, attention
shall be paid to all factors which will limit fire spread through these opening
and maintain fire rating of the structural member.
If a building is used as a mixed occupancy, it shall conform to the
requirements of higher hazards for fire safety.
Every opening shall be reasonably protected in the building so that it offers
safety to occupants in case of egress, limits the spread of fire/smoke and
limits the damage to the building in case of fire.
Adequate passageway and clearances required for firefighting vehicles to
enter the premises shalt be provided at least 6.0m at the main entrance.
Electrical installations should conform to their relevant order.
Air-conditioning and Ventilation System shall be installed and maintained so
as to minimize the danger of spread of fire, smoke or fumes from one floor to

other, from outside to any occupied building or structure and among other
considerations in the code the following important ones shalt be provided
o Dampers shall be provided to close automatically in case of fire.
o The system shall be provided with automatic fans to either stop case of
fire or arranged to remove smoke in case of fire.
o Separate air handling units shall be provided for various floors to avoid
spread of fire and smoke.
Smoke venting facilities shall be provided to prevent the accumulation of
smoke in a building.
Adequate precautions shall be taken in use of combustible surface finishes on
walls(including faade of the building) and ceilings to minimize spread of
flame on such walls, faade of the building and ceiling surfaces. Materials
shall be used as per as the class and as given in the code.

LIFE SAFETY:
Every building shall be constructed, equipped, maintained and operated so as
to avoid undue danger to life and safety of the occupants from fire, smoke,
fumes or panic during the time period required to escape.
All means of exit shall be continuously maintained free of all obstructions or
impediments to full use in case of fire and other emergency.
Every buildings shall be provided with sufficient exits as per the code to
permit safe escape of occupants.
Exits shall be clearly visible and the route to reach such exits shall be clearly
marked.
All exits shall provide continuous means of egress and shall be arranged so
that they may be reached without passing through another occupied unit.
Whenever more than one exit is required for any room , space or floor of a
building, exits shall be placed as remote from each other as possible and
shall be arranged to provide direct access in separate directions from any
point in the area served.
All buildings which are 15m in height or above , and all buildings used as
educational, assembly, institutional, industrial, storage and hazardous
occupancies and mixed occupancies with any of the aforesaid occupancies
having area more than 500 sq.m on each floor shall have a minimum of two
staircases.
No exit doorway shall have a width less than 1000mm exit in assembly
buildings where it shall be not less than 2000mm. The height should not be
less than 2000mm.
The width of exit corridors and passage ways shall not be less than the
aggregate required width of exit doorways leading from them in the direction
of travel to the exterior.

A staircase shall not be arranged round a lift shaft and no gas piping or
electrical panels shall be allowed within the staircase.
Pressurized areas shall not be connected to non-pressurized area and the
normal air conditioning system shall be treated as an integral part of the
pressurized system
All external stairs shall be directly connected to the ground and the entrance
shall be separate and remote from the internal staircase.
An independent source of lighting of that supplying the normal lighting shall
be used to power in emergency lighting.
The floors of areas covered for the means of exits shall be eliminated to
values not less than 1 ft.candle (10lux) at floor level.
The emergency lighting system shall be divided to put on within one second
of failure of normal lighting and shall be capable of continuous operation for a
minimum duration of 1hr and 30 mins.
In buildings where fire may not itself provide adequate warning to occupants,
automatic fire detection and alarm facilities shall be provided.

FIRE PROTECTION
All buildings depending upon their occupancy , use and height shall be
protected by fire extinguisher /system in accordance with the whole and
related standards.
A satisfactory supply of water for the purpose of firefighting shall always be
available in the form of underground /terrace level static storage tank, with
capacity specified for each building( NBC table 23)
Automatic sprinklers arerequired to be installed
-Basements used as car parksor storage occupancy, if the area exceeds
200sq.m.
-Multilevel basements, used as parking or storage.
-Any room or other compartment of a building exceeding 1125sq.m in area.
Departmental stores or shops, if the aggregate covered area exceeds 500
sq.m.,
All non-domestic floors of mixed area occupancy which constitute a hazard
and are not provided with Staircases independent of the remainder of the
buildings.
Godowns and warehouse as considered necessary
On all floors of the buildings, other than residential and educational buildings,
if the height f the building exceeds 15m (45m in case of group housing and
apartments)
Dressing rooms, scenery docks stages and stage basements of theatres,
In hotels, hospitals, industries (Low and moderate hazard), mercantile
buildings, of height 15 m and above,

