External Fire Escape Staircase

About this fire escape

A galvanised external escape staircase fixed to a white profile clad unit, running from a first floor fire door down to ground level with a half landing on the turn.

Escape stairs on clad buildings need care at the fixing points. Profile cladding is not structure — it is a skin. The staircase is fixed back to the steel frame behind it, with the cladding made good around each bracket so the building envelope stays weathertight.

What it was designed to

Approved Document B governs the means of escape and Approved Document K governs the stair geometry. In practice that means consistent rise and going all the way down, guarding that will not let a 100mm sphere through, continuous graspable handrails through the turn, and a landing sized so the fire door can swing without reducing the escape width.