Fire-Q / Loft Conversions

FIRE ENGINEERING FOR LOFT CONVERSIONS

– AND OTHER RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL PROJECTS –

An affordable approach to bespoke fire design.

– FIRE ENGINEERING REPORTS –

This has become a popular service we provide to building owners, architects and property developers wishing to expand the potential a building by installing a loft conversion.

In many cases, the addition of habitable space in a loft creates a situation for the new that does not satisfy the functional requirements of the building code, hence building controls or approved inspectors may ask for a fire engineers report.

The building control are likely to require a protected stair that leads directly to the outside or a British Standard compliant domestic sprinkler system, in addition to door separation at first floor level. Either of these options are more often than not overly expensive, and/or unfeasible for a project of such a small nature. We find that many clients wish to create open plan spaces in their homes, which can create fire safety challenges.

This is where Fire-Q’s affordable consultancy services come in handy.

CONTACT US NOW FOR A FREE QUOTE

Feel free to email us your project drawings and we will get back to you with a quote within 24 hours.

GET A QUOTE

FIRE-Q OFFERS

– A RAPID REPORT SERVICE TAILORED TOWARDS SMALL DOMESTIC PROJECTS –

100% SUCCESS RATE

In previous projects we have always found an acceptable solution for our clients. Whether through increased detection, compartmentation or bespoke mist protection, we will help ensure you attain the objective of building control sign off.

RAPID REPORT DELIVERY

We aim to deliver a draft report to you within a week at the latest (in many cases we can improve on this) Once the report has been developed we always aim to respond to any comments or queries within 24hrs.

Large Experience

We are highly familiar with regulatory guidance such as the Approved Document B, BS 9999 and BS 7974. We also have a large pallet of previously acceptable ‘alternate solutions’ to draw from depending on the project at hand.

LOFT SPECIALISTS

We have been developing means of escape strategies for over 5 years UK wide, and consequently have the best experience with the types of challenges and potential solutions available.

PERSONAL SERVICE

We understands that the personal touch is valued by our customers especially on small domestic projects. Therefore, we will be on call throughout the project should you need help or guidance and deal with all matters personally.

AFFORDABLE CONSULTANCY

Our fee structure and company overheads are streamlined in order to provide the most affordable services to our clients.

FREE QUOTE

We will aim to provide you with a quote with 24hrs. Just email us or form below with some plans of your project/house and a description of what you are trying the achieve.

NO HIDDEN CHARGES

Our fees are our fees and they will not change in the unlikelihood that unforeseen complexities present them selves along the way.

I recently contacted Fire-Q about a domestic project we were working on. Due to the complexity of the design we were having some difficulties in coming up with a suitable means of escape strategy without affecting the Design element of the project that would be accepted by building control. After analysing the challenges and suggesting various alternatives Paul came up with the perfect solution without compromising the Design.

Fire-Q are very knowledgeable and helpful and I fully recommend their services. I will most certainly use them again on future projects.”

— Tiago from Novispace

OUR METHOD

Each site is unique and therefore each site presents different risks and challenges. We work with our clients to ensure that a feasible system is adopted that presents an acceptable solution.

LOFT CONVERSIONS FIRE REPORT

Our site assessments include the following:

A description of your proposed building, its fire safety features and risk mitigating measures.
A risk assessment of the building and discussion of the requirements.
Discussion of the options, including a comparison to the ‘code compliant’ sprinkler strategy.
A recommended fire strategy for your building including alarm systems, passive fire protection (i.e. fire doors) and any other measures such as fire curtains or a Mist system that are needed to achieve the building code’s requirements. This may contain one or more options
Conclusions to tie the report together

THE PROCESS

Contact us for an initial free consultation: please provide a proposed plans and a brief description of what it is you would like to achieve.
We provide a fee proposal (usually within 24hrs) and if you are happy to proceed, drop us an email confirming this
We will produce a draft report for you within 5 working days.
Once you are happy with the report, this can go to your building control officer or Approved Inspector for comment.

FURTHER INFORMATION

THE BUILDING CODE

The building code states: “The building shall be designed and constructed so that there are appropriate provisions for early warning of fire, and appropriate means of escape in case of fire from the building to a place of safety outside the building capable of being effectively used at all material times. The related performance requirements are that:

there is sufficient means for giving early warning of fire for persons in the building
there are routes of sufficient number and capacity, which are located to enable persons to escape to a place of safety in the event of fire, and
the routes are sufficiently protected from the effects of fire, where necessary”

CAN THE APPROVED DOCUMENT B HELP?

First of all, Approved Document B is guidance, which provides clear methods to meet the requirements of building code. The issue with the guidance is that it is prescriptive and thus, can be restrictive in providing alternative design solutions. It does however give scope for fire engineered solutions and states that innovative devices can be used, providing that they can be shown to effectively meet the functional requirements of the building code (see above). A report from Fire-Q will provide alternative options to meeting the requirements from the Approved Document B, making a clear case as to why these options should be considered satisfactory by your building inspector.

EXAMPLE PROJECTS

Ravensworth Road

Project Type: Local Projects & Loft Conversions

Fire-Q were engaged by an architecture firm to justify the use of a mist system at a dwelling in London. The design included a basement containing inner rooms with limitedmeansofescape. Building Control required a fire engineer’s report to justify the use of a mist system.

The design was outside the strict fire escape regulations, so Fire-Q developed a fire engineered strategy in conjunction with the architects. The Approved Inspector accepted the arguments in the report.

Selborne Road