Fire safety Design for life Michael Spearpoint, research leader at OFR Consultants, on the changing face of car parks and fire safety compliance t is important to appreciate that fire safety is not the only hazard when designing car parks. There are factors that need to be considered, such as the impact of exhaust fumes on health, excessive structural loads, vehicle collisions and security threats. In some cases, these hazards can be addressed using mutual solutions, but they may introduce contradictory requirements, such as in the case of security and access needs. The statutory requirements for fire safety, expressed by the building regulations, focus on the preservation of life and not the protection of property. The life-safety goal is applied to the people within the building and also those in the vicinity, including people in neighbouring buildings, and the fire and rescue services. In England, Approved Document B is a guidance document that can be used to comply with the functional requirements of the building regulations for the construction of buildings in relation to fire safety. Similar national guidance is provided in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. However, alternative methods of compliance can be employed. I Changes over time There have been a multitude of factors over time that have had an impact on the design and operation of car parks in relation to fire safety: Changes to building usage: originally, car parks were used as a form of storage so, from a fire safety perspective, the requirements were driven by the desire to protect property rather than the preservation of life. Around World War II, this changed, as people wanted the freedom to park their own car and to enter and exit at their own convenience rather than store their vehicle. Increase in car ownership: in the early 1950s, around 85 per cent of households did not own a car but this has fallen to between 20-30 per cent over the past two decades Changes to car park design and construction: including the use of concrete and steel frames; mechanical parking systems; the size and configuration of structures; and so on. Car design modification: there have been considerable changes in the use of combustible and non-combustible materials; mechanical reliability; size and weight; and fuels. What might have been considered an acceptable risk in the past may no longer be so Development of fire protection measures, both mechanical and electrical: including advances in fire-suppression systems; more sophisticated detection and alarm technologies; alternative means to move air and smoke around an enclosure; and materials that can be used to protect the structure. Advance in design methods: augmented by an increased understanding of the performance of materials and protection measures, and so on, when exposed to fire, 24 britishparking.co.uk PNAugust19 pp24-25 Fire Safety.indd 24 23/07/2019 12:30