HYDERABAD: All educational institution buildings in the state with inadequate setback areas will have to install water shower curtains along deficient sides to prevent the spread of fire.
The Fire Department revised the provisions for the Fire No Objection Certificate (NOC) on November 4 and issued a circular to strengthen fire protection in educational buildings.
Under the revised provisions, existing open spaces available within the premises may be considered without insisting on additional open spaces.
According to the circular, where the available open spaces are less than the prescribed requirement under building bye-laws, water shower curtains must be provided along deficient sides that do not have an adjacent road as an additional measure against fire spread. However, water shower curtains are not required for ground-floor or ground-plus-one-floor buildings.
“Automatic sprinklers shall be provided if the basement area is more than 200 square metres, along with additional terrace tank capacity of 5,000 litres,” the circular stated.
A Fire Department official told TNIE that a four-way fire brigade inlet would also have to be provided for the overhead water tanks of the buildings.
“These measures are intended to strengthen fire protection in buildings where additional open space cannot be practically created,” the official said.
The guidelines also make a second staircase mandatory in existing educational buildings. The circular prescribes fire and life safety measures according to the height and configuration of buildings. These include adequate fire extinguishers, modular sprinklers in chemical and computer laboratories.