There can be no more of an important Social Value than a community feeling that all aspects of their family's safety have been considered to keep them safe from the threat of fire in their own homes.
The methodology behind the fire protection of the common means of escape, for occupants transiting to a place of ultimate safety, is reliant upon adequate levels of fire protection so that smoke, flames, and heat do not compromise the use of the external walkways and stairwells.
Existing constructions typically comprise of a collection of non-combustible products collated together to form the compartment wall of the flat. The assembly of individual components are not generally tested in conjunction with each other, and their performance are undefined in a fire situation. This could lead to a failure of the construction potentially blocking the means of escape with falling debris.
As per 'Local Government Association' guidlines – Fire safety in purpose-built blocks of flats' section 59.5 states, 'In flats with a single direction of escape to a single escape stairway, the separating walls between the flats and the balcony or deck should be fire-resisting up to a height of 1.1m from balcony or deck level. The flat entrance doors in these situations should be self-closing fire-resisting doors'.