4.2 PROVISION FOR EXTERNAL ACCESS TO STATION FOR FIREFIGHTING AND ACCESSIBILITY OF SITE TO FIREFIGHTING APPLIANCES
4.2.1 General
a. Fire engine accessways/ fire engine access roads shall be provided to ensure site accessibility for firefighting appliances.
b. Fire engine accessways/ fire engine access roads shall have an adequate clear width for the deployment of firefighting appliances, in accordance with the habitable height, as stipulated in Table 4.2.1.
| TABLE 4.2.1: FIRE ENGINE ACCESSWAY/ FIRE ENGINE ACCESS ROAD | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Details | Habitable Height (m) | ||
| ≤ 10 | > 10 & ≤ 50 | > 50 | |
| Width of fire engine access road | > 4m | ||
| Width of fire engine accessway | Not required | > 6m | > 7m |
| Length of fire engine accessway | - | See Table 4.2.4a.(2) | |
| Type of firefighting appliance | Pump ladder | CPL 34 & AL 56 | AL 56, CPL 60 & HLA 90 |
| Loading capacity of fire engine road # | > 24 tonnes | > 30 tonnes | > 50 tonnes |
| Loading capacity of fire engine accessway # | - | > 30 tonnes | > 50 tonnes |
| Axle/Jack loading | See Table 4.2.4d.(2)-1 & Table 4.2.4d.(2)-2 | ||
| Turning facility | See Diagram 4.2.4f. | ||
| U-turn radii | |||
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Note: # - The appended figures for loading capacity of fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road are characteristic values. |
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c. Fire access openings to compartment or spaces
For aboveground stations exceeding the habitable height of 10m, fire access openings are required at every storey/ level, except the 1st storey, and shall face the fire engine accessway directly.
4.2.2 Fire access openings to aboveground stations
R Rationale - Clause 4.2.2The purpose of providing fire access openings is to enable firefighters to gain access into the station from the external to rescue any trapped occupant and to facilitate external firefighting. Fire access openings shall not be located at exit staircases or at smoke free/fire lift lobbies as these areas can be accessed through more conventional means.
a. Fire access openings shall be provided on the external wall for external firefighting operations. This can include unobstructed external wall openings, windows, balcony doors, glazed wall panels, and access panels. Windows, doors, wall panels, and access panels shall be readily openable from the inside and outside. The inside and outside of fire access openings shall be unobstructed at all times during the occupancy of the station. There shall be no furniture or any other obstruction within 1m from the fire access openings at the landing inside the station.
b. Signage
Panels to fire access openings shall be indicated with either a red or orange triangle of equal sides (minimum 150mm on each side), which can be upright or inverted, on the external side of the wall and with wordings “Firefighting Access - Do Not Obstruct” of at least 25mm height on the internal side.
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Rationale - Clause 4.2.2b
The signage provided on the external side of the fire access panels, either red or orange triangle helps firefighters on the ground to locate the designated fire access openings.
c. Size
Fire access openings shall be no less than 850mm wide by 1m high with sill height of not more than 1.1m and head height of not less than 1.8m above the inside floor level.
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Rationale - Clause 4.2.2c
The sill of not more than 1.1m is to facilitate the free movement of firefighters in or out of the building. Higher sill height slows down this movement and increases their risk of falling.
d. Location
The fire access openings shall be placed against an occupied space. It shall not be placed at plant/ store room, exit staircase, smoke-free approach to exit staircase or space that leads only to a dead end.
e. Number and position of fire access openings
(1) Number of fire access openings
Every 20m of fire engine accessway or part thereof shall be provided with an access opening.
(2) Position of fire access openings
Fire access openings shall be remote from each other and located along the side of the station. Such fire access openings shall be spaced at most 20m apart measured along the external wall from centre to centre of the fire access openings. The fire access openings shall be distributed such that there is at least one opening at every 20m of the fire engine accessway.
(3) Additional openings for ventilation
For an area or space has a ceiling height greater than 10m, additional high level ventilation openings for smoke venting and firefighting purposes shall be provided and located in the external walls opening into the area or space. The ventilation opening shall meet the following criteria:
(a) the number and location of the openings shall comply with Cl.4.2.2e.(1) and Cl.4.2.2e.(2);
(b) the dimensions of the openings shall comply with Cl.4.2.2c.;
(c) the openings can be in the form of openable panels/ louvres, breakable glazing, or permanent openings; and
(d) the openings shall not be indicated with the triangular signage as mentioned under Cl.4.2.2b., but instead be labelled with red wording, “DO NOT ENTER – FOR SMOKE VENTING ONLY”, of height not less than 50mm and visible from the station exterior.
