Last edited 24 Jan 2025

Alternative escape route

Approved document B, Fire Safety, Volume 2, Buildings other than dwellinghouses (2019 edition), defines alternative escape routes as:

Escape routes that are sufficiently separated by direction and space or by fire resisting construction to ensure that one is still available if the other is affected by fire.

Note: A second stair, balcony or flat roof which enables a person to reach a place free from danger from dire is considered an alternative escape route for the purposes of a dwellinghouse.

An alternative exit is one of two or more exits, each of which is separate from the other.

NB The Scottish Building Standards, Part I. Technical Handbook – Domestic, Appendix A Defined Terms, defines an alternative exit as: ‘…an exit from a dwelling which is through a door other than its main entrance door and is available for use at all times.’

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