In hotels below 15 m, if covered area at each floor is more than 1000 sq.m.
False ceiling voids exceeding 800 mm in height, and
Canteen provided in upper floors of D-1 and D2 Occupancies.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS

The width of the main street of the building shall not be Less than 12 m and
one end of this street shall join another street not Less than 12 m in width.
The road shall not terminate in a dead end, except in the case of residential
building up to a height of 30m.
The compulsory open spaces around the building shall not be used for
parking, and adequate passageway and clearances required for fire fighting
vehicles to enter the premises shalt be provided at the main entrance; the
width of such entrance shall be not Less than 6.0 m, and if an arch or covered
gate is constructed, then it shall have a clear head-room of not Less than 5
m.

During construction of a high rise building, the following provisions shall be

provided :
- Dry riser of minimum 100mm dia. G.I. piping with hydrant outlets on each
floor.
- Druns fitted with water of 2000 liters capacity with two fire buckets on each
floor.
- A water storage tank of minimum 20000 liters which may be used for other
construction purpose also.
-The staircase shall be either pressurized or shall be ventilated to the
atmosphere at each landing as per the code.
-Normally, the lifts shall not communicate with the basements.However if
they are in communication, then the lift lobby of the basement shall be
pressurized.
-A fire lift of are not less than 1.4 sq.m shall be provided per 1200sq.m of
floor area.
-Each basement shall be separately ventilated and the cross sectional area of
vents spread around the perimeter of the basement shall not be less than
2.5% of the floor area.
-The entrance to the basement staircase shall not be at the ground floor only;
the staircase shall be enclosed type and shall be situated on the periphery of
the basement with fire resistance not less than 2 hour.
-Mechanical extractors with alternative source of power supply shall be
provided in basements which shall be designed to permit 30 air changes per
hour in case of fire or distress.
-All floor shall be compartmented with any area not exceeding 750sq.m(add
50% of the building is fully sprinklered)
-Only dry type of transformer shall be housed inside the building, which shall
be cut off from other portion of the building.
-A fire control room shall be provided at the entrance of the building with
communication system to all floor and facilitities.
-In case of a high rise building above 60m in height, provision for helipad
shall be made.

ADDITIONAL FIRE PROTECTION REQUIREMENTS

FOR BUILDINGS MORE THAN 15 M IN HEIGHT AND
BUILDINGS AS COVERED
DELHI BUILDING BYELAWS
1.GENERAL
1.1 In addition to the provisions of Part-IV Fire Protection of National Building Code of India, the Chief
Fire Office, Delhi Fire Service may insist on suitable provisions in the buildings from fire safety and
firefighting point of view depending on the occupancy and height of buildings.
2. STAIRCASE ENCLOSURES
2.1 The internal enclosing walls of staircase shall be of brick or R.C.C. construction having fire
resistance of not less than two hours. All enclosed staircases shall have access through self. closing doors
of at least half hour fire resistance. The door shall be fitted with check action door closers.
2.2 The staircase enclosure on external wall of the building shall be ventilated to atmosphere at each
landing.
2.3 Permanent vent at the top equal to 5% of the cross sectional area of enclosure and openable sashes at
each floor level with. area equal 1 to 15% of the cross sectional area of the enclosure of external wall
shall be provided. The roof of the shaft shall be at least 1 m above the surrounding roof. There shall be
no glazing or glass bricks in any internal enclosing wall or a staircase. If the staircase is in the core of the
building and cannot be ventilated at each landing, a positive pressure of 5 mm W.g. by an electrically
operated blowers shall be maintained.
2.4 The mechanism for pressurising the staircase shaft shall be so installed that the same shall operate
automatically and also with manual operation facilities, when the automatic fire alarm operates.
3. LIFT ENCLOSURES
3.1 The walls enclosing lift shafts shall have a fire resistance of not less than two hours. Shafts shall have
permanent vents at the top not less than 1800 sq. mm. in clear area. Lift motor rooms preferably be sited
on the top of the shaft and shall be separated from lift shafts by the enclosing wall of the shaft or by the
floor of the motor rooms.
3.2 Landing doors in lift enclosures shall open in the ventilated or pressurized corridor/ lobby and shall
have fire resistance of not less than one hour.
3.3 The number of lifts in one lift bank shall not exceed four. Shaft for fire lift in a lift bank shall be
separated from each other by a brick masonry or R.C.C. wall office resistance of not less than two hours.
3.4 If the lift shaft and lift lobby are in the core of the building a positive pressure of not less than 2.5
mm and not more than 3 mm W.g. by an electrically operated blower shall be maintained in the lift lobby
and positive pressure of not less than 5 mm W.g. shall be maintained in the lift shaft. The mechanism for
pressurizing the lift shaft and lift lobby shall be so installed that they shall operate automatically when
the automatic fire alarm operates. The mechanism shall have facilities to operate manually.
3.5 Exit from the lift lobby shall be through a self-closing smoke stop door of half hour fire resistance.
3.6 The lift machine room shall be separate and no other machinery shall be installed therein.
3.7 Lift shall not normally communicate with the basement. However, one of the lifts may be permitted
to reach the basement levels provided the lift lobby at each basement level is pressurised and separated
from the rest of the basement areas, by smoke actuated fire resisting door of two hours fire resistance.

