Spiral Staircase Fire Escapes

The elegant design of spiral staircase fire escapes makes them a more aesthetically pleasing alternative to the traditional straight staircase ones, as does the convenience of them taking up less space on the ground where they're built. However, it's not all plain sailing, as their more complicated design also makes spiral staircase fire escapes subject to a greater number of government regulations which have to be satisfied before one can be used.

Firstly and most importantly, a spiral staircase fire escape for a large office will usually need to have been designed specifically for that purpose. The government's Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 stipulates that ordinary spiral staircases may only be used as fire escapes "for a maximum of 50 people who are not members of the public" (i.e. employees); this means that an office building containing more than 50 employees will need to have its spiral staircase fire escapes specifically designed to be strong enough for those numbers to use them in the event of an emergency.

Specific requirements of fire escape spiral staircases

As well as this key regulation, spiral staircase fire escapes are also subject to a number of other specific rules:

• Maximum total height of 9m
• Minimum of 1.5m in diameter
• Design must allow "adequate" headroom for users
• A continuous handrail should run their full length

The government advice also suggests that young children may be unsafe using spiral staircase fire escapes, however the Building Regulations enforce a maximum gap of 10cm beneath the baluster in order to eliminate the risk of them falling through it.

For the design and installation of spiral staircase fire escapes, fireescape.co.uk recommends Albion Design Ltd