Thread by @Orla_Hegarty

Explainer: Why the changes to Irish fire regs for ‘open-plan flats’ put lives at risk

(could be a long thread, please bear with me, this is ~most critically important~ issue for discussions about our future housing, & it’s not getting any attention 1/

video is a recent rescue in Los Angeles, from 6th floor balcony of 25 storey building, in daylight, attended by 20 fire-trucks & rescue helicopter, in a fire-sprinklered & regulated building; 7 people & a baby injured, 10 homes burnt
(this is all important later in the thread) 2/

Typical 2-bedroom flat before reg changes;
note- balcony, hall separating kitchen from bedrooms, direct escape from bedrooms (not through kitchen), opening windows; + short main corridors with escape stairs every 6ish flats (kitchen, esp oil fire is a high-fire risk area) 3/

recent reg change allows ‘open-plan flats’ where the escape from bedrooms is ~through the kitchen~;
here’s two examples
(I’m not naming the project, this is only to demonstrate the point) 4/

these new layouts are allowed if the farthest point of the flat is within 20 metres of the front door (that’s about the width of 8 parked cars) which is a lot if it’s in smoke or darkness, or you’re elderly, disabled or with children 5/

developers sought ‘open-plan flats’ regs for space saving, meaning more flats could be squeezed in... so, last year Dept of Housing suggested changing the regs, but with safeguards (incl sprinklers, min distance of 3m to kitchens, + fire doors, or walls separating kitchens) 6/

but, the developers said the safeguards were too costly, so they were scaled back; regs are now issued that allow escape within 1.8m of a kitchen fire, & no sprinklers in 1-beds (up to 9m escape distance through a kitchen) 7/

...that’s not all, in parallel lower standards were introduced for flats in Build-to-Rent (BTR) & social housing; the requirement for a balcony was removed... & staircases were cut down, meaning much longer corridors & no limit on number of apartments sharing corridor & stairs 8/

& while that was going on, new ventilation standards were brought out, meaning ~opening windows are not required~ in flats. Here’s some recent student housing with sealed windows
(mechanical ventilation for better air quality, energy efficiency & airtightness) 9/

& even where opening windows are provided, there’s no requirement for them to be designed as ~escape windows~ which are required in houses, but not in flats 10/

& while that was happening, the ~height caps~ were removed. Dublin had permitted flats of 5-9 storey (ladder rescue is possible with specialist equipment at this height), but the high-rise apartments that are now being permitted won’t have this safeguard 11/

so, what about sprinklers? Sprinklers are a good ~addition~ to passive fire safety measures like doors & walls. The govt of Wales introduced sprinklers for all housing as an ~additional~ measure, not as a trade-off, for removing passive safety measures, & @FireSafeEU warn: 12/

& in addition, domestic sprinklers may contain a small fire, but they may not be adequate for a kitchen or electrical fire...
& they fill a room with smoke, making escape more difficult even after a fire has been put out 13/

& working sprinklers (every day for 50 yrs in every flat) relies on
1. installation (self-certified by developer’s installer, no local authority inspection)
2. management company (weekly inspection, annual maintainance, future replacement)
3. residents (not to tamper) 14/

What if this was night on 11th floor, no balconies, no escape windows, no ladders? A kitchen filled with smoke blocking escape, children asleep on the far side? And the safety of 20/30 families on the floor relying on ~one door~ to hold back fire & smoke?

link to new regs 2020: TGD Part B housing.gov.ie/housing/buildi…
link to Dept consultation 2019: housing.gov.ie/housing/buildi…
& finally letter to Irish Times by Eoin O’Cofaigh former RIAI President & author of book ‘The Building Regulations Explained’ /end

@threadreaderapp unroll please

PS (1) reg changes were not made to make housing more ‘affordable’ for buyers/renters; purpose was to make sites more ‘viable’ (profitable) for developers. Savings for lower standards are not passed on housing.gov.ie/sites/default/…

PS (2) no evidence that renters/purchasers actually want this, think about: noisier homes, corridors without daylight & more cooking smells, longer waits for lifts, longer walks to flats with shopping/children, higher service charges, more neighbour disputes, fewer amenities, etc

PS (3) other changes not in thread that make it worse still:
-max length of dead-end corridors increased from 7.5 to ~15 metres~ if sprinklered flats
-ceiling heights in flats dropped to 2.4m (from 2.7m in Dublin) meaning a much faster smoke build-up in flats & corridors

PS (4) preventing sprawl & meeting climate challenge means building family housing in ~denser~ neighbourhoods; & that means prioritising well-designed, well-built, affordable & safe housing communities with amenities, where people actively chose to live

https://twitter.com/orla_hegarty/status/1228639214268538885?s=21

https://twitter.com/orla_hegarty/status/1228639214268538885