Experts agree that Every building needs a Fire Safety Plan
Do we need a Fire Saftey Plan?
What types of Buildings require a Fire Safety Plan?
Provincial/National Fire Codes set the minimum standards required to be met by building owners. Not all buildings require Fire Safety Plans as per the Fire Code, however building occupants require guidance on evacuation procedures regardless of the type or size of building. In Ontario, the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) requires that all workplaces (regardless of the size or the number of employees) provide staff with emergency evacuation procedures (only part of the emergency planning requirement under Section 4.2).
So, first, here are a few simple answers.
The answer is YES if your building is;
a) an apartment with more than ten (10) unrelated persons,
b) over four (4) stories including basement,
c) required to have a fire alarm system,
d) a bar or restaurant with an occupant load over thirty (30) persons,
e) any building containing a Group “A” (assembly, [ i.e. a church]) or Group “B” (health care or detention) occupancy or,
f) a rooming, boarding or lodging home.
NOTE: Even if your building does not fall into one of the following “Occupancy Types” the Authority Having Jurisdiction (Fire Department) has the right to demand one.
GENERAL EXAMPLE OF OCCUPANCY TYPE
(a) Group ‘A’ (Assembly) or Group ‘B’ (Health-care) occupancy,
(b) Group ‘C’ (Residential) where the occupant load exceeds 10 persons,
(c) Group ‘D’ (Offices) where the occupant load exceeds 300 persons,
(d) Group ‘E’ (Stores/Mercantile) where the occupant load exceeds 300 persons,
(e) Group ‘F’ Division 1 (High Hazard Industrial) where the occupant load exceeds 25 persons,
(f) Group ‘F’ Division 2 (Medium Hazard Industrial) where the occupant load exceeds 100 persons,
(g) Group ‘F’ Division 3 (Low Hazard Industrial) where the occupant load exceeds 300 persons.
Each Occupancy Type has specific requirements in the Fire Safety Plan. In some cases more than one of the above Occupancy Types can apply to your building, known as a “Mixed Occupancy” If you are unsure on these issues contact the eZfireplan office for assistance. |
SPECIFIC EXAMPLE OF OCCUPANCY TYPE
Assembly Occupancies
Group A, Division 1
Motion picture theatres, Opera houses, Television studios admitting a viewing audience
and Theatres including experimental theatres.
Group A, Division 2
Art galleries, Auditoria, Bowling alleys, Churches and similar places of worship, Clubs
non-residential, Community halls, Courtrooms, Dance halls, Exhibition halls (other than
classified in Group E Occupancies), Gymnasia, Lecture halls, Libraries, Licensed
beverage establishments, Museums, Passenger stations and depots, Recreational piers,
Restaurants, Undertaking premises and Schools and colleges non-residential.
Group A, Division 3
Arenas, Indoor swimming pools with or without spectator seating and Rinks.
Group A, Division 4
Amusement park structures (not elsewhere classified), Bleachers, Grandstands,
Reviewing stands and Stadiums.
Detention Occupancies
Group B, Division 1
Jails, Penitentiaries, Police stations with detention quarters, Prisons, Reformatories with
detention quarters and Psychiatric hospitals with detention quarters.
Health Care and Custodial Occupancies
Group B, Division 2
Children’s custodial homes, Convalescent homes, Hospitals, Infirmaries, Nursing homes,
Orphanages, Psychiatric hospitals without detention quarters, Reformatories without
detention quarters and Sanatoria without detention quarters.
Residential Occupancies
Group C
Apartments, Boarding houses, Clubs Residential, Colleges Residential, Convents,
Dormitories, Hotels, Houses, Lodgings houses, Monasteries, Motels and Schools
Residential.
Business and Personal Services Occupancies
Group D
Banks, Barber and Hairdressing shops, Beauty offices, Laundries self service, Medical
offices, Dry cleaning establishments self- service not using flammable or explosive
solvents or cleaners, Offices, Police stations without detention quarters, Radio stations,
Small tool and appliance rental and service establishments.
Mercantile Occupancies
Group E
Department stores, Exhibition halls, Markets, Shops, Stores and Supermarkets.
Industrial Occupancies
High Hazard
Group F Division 1
Bulk plants for flammable liquids, Bulk storage warehouses for hazardous substances,
Distilleries, Cereal Mills, Chemical manufacturing or processing plants, Dry cleaning
plants, Feed mills, Flour mills, Grain elevators, Lacquer factories, Mattress factories,
Paint Varnish and pyroxylin product factories, Rubber processing plants, Spray painting
operations and Waste paper processing plants.
Medium Hazard
Group F Division 2
Aircraft hangers, Box factories, Candy plants, Cold storage plants, Electrical substations,
Dry cleaning establishments not using flammable or explosive solvents or cleaners,
Factories, Freight depots, Helicopter landing areas on roofs, Laboratories, Laundries
except self-service, Mattress factories, Planning mills, Printing plants, Repair garages,
Salesrooms, Workshops, Television studios not admitting a viewing audience,
Warehouse, Wholesale rooms and Woodworking factories.
Low Hazard
Group F Division 3
Creameries, Factories, Laboratories, Power plants, Salesrooms, Sample display rooms,
Workshops, Storage garages including open air parking garages, Storage rooms and
Warehouses.