4.BASEMENTS
4.1 Each basement shall be separately ventilated. Vents with cross sectional area (aggregate) not less than
2.5% of the floor area spread evenly round the perimeter of the basement shall be provided in the form of
grills or breakable stall-boards lights or pavement light or by way of shafts.
4.2 The staircase of basements shall be of enclosed type having fire resistance of not less than two hours
and shall be situated at the periphery of the basement and shall communicate with basement through a
lobby provided with fire resisting self closing doors of half hour fire resistance. If the travel distance
exceeds 18.50m, additional staircases at proper places shall be provided.
5. SERVICE DUCTS
5.1 Service ducts for electrical conduits, cables etc. shall be enclosed by walls having a fire resistance of
not less than two hours. Doors for inspection or access shall also have a fire resistance of not less than
two hours.
5.2 If the cross sectional area exceeds 1 sqm., it shall be sealed where it passes a floor by carrying the
floor through the duct. The floor within the duct shall be pierced for any service pipe or ventilation trunk
and shall fit as closely as possible around any such pipe or trunk.
6. REFUSE CHUTES AND REFUSE CHAMBERS
6.1 Hoppers to refuse chutes shall be situated in well ventilated positions and the chutes s hall be
continued upwards with an outlet above roof level and with an enclosure wall of non-combustible
material with fire resistance of not less than two hours. The hoppers shall not be located within the
staircase enclosure.
6.2 Inspection panel and hopper (charging station) opening shall be fitted with tight fitting metal doors,
covers, having a fire resistance of not less than one hour.
6.3 Refuse chutes shall not be provided in staircase wells, air conditioning shafts, etc. K-6.4 Refuse
chambers shall have wall and floors or roofs constructed of non-combustible and impervious material and
shall have a fire resistance of not less than two hours. They shall be located at a safe distance from exit
routes.
7. LIFTS AND FIRE LIFTS:
7.1 Public address system in the lift car with speaker/telephone assembly shall be provided.
7.2 Provisions for a fire lift shall be made as per the following details:a) To enable Fire Service personnel to reach to the upper floors with the minimum delay, one of the lifts
shall be so designed so as to be available for the exc1usivse use of the Firemen in an emergency and be
directly accessible to every dwelling lettable floor space on each floor.
b) The lift shall have a floor area of not less than 1.5 sq.m. It shall have loading capacity
of not less than 500 kg. (8 persons lift) with automatic closing doors.
c) The electric supply shall be on a separate service from electric supply mains in a building and cables
run in route safe from fire, that is, within the lift shaft. In case of failure of normal electric supply it shall
automatically trip over to alternate supply.
d) The operation of a fire lift is a simple toggle or two button switch situated in a glass fronted box
adjacent to the lift at entrance level. When the switch in on, landing call-points will become inoperative
and the lift will be on car control only. When the switch is off, the lift will return to normal working. This
lift can be used by the occupants in norn1al times.
e) The words "FIRE LIFT" shall be conspicuously displayed in florescent point on the

lift landing doors at each floor level. .

f) For buildings above 15 m in height collapsible gates shall not be permitted for lifts
and shall have solid doors with fire resistance of 2 hours.