it's still a glass window smack it with a chair/any heavy ornament an it'll shatter, it'll also be bloody sharp.
It's not a safety glass panel like car windows which is a lot harder to break.
Windows aren't classed as fire exits on a ground floor?
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it's still a glass window smack it with a chair/any heavy ornament an it'll shatter, it'll also be bloody sharp.
It's not a safety glass panel like car windows which is a lot harder to break.
A double glazed window? Not very, any reasonably hard object would do the trick. Or just wrap your hand in a towel and punch it.
I disagree..
Good sealed units are supprisingly hard to break.. Need a sharp/pointed object to "shock" the glass. Cricket ball hitting it for example wont do anything.
That's not true - H & S rules will dictate the type of glass. When my parents had their double glazing done last year they had to get safety glass as their windows are on the low side.
Yep, almost all of mine are quite low and I've had to get the toughened stuff. It doesn't look like I'd be able to punch through any of it, to say the least.
Best domain ever!
OP: how long is the scaffolding going to be up for, is it actually worth sorting something out? I'm sure you'd find a way through those windows if you were about to burn to death
What stops these windows from opening fully (I've never had rubbish windows that don't open
)? Wouldn't you be able to just force it open?
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Soldato
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Can be quite hard to break and can explode backwards, ie its not the impact that breaks the glass but the bounce back
I would call local fire brigade and ask them. I am 99% sure you have to have 2 exits and that in your case your windows would be classed as one exit.
I would call local fire brigade and ask them. I am 99% sure you have to have 2 exits and that in your case your windows would be classed as one exit.
A lot of UPVC windows use "reinforced" safety glass. It'll break, but you'll need to give it a real wallop with something solid (e.g. something stone/metal as opposed to wood) and it'll shatter into tiny pieces that are less likely to cut you, just like a car window does.
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"Most modern homes today are fitted with double glazed, locking windows. Double-glazed windows, especially ones manufactured to British Standard BS 7412, are widely used because they are difficult to break."
Punch it as hard as you can to find out.
What stops these windows from opening fully (I've never had rubbish windows that don't open
If he was trying to escape a fire, he probably doesn't want to waste time trying move scaffolding.
Escape from a ground floor window isn't necessary unless the room is classed as an inner room, which is a room that is not directly linked to a circulation space (hallway leading to exit) So the guy is perfectly ok to do that. Because you are in a flatted development the walls between yourself and the communal hall should have a 1hr fire rating meaning that strictly speaking the fire department will have time to arrive and take any necessary action before the fire reaches you if you stay in your flat (assuming the fire is in the communal hall.
As for the toughened windows normally its only if they are below a certain level so that if someone runs into them that they wont break easily. Although some manufacturers as mentioned above do things as good practice in their products.
As for the toughened windows normally its only if they are below a certain level so that if someone runs into them that they wont break easily. Although some manufacturers as mentioned above do things as good practice in their products.
Why buys a pizza for £24.99?
They must have a poor marketing department if that's the best they could come up with.
Best domain ever!
OP: how long is the scaffolding going to be up for, is it actually worth sorting something out? I'm sure you'd find a way through those windows if you were about to burn to death
What stops these windows from opening fully (I've never had rubbish windows that don't open
Till November, apparently. The scaffold planks are in front of the windows on poles, so they stop the windows from opening outwards.
Good idea, I'll give them a call tomorrow.
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If in the event of a fire, your exit is blocked, go to the room furthest away from the flame and use a wet towel or cloth or item of clothing to block the gap at the bottom of the door. A typical interior door should give you thirty minutes of protection before flame and smoke begin to get through. This is plenty of time for your local Fire Service to turn up, extinguish the blaze and get you out safely
Soldato
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Do the above flats have any kind of external fire escape? Like the traditional metal jobbies? Maybe with slide down bottom section to stop them being used to go up by the "unwanted"
This ^ only habitable rooms that you have to pass through another room to escape from are required to have an escape window conforming to 2.8 of part B of the Building Regulations.
http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/Pp...portal.gov.uk/uploads/br/BR_PDF_ADB1_2006.pdf
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Bit of mis information in this thread.
They have to provide signage to the emergency exit route. If this route is now blocked then your room / block effectively becomes an enclosed space. At the very least they should provide an alternate route such as window hammers to break your way out.
As for the glass. Toughened glass is weakest at the edge. Hit near the edge of the window with a hard object and it will go though. If you have a hammer great, but a chair leg or hard item with a point is just as effective. One way to check if it's safety glass is to look in the corner of the window for the British kitemark symbol, as it'll tell you who toughened it and to what standard (BS EN 12150, 6206).
(I'm a health and safety officer in a glass manufacturer)
They have to provide signage to the emergency exit route. If this route is now blocked then your room / block effectively becomes an enclosed space. At the very least they should provide an alternate route such as window hammers to break your way out.
As for the glass. Toughened glass is weakest at the edge. Hit near the edge of the window with a hard object and it will go though. If you have a hammer great, but a chair leg or hard item with a point is just as effective. One way to check if it's safety glass is to look in the corner of the window for the British kitemark symbol, as it'll tell you who toughened it and to what standard (BS EN 12150, 6206).
(I'm a health and safety officer in a glass manufacturer)
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That planning portal thingy is interesting, its clearly written around a traditional house design.
Ie assuming your rooms lead stright to a exit path.
2.3 would be the chunk relevant I guess for you. Its ok if all your rooms apart from a few specifically excluded lead directly to a hallway leading outside. Your problem would be I guess if say your lounge was only attached to another room which was attached to the hallway.
Only you would know if you layout complied.
Ie assuming your rooms lead stright to a exit path.
2.3 would be the chunk relevant I guess for you. Its ok if all your rooms apart from a few specifically excluded lead directly to a hallway leading outside. Your problem would be I guess if say your lounge was only attached to another room which was attached to the hallway.
Only you would know if you layout complied.
Windows are not classified as a fire escape route. Just because you are on the ground floor makes no inch of a difference. If the whole block is rented and owned by the same landlord then your flats should have some form of smoke detection in the common areas and the flats themselves. If it's private then your common areas should have some form of detection and warning.
Basically in a flat your main escape route is your front door, which should be a 1/2 hour fire door. You should also have smoke detector(s) in your flat to let you know if theres a fire there and enough time to let you get out and hit a call point to let everyone else in the block know. Windows are not an escape route down to the fact that every building can be different, your block of flats might have windows that open fully. others may have ones that only open at angles. Others, since they are on the ground floor may have iron bars over them to prevent people breaking in. Nothing in the law says that you as a tennant or landlord can't do it because windows aren't meant for means of escape.
So in short, scaffolder is correct.
Basically in a flat your main escape route is your front door, which should be a 1/2 hour fire door. You should also have smoke detector(s) in your flat to let you know if theres a fire there and enough time to let you get out and hit a call point to let everyone else in the block know. Windows are not an escape route down to the fact that every building can be different, your block of flats might have windows that open fully. others may have ones that only open at angles. Others, since they are on the ground floor may have iron bars over them to prevent people breaking in. Nothing in the law says that you as a tennant or landlord can't do it because windows aren't meant for means of escape.
So in short, scaffolder is correct.