Fire in buildings index

This article provides an index of key articles relating to fire and the built environment. For more detail covering different aspects about the fire, see our main article; Fire in buildings.

Buildings need to be designed to offer an acceptable level of fire safety and minimise the risks from heat and smoke. The primary objective is to reduce to within acceptable limits the potential for death or injury to the occupants of a building and others who may become involved, such as the fire and rescue service, as well as to protect contents and ensure that as much as possible of a building can continue to function after a fire and that it can be repaired. The risk to adjoining properties also needs to be considered, as well as possible environmental pollution.

Fire occurs as a result of a series of very rapid chemical reactions between a fuel and oxygen that releases heat and light. For combustion to occur, oxygen, heat and a fuel source must all be present; this is the ‘fire triangle’. Flames are the visible manifestation of combustion. Other key terms include: 'Flash point'; the temperature to which a fuel has to be heated for the gases given off to flash when an ignition source is applied.'Fire point' is the temperature to which a fuel has to be heated for the vapours given off by the fuel to sustain ignition. 'Spontaneous ignition temperature' is the temperature at which these vapours ignite spontaneously without the application of an external flame. Once ignition has begun and the vapours ignited, flames will in turn heat the fuel and increase the rate of production of flammable vapours.

Key articles about fire and the built environment on this site include:

• ACM cladding.
• Approved document B.
• Arcing.
• Automatic fire detection and alarm systems, an introductory guide to components and systems BR 510.
• Automatic fire sprinkler systems: A good practice guide.
• Building Safety Act.
• Combustibility.
• Common principles of International Fire Safety Standard introduced.
• Design benefits of automatic sprinkler systems granted under approved document B.
• Dry riser.
• Evacuating vulnerable and dependent people from buildings in an emergency FB 52.
• External fire spread, Supplementary guidance to BR 187 incorporating probabilistic and time-based approaches.
• External fire spread: building separation and boundary distances (BR 187).
• Fire and rescue service.
• Fire authority.
• Fire blanket.
• Fire damper.
• Fire detection and alarm system.
• Fire detector.
• Fire door.
• Fire engineer.
• Fire extinguisher.
• Fire fatalities in Scotland.
• Fire in buildings.
• Fire inspector.
• Fire performance of external thermal insulation for walls of multistorey buildings, third edition (BR 135).
• Fire prevention on construction sites.
• Fire protection engineering.
• Fire resistance.
• Fire retardant.
• Fire risk in high-rise and super high-rise buildings DG 533.
• Fire Safety Act.
• Fire safety design.
• Fire safety information.
• Fire safety officer.
• Fire (Scotland) Act 2005.
• Fire Safety Requirements for Buildings.
• Fire spread.
• Fire stopping.
• Fire Weather Index FWI.
• Firefighting route.
• Grenfell Tower fire.
• HSG 168 Fire safety in construction.
• Installing fire doors and doorsets (GG 86).
• Ionisation smoke alarm.
• Joint fire code.
• Leading built environment bodies call for sprinklers in all schools.
• Making the case for sprinklers and dispelling myths.
• Managing fire risk in commercial buildings: A guide for facilities managers.
• Means of escape.
• Optical smoke alarm.
• Passive fire protection is a vital tool in any fire strategy.
• Protected escape route.
• Protected lobby.
• Scottish Advice Note addresses fire risk in multi-storey residential buildings.
• Smoke.
• Smoke detector.
• Sprinkler.
• Stove.
• The Building Safety Bill and product testing.
• The causes of false fire alarms in buildings.
• The impact of automatic sprinklers on building design.
• The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
• Underwriters Laboratories UL.
• Visual alarm devices - their effectiveness in warning of fire.
• Wet riser.
• Wildfire.