The new guidance on care homes given in Approved Document B of the Building Regulations for England and Wales, emphasises that a fire strategy should depend on the management and staffing arrangements in place, and on the dependency of the residents.
Provisions are made for progressive horizontal evacuation with a minimum of three protected areas and no more than 10 beds (each in a separate bedroom) in a protected area. But where a sprinkler system is provided, no door closures on bedrooms are necessary, there can be more than 10 beds in a protected areas, and more than one bed per bedroom.
In response to calls for even greater protection of care homes, Brian Martin of BRE said that if this sector became over-regulated, people wouldn’t be able to afford to build and run such places. Then a greater number of elderly people would become casualties of fire, by being in their own homes. Away from care homes, he also introduced more explicit provisions on inclusive design for disabled people, including clearer guidance on disabled refuges, voice communications and firefighting lifts.
