Fire Appliance Access to a School

[WongT]

Hi all, 

Your knowledge is much appreciated. I have been reading Approved Documents B2 and BB100 about fire vehicle access for schools. It says 50% of the buildings' perimeter must have fire vehicle access if the buildings' floor areas total to just over 8000m2. There are multiple teaching buildings on this school site.

If the school was to have an extension to one of the teaching buildings,  can this building with the extension be calculated and treated as a separate entity (i.e. >8000m2, i.e. 15% perimeter), or does the extension floor area need to be added to the total buildings' floor area within the school site for the calculation?

It is a little confusing to explain. 
Thanks

[Steve]

As I understand ADB, if you are extending the total are of a building that is already over 8000m2, (so lets say it will now be 9000m2) then you will have to comply with the requirements of having 50% of the perimeter covered. My advice having no understanding of what this looks like in reality is to submit this to Building Control for them to seek a view from the local Fire and Rescue service's Fire Safety department. Sorry I couldn't answer with a definitive yes or no.

[WongT]

Thank you for your reply, I understand what you mean. But it gets confusing when it is a school that is not one building only. Rather, there are many buildings on a school site. For example, a school sports hall or a music department can be separate buildings on a school site. I was wondering whether these individual buildings are dealt with separately when calculating floor area to perimeter, or must all be totalled up as one whole school 'building' for the calculation.

Thank you. I will seek advice from Building Control in hope to find an answer.

Edited January 30, 2018 by Carl
Quote removed as not needed. See FAQ

[Steve]

So, as I see it, if it is a collection of seperate buildings that are all less than 8000m2, then access should be available to 15% of EACH building or within 45m. If any of the buildings are over 8000m2, then the 50% rule applies. It relates to the individual building and not a collection on one site.