4.2.3 Firefighting staircase
a. At least one exit staircase shall be designated as a firefighting staircase provided for every underground station.
b. The entrance to firefighting staircase on the ground level shall be visible and within 18m from a fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road.
c. Firefighting staircase shall have access to every basement storey via smoke-free lobby/ fire lift lobby.
d. The size of the smoke-free lobby/ fire lift lobby adjacent to a firefighting staircase and/ or fire lift lobby shall be at least 6m² and with minimum clear width of 2m. The floor shall be graded from the lift door towards the lobby door with a fall not exceeding 1 in 200.
4.2.4 Fire engine accessway and fire engine access road
a. Aboveground stations
(1) For stations not exceeding the habitable height of 10m, fire engine accessway is not required. However, a fire engine access road for firefighting appliances shall be provided to within a travel distance of 45m of every point on the projected plan area of the station. E
(2) For stations exceeding the habitable height of 10m, fire engine accessway shall be located directly below the fire access openings to provide direct reach to the designated fire access openings. The required length of fire engine accessway shall be computed based on the largest AFA as shown in Table 4.2.4a.(2).
| TABLE 4.2.4a.(2): LENGTH OF FIRE ENGINE ACCESSWAY | ||
|---|---|---|
| AFA (m2) | Required length of perimeter | |
| Non-sprinkler-protected | Sprinkler-protected* | |
| ≤ 2000 | 1/6 (at least 15m) | 1/6 (at least 15m) |
| > 2000 and ≤ 4000 | ¼ | |
| > 4000 and ≤ 8000 | ½ |
¼ |
| > 8000 and ≤ 16000 | ¾ | ½ |
| > 16000 and ≤ 32000 | island site |
¾ |
| > 32000 | island site | |
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Note: * - Station that comply with Cl.6.4.1 is deemed as sprinkler-protected |
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(a) For stations with interconnected floors, including basements connected to aboveground floors, the AFA shall be the aggregate AFA of all the interconnected floors.
(b) For stations with more than one group of interconnected floors, the AFA shall be taken as the largest of the aggregate floor areas among the groups of interconnected floors.
(3) Open-sided covered link bridge/ linkway used for station evacuation shall be included in the station AFA computation, measured up to 6m from the start of link bridge/ linkway. There shall not be any commercial activities or other usage that would pose a fire risk within the link bridge/ linkway. E
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b. Underground stations
For underground station, the fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road shall be provided to within a travel distance of 18m to the entrance of all exit staircases where landing valves (dry riser) are provided in accordance with Cl.6.2.2b.(2)(c). The measurement of 18m shall be between the fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road and the entrance of exit staircase. E
c. Location
The fire engine accessway shall be positioned so that the nearer edge shall be at least 2m or at most 10m from the centre position of the access opening, measured horizontally.
d. Design of fire engine accessway and fire engine access road
(1) Fire engine accessway sizes
The minimum width, length and turning radii of a fire engine accessway shall be in accordance with Table 4.2.1 and Diagram 4.2.4f.. Diagram 4.2.4d.(1) – 1 to 3 shows the relationship between the fire engine accessway and parked firefighting appliance with its front and rear jacks extended.
(2) Fire engine accessways and fire engine access roads, which can be on suspended slabs, metalled/ non-metalled roads, paved/ non-paved surfaces, ground laid with strengthened perforated slabs, etc., shall be designed to withstand both stationary and axle loading capacity of firefighting appliances respectively as stipulated in Table 4.2.4d.(2)- 1 and Table 4.2.4d.(2)- 2. Where a fire engine access road is used for linking fire engine accessway, its loading and turning radius shall comply with the specifications for fire engine accessway.
