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BS 5839: Pt.6 - AN
INTRODUCTION
BS 5839: Pt.6 is not intended for
householders themselves, but to
provide guidance and
recommendations for architects and
other building professionals, enforcing
authorities, contractors and others
responsible for implementing fire
precautions in buildings.
The Code of Practice should not be
quoted as if it was a specification and
the standard itself warns that
particular care should be taken to
ensure that claims of compliance are
not misleading.
It is also pointed out that compliance
with a British Standard cannot
automatically confer legal immunity.
However, for a landlord or installer,
compliance with the latest Code is
obviously the best line of defence in
any claim made against them.
THE SCOPE OF BS 5839:
Pt.6
This Code of practice covers every type
of fire detection ‘system’, from a simple
self-contained battery smoke alarm right
through to major hard wired 24V systems.
The new 2004 Code further takes into
consideration “changes in technology,
custom and practice, and changes in
guidance that supports national building
regulations” since 1995.
BS 5839: Pt.6 also covers almost every
conceivable type of premises,
including:
Bungalows
Multi-storey houses
Individual flats
Individual maisonettes
Mobile homes
Individual sheltered
accommodation
Houses in multiple occupation (HMOs)
NHS housing in the community
Both new and existing dwellings are
covered.
Communal parts of flats, maisonettes,
sheltered accommodation and
hostels are not included; neither are
caravans.
BS 5839: Pt.6 is primarily concerned with
saving lives and reducing injuries.
However, it does contain within it
recommendations for helping to reduce
property damage too. The 2002/3 British
Crime Survey, issued by the Office of the
Deputy Prime Minister, notes that the
mean cost of financial damage caused
by a domestic fire is now estimated to be
£980 – up a very significant £230 from the
£750 estimated in 2001/2. Gross losses to
domestic fires have increased by 24% in
just one year. This has clear financial
implications for the landlord. Good fire
safety practice and adherence to the
Code can give the best possible early
warning of fire and so reduce the financial
impact as well as human suffering.
SYSTEMS
BS 5839: Pt.6 defines a fire detection and
alarm system as "a system that
comprises a means for automatically
detecting one of the characteristic
phenomena of fire and a means for
providing a warning to occupants". This
means that it could simply comprise one
smoke alarm or, at the other extreme, a
full commercial panel system.
Firstly, it is worth quoting the
recommendations in Clause 4.2 of the
Code:
“A fire detection and fire alarm system
complying with this part of BS 5839, should
be installed in all dwellings.. whether new
or existing”.
“Final design.. should, where reasonably
practicable, be based on a form of fire
risk assessment..”
The effectiveness of a system is now
based upon the probability of system
operation (incorporating reliability,
monitoring and maintenance issues) and
the ‘success rate’ of the system (the
number of alarms, their location, audibility
issues and the lifestyle of occupants).