Fire Safety Requirements for Internal Walls

When you plan to construct a new internal wall to divide a space or create an additional room, it's crucial to consider how this change might affect your home's fire escape routes.

What Happens When You Create an 'Inner Room'?

If your renovation results in a room where the only way out, for either an existing or a newly built space, is by passing through another room – what we call an 'inner room' – then you will need to install an escape window in that inner room. Additionally, you might also need to fit one or more smoke alarms.

However, if your inner room's floor is situated more than 4.5 metres above the ground level (for example, if it's on the top floor of a typical three-storey house), relying on an escape window for exit may not be safe. In such instances, you'll need to implement an alternative fire safety solution. This could even mean redesigning your layout entirely to avoid creating an 'inner room' in the first place.

Walls Surrounding Stairways

• For Homes with Three Storeys or More: If your house has three storeys or more, certain walls enclosing the stairways are typically required to have a specific level of fire resistance. This is vital to ensure that if a fire breaks out in an adjacent room, it won't unduly compromise the escape route for people in other parts of your home.

• For Two-Storey Houses: In two-storey properties, the walls around your stairway may not necessarily require a designated fire resistance rating. Nevertheless, these walls still provide a valuable safety benefit by helping to contain fire and smoke for a period.

Removing Internal Walls: Your Fire Safety Considerations

Before you remove an internal wall, you must carefully assess its potential impact on fire safety in your property:

• In Two-Storey Homes: If you're removing an internal wall in a two-storey house, you can often compensate for this change. This typically involves installing mains-powered, interlinked smoke alarms throughout your home and ensuring that other rooms accessible from the staircase are equipped with suitable escape windows.

• In Homes with Three Storeys or More: For houses that are three storeys or taller, simply adding smoke alarms and escape windows may not be enough to maintain adequate fire safety. The exact fire safety features required for your project will depend on your specific circumstances and must be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Any new wall you construct (including its door) that separates a room from a stairway might need to provide adequate fire resistance, particularly in three-storey homes. If this new wall includes a door, it should also be self-closing to help prevent the spread of fire and smoke.