| TABLE 4.2.4d.(2)-1: JACK LOADING OF FIREFIGHTING APPLIANCES | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Type of Fire Appliance | CPL 34 | AL 56 | CPL 60 | HLA 90 |
| Jack load contact area | 5625 cm2 | 5625 cm2 | 7125 cm2 | 7125 cm2 |
| Maximum pressure per Jack (4 jacks per vehicle) |
37 N/cm2 | 37 N/cm2 | 37 N/cm2 | 80 N/cm2 |
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Note: The appended figures for jack loading are characteristic values. |
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| TABLE 4.2.4d.(2)-2: AXLE LOADING OF FIREFIGHTING APPLIANCES | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axle No. (from font) | Type of firefighting appliances | |||||||||
| Pump Ladder | CPL 34 | AL 56 | CPL 60 | HLA 90 | ||||||
| Loading Wt. (kg) | No of wheels | Loading Wt. (kg) | No of wheels | Loading Wt. (kg) | No of wheels | Loading Wt. (kg) | No of wheels | Loading Wt. (kg) | No of wheels | |
| Axle 1 | 10000 | 2 | 7500 | 2 | 9000 | 2 | 9000 | 2 | 9000 | 2 |
| Axle 2 | 14000 | 2 | 10500 | 2 | 10500 | 4 | 9900 | 4 | 9000 | 2 |
| Axle 3 | - | - | 10500 | 4 | 10500 | 4 | 9900 | 4 | 10500 | 4 |
| Axle 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8200 | 2 | 10500 | 4 |
| Axle 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10000 | 2 |
| Axle 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
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Note: The appended figures for axle loading are characteristic values. |
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e. Gradients
Fire engine accessway shall be laid on a level platform or if on an incline, the gradient shall not exceed 1:15. A fire engine access road shall be laid on an incline not exceeding a gradient of 1:8.3.
f. Turning facilities
(1) A dead-end fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road shall not exceed 46m in length. If exceeding 46m, it shall be provided with cul-de-sac turning facilities as shown in Diagram 4.2.4f..
(2) The U-turn radii for firefighting appliances on a fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road shall comply with the requirements as shown in Diagram 4.2.4f..
g. Overhead clearance
An overhead structure shall only be permitted over a fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road subject to all of the following (see Diagram 4.2.4g.):
(1) the overhead clearance for passage of firefighting appliances shall be at least 4.5m;
(2) the width of the overhead structure shall not be more than 10m;
(3) where more than one overhead structure span across the fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road, the separation distance between two adjacent overhead structures shall be at least 20m apart;
(4) the length of the end-stretch of the fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road shall be at least 20m with no overhead structure; and
(5) the length of fire engine accessway required for the station shall exclude the stretch of fire engine accessway with the overhead structure.
h. Public road
Public roads can serve as fire engine accessway provided the location of such public roads is in compliance with the requirements of distance from fire access openings. E
i. Obstruction
Fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road shall be kept clear of obstructions at all times. Plants, trees or other fixtures shall not obstruct the path between the fire engine accessway and fire access openings.
j. Marking of fire engine accessway and fire engine access road
R Rationale - Clause 4.2.4jFire engine accessway which is specially designated for operation of the firefighting appliance shall be marked with signage to prevent unauthorised parking of other vehicles. The markings in contrasting colours facilitate better visibility and easy identification for the responding firefighting crew. These markings are also to ensure that the firefighting appliances are not accidentally deployed over “suspended” or “cantilevered” slab over basement, as these are not structurally designed to take the weight of the appliances.
(1) All fire engine accessway shall be marked, except where public roads are designated as fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road.
(2) Metalled/ non-metalled or paved/ non-paved surface fire engine accessways/ fire engine access roads shall be marked with reflective white or yellow strips of size not less than 100mm (W) x 400mm (L), or white or yellow road stud reflectors of size not less than 100mm (W) x 100mm (L) x 18mm (H). The markings or reflectors shall be visible at all times and shall be provided on both sides of the fire engine accessways/ fire engine access roads at an alternate interval of not more than 5m. Markings or reflectors shall also mark all corners and turning corners of the fire engine accessway. See Diagram 4.2.4j.(2).
(3) A sign with white background and red pictogram with upper case wording of not less than 70mm in height shall be provided at the start, junction, and end of a fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road. The height measured from the ground to the lowest point of the sign shall be between 2.3m and 2.4m. The sign shall be reflective, visible, and unobstructed at all times and shall be positioned adjacent to the fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road. For locations where there are more than one of such signs, the signs can be placed on the same post. See Diagram 4.2.4j.(3)
k. Ancillary usage of fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road
Fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road shall not be turned into other usages such as pond, water features, car parking lots (including loading & unloading), etc. Turfing designed to withstand both stationary and axle loading capacity of firefighting appliances in accordance with Cl.4.2.4d. for fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road is only permitted on the straight stretch of the fire engine accessway/ fire engine access road with gradient not exceeding 1:15.