Your emergency exits are here, here & here: Getting Out In A Hurry
Last week I talked about how to prepare your home in case flooding should arise, thankfully this is an issue that troubles few people.
Today, conversely I want to talk about how to get out of your home in a hurry. Again, this will not be something that most people will have to do however, the building regulations and laws are something that all of us need to take into account when installing new windows and doors.
In their simplest form every room above the ground floor MUST have a means of escape with the exception of a bathroom which is exempt from this ruling. In addition any room on the ground floor which doesn’t lead directly to a hallway (which in turn leads to an external exit door) must also have a means of escape.
There are several things to take into account when planning your exit. Firstly, the size of the clear opening must be a minimum area of a third of a square metre AND at least 450mm high or 450 mm wide in addition, the opening should be no more than 1100mm from the internal floor level. In some cases this may mean the fitting of French Windows to enable that opening but in the majority of cases there are ways we can achieve this. In other cases the local planning departments take the view that on an existing property that if the situation isn’t made worse then they will pass the work - we can advise if this is likely to be the case and also if this is an achievable outcome.
One of the ways in which we ensure that the maximum clear opening is achieved is through the use of an egress hinge - this is a hinge which opens up to 90 degrees to allow for easy escape. egress hinges come in two varieties - Easy Clean and Standard. We fit easy clean egress hinges on 99% of our jobs (we’ll advise you if we can’t). This means that you’re able to clean the outside of your new window from the inside. Standard egress hinges open to 90 degrees but are fixed meaning you cant get your hand behind them to clean the outside of the sash so you’ll be forever cleaning your windows from off a ladder.
Our Easy Clean Egress Hinge is the best on the market, it’s highly manufactured to operate perfectly every time and is incredibly simple to use as detailed below.
Start with the sash open at 90 degrees
Close the window to roughly 30 degrees and press down on the purple catch located on the top and bottom hinge, sliding them all the way away from the corner of the window.
The catch will click into place when in the right position.
Finally, it’s a case of pushing the sash across to get your hand behind it. To reset the hinge, close the window and it should return to it’s original position.
Our hinges are manufactured to the highest standards and as long as fitted correctly will stand the test of time. To extend the life of the hinges, further be sure to spray with some silicone spray or apply 3 in 1 oil to the hinges periodically (we recommend every six months) wiping away any excess with kitchen towel. For additional tips for keeping your windows and doors in optimum condition check out our blog post here.
All details remain correct as of 24th February 2020 - please contact us for more up to date information. Additional rules may apply in relation to new build properties including Document Q legislation.
Additional photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash