Fire Protection by Taking Precautions in Building Construction

A building can be made more fire resistant by protecting steel by fire resistant paints, minimizing use of combustible materials and by providing stairs at appropriate positions and protecting them from fire. Different members of buildings may be made fire resistant as follows:

1.   Walls: Brick walls having cement plaster give better fire resistance.
2.   Roof: R.C.C. flat roofs have good fire resistance. Therefore they should be preferred.
3.   Ceiling: Ceilings should be made up of asbestos cement board, cement plaster, or fibre boards.
4.   Floors: R.C.C. floor is very good fire resisting floor.

Doors and Window Openings: All of these openings should be protected against fire by taking the precautions following here:

1.   Thickness of shutters must not be less than 40 mm.
2.   They should be provided having fire proof paints.
3.   Instead of aluminium, wooden or steel shutters should be preferred.

Stairs: Wood should be ignored in case stair. Stairs should be centrally placed in the buildings to minimize fire hazard, so that people can quickly approach them. Always more than one stair case is preferable. In the building Emergency ladder should be provided.

Structural Design: It ought to be such that even under worst situation, if part of the structure collapses, it ought to be localised and alternate routes are available for escape.