Page 45 - Insurance Times January 2024

Check for a refuge area in the building before buying an stipulated in NBC under Annexure C 6. Under C7,
apartment: Due to lack of awareness people looking to buy housekeeping standards are provided. Similarly fire
an apartment or a flat in a high-rise building, rarely look for order & fire drill matters are stipulated under C8.
a refuge area - they are not even aware of the concept. It Provision C9 deals with compartmentalization. In C10
is an important safety feature. You may not have to use it - depicts the provision of making a helipad at the top
your entire life while living in your apartment, or you may for high-rise buildings having above 60 meter. Mr.
have to use it in case of an emergency. Most of the approved Mukesh Ambani's house in Mumbai has a helipad as it
buildings have it. But just in case you cannot locate it while is more than 60 meters height.
considering a high-rise building, ask around and make sure 3. For smoke management Annexure D of Part 4 has
that it has designated refuge areas at recommended
stipulated requirements for venting in industrial Building
heights.
[including hotel/ hospitals/ commercial complexes].
There is provision of venting of explosion risks & these
National Building Code Provisions: are dealt in sections D2 & D3 respectively.
The code deals with safety from fire. It specifies demarcation 4. The guideline for fire drill & evacuation procedure in
of fire zone, restrictions to construction of building in each high-rise building [i.e., for buildings above 15 meters
fire zone according to fire resistance of structural height] has been provided in ANNEXURE E under
&nonstructural component &requirements necessary to Sections E1 & E8. However all hotels & hospitals
minimize damages to life, smoke, fumes or panic before below15 meter height should follow these guidelines.
building can be evacuated.
5. The code recognizes that there is undue danger in a
constructed building from life & safety of the occupants
Life safety- covers life safety provision in the event of fire &
from fire, smoke, fumes or panic during the time
similar emergency also addressing construction & occupancy
necessary to escape. The code specifies that Exit route
feature necessary to minimize damage to life from fire,
for escape is door, corridor, and passageway or junction
smoke fumes & panic.
point of all passages internal & external staircase but
not LIFT OR ESCALATOR.
Design consideration for firesafety of buillding
6. The number of Exit doors should be dependent upon
[As per NBC code & ISI standards]:
area in sq. m/number of persons in the floor known as
The very first stage in fire-resistant construction is to lower
Occupant load. For this purpose the code has classified
the use of combustible materials. Few Indian Standard (IS)
buildings into Residential A, Educational B, Institutional
codes deliver the guidelines for safety protocols and the
C, Assembly D, Business E, Mercantile F, Industrial G,
usage of fire-resistant materials at construction sites. IS
Storage H & hazardous J. The occupant load has been
code dealing with design consideration are 1644-188, 1644-
fixed as parameter between 3 to 30. For Business &
1982 & 3809-1979.
Industrial its 10 & for Residential it is 12.5.
Salient Features: 7. It is expected that in case of any Fire Emergency, for a
building of height less than 15 meters, all occupants in
1. National building code deals with life safety in chapter
a floor must evacuate within 2.5 minutes.
4 of volume number two in section 4 covering aspects
on life safety from 4.1 to 4.18 with subsections in few 8. Further no exit door shall be less than 1000 mm (3.28
cases. It covers provisions on Fire protection in section ft) width. For all types of buildings 15 meter in height
5 (from 5.1 to 5.3) with various subsections. It is & above having an area more than 500 sq. m each floor
advisable to rely on TAC Fire Protection Manual which must have two exits. Every exit must open into an
is very exhaustive & drawn as per NFPA guidelines. It unenclosed stairway or horizontal exit of a corridor or
gives details of specification capacities based on nature passage way.
of hazards, number of such Fixed Appliances' protraction 9. The maximum height of the water hydrant riser shall
required, distance of spacing of hydrant points etc. be 190 mm for residential building & 150 mm for others

2. For building with height more than 30 m have been & numbers should be limited to 15 m/flight.

The Insurance Times January 2024 41