General Fire Safety Guidance

Signage

A fire safety sign is defined in Part 2(1) of the regulations as a sign which:

• provides information on escape routes and emergency exits in case of fire;
• provides information on the identification and/or location of firefighting equipment; and
• gives warning in case of fire.
  

The use of appropriate supplementary text detailed in BS5499 will greatly assist building managers, occupants and owners to understand the meaning of the new signs and help fulfil the legal requirement in this respect.

Managers, occupiers and owners have a statutory responsibility to ensure that these signs are maintained, and that employees understand actions to be taken in conjunction with signs. Signs should be durable and securely fastened to ensure visibility is maintained.

Meaning of Directional Arrows
Directional arrows clarify routes to the final exit. All fire exit signs should have appropriate arrows until a place of relative safety is reached.

a) Signs that do comply

All fire safety signs should be adequately illuminated at all material times. In conditions of poor natural light (daylight) it may be necessary to provide direct illumination, or the use of photoluminescent signs may be appropriate.

Viewing Distance Table
As a rule of thumb, viewing distances can be calculated from the measurements of the graphic symbol element contained within a fire safety sign.

Graphic Symbol Height	Viewing Distance
100mm	17.0 metres
110mm	19.0 metres
120mm	20.4 metres
130mm	22.0 metres

From any point within a building persons should have sight of the nearest exit. If this is not the case a sign, or series of directional signs, should guide people to the exit.

Mandatory Signs
The following signs are mandatory fire action signs and must be in blue. This format is best practice:

General
Other signs may be used as long as they convey the message clearly and are clearly understood by all building occupants. If in doubt, ask for clarification from the enforcement agency.

The 'European' type sign (man next to white block) is lawful, but its meaning is not easily understood by the general public and are likely to be made non-acceptable under proposed European Legislation. The British Standard signs depicted on this document are recommended in preference to the 'European' version.

This information is issued as guidance only.

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