Shopping centres are some of the most complex retail structures and as such, the Building Regulations have a strong emphasis on the provision of life safety systems such as smoke control in them. A well-designed smoke control system can play a big part in helping people escape quickly and should be able to maintain smoke-free escape conditions at low level to allow the building to be evacuated with minimum risk of smoke inhalation, injury or death.
At the same time, the effective confinement and extract of smoke also makes it easier for firefighters to locate and tackle the seat of the fire, potentially saving lives, stock and retail units.
With as many as 100,000 people in one day visiting some of the largest shopping centres, the burden of responsibility carried by the design team cannot be overstated.
Regardless of the location of a fire, once people are aware of it, they should be able to proceed safely along a recognisable escape route to a place of safety. In order to achieve this, it is usually necessary to protect the route using smoke control, comprising exhaust and inlet ventilators and screens, barriers or smoke curtains to limit smoke spread.
The importance of this is magnified by the broad cross section of the population that might visit – children, elderly, disabled and able bodied with no familiarity of the building layout or the location of escape routes means keeping the malls clear of smoke in a fire is particularly important.
Smoke ventilators are installed to help maintain smoke-free escape routes and stairwells to enable occupants to evacuate the building quickly and safely. In addition, they also help firefighters do their job more quickly and safely, potentially saving lives, property and retail goods.
Maintaining smoke control systems in shopping centres – your responsibilities
Under the RRO (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005), it is the duty of the “Responsible Person” to ensure that the fire safety systems in the building are properly serviced and in good working order. Where a building is occupied or partially occupied by tenants due to the terms of a lease (as is usually the case with retail units in shopping centres), the responsibility for fire safety maintenance will usually rest with the owner or occupier of that particular unit. However, if there are more than one “Responsible Person”, they need to work together to ensure their duties are met.
With so many people going in and out of shopping centres each day, the maintenance of fire safety systems in retail units should really not be ignored or put off. Not only is it very dangerous in terms of putting people’s lives at risk, but it can also lead to the destruction of the stock in the retail unit where the fire started as well as in neighbouring shops. If there is an incident or a report of improper building management and the subsequent investigation finds that either corrective action was known to be needed and not taken - or worse - a lack of proper maintenance caused the fire/smoke to start or spread more quickly, the Responsible Person/s could face hefty fines or even imprisonment, depending on the severity of the damage and injury to people and businesses as a result.
Colt is the UK’s longest-serving smoke control maintenance provider, with experts stationed all across the country, ready to get to you wherever you are. Talk to our team today for a free consultation or to organise a smoke control system service visit for your retail unit.