Direction Générale de la Protection Civile

General Directorate of Civil Protection

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Residential Buildings

As outlined in Article 1 of Decree 76/37 of February 20, 1976, concerning fire safety requirements in residential buildings.

The residential buildings defined in the decree are those intended solely for residential use, where the ground floor of the highest dwelling does not exceed 50 meters above the ground level accessible by emergency and fire-fighting vehicles.

Classification of residential buildings:

These residential buildings are classified into 4 families:

*First Family: This includes detached, semi-detached, or terraced dwellings consisting of only two levels.

*Second Family: This includes detached, semi-detached, or terraced dwellings consisting of three levels, but the height between the ground floor and the lowest floor of the highest dwelling does not exceed 8 meters.

*Third Family: This includes dwellings consisting of more than three levels, but the height between the ground floor and the lowest floor of the highest dwelling does not exceed 28 meters.

*Fourth Family: This includes dwellings where the height between the ground floor and the lowest floor of the highest dwelling is more than 28 meters but not more than 50 meters.

Construction:

Tall residential buildings should be isolated from each other by a fire-cutting wall every 40 m, allowing an increase of 5 m

– An hour for residential buildings classified as part of the second family.

– An hour and a half for residential buildings classified within the third and fourth families.

Load-bearing and portable components

Fire resistance rating specific to:

  1. First family residential buildings 4/1 hour.

    Second family residential buildings 2/1 hour.

    Residential buildings, third family, 1 hour.

    Fourth family residential buildings, an hour and a half.

    Grounds: The degrees of extinguishing the fire and removing it from inside the building itself are:

    First family residential buildings: 1/4 hour.
    Second family residential buildings: 1/2 hour.

    Residential buildings of the third and fourth families, where the floor height of the building is 35 meters or more from the ground level, have entrances to public service mechanisms for fire protection and first aid: one hour.

    Other residential buildings for the fourth family: 1 and a half hours

    II. The Conquests:

Non-flammable covers or covers that are flammable, even partially, can be used without prohibition.

Quick-inflammatory or easy-to-flammable covers should have the following properties:

1/ Section T 30 (T represents the time the fire passes to a higher degree to 30 degrees).

2/ Section T 15 (T ranges between 15 and 30 minutes).

3/ Section T 5 (T ranges between 05 and 15 minutes).

The sections of these openings should be:

First family residential buildings T 5, T 15 or T 30.

Residential buildings of the second family T 15 or T 30.
Residential buildings, third family and fourth family, T 30
For residential buildings of the third and fourth families, internal traffic movements coming from the floors (Sous Sol), which help in clearing traffic, should not be in direct contact with the stairs that serve the floors, as they should have in the upper area a door 2/1CF equipped with an automatic door and opens towards the exit coming from the floor.
Elevators must have a path through traffic and mass movements if they have a lower ground floor (Sous Sol) which in turn contains a car park, they must be far from the elevators by SAS (Ventilation Door VH 10 dm2)+ PF and the direction of the opening to the outside.
The car parks located inside BH, which can accommodate more than 5 cars or have an area exceeding 100 m2, must be isolated from the rest of the building by CF2H elements, and the permanent connection with the exits must be secured by SAS (air + door h2/1PF) + the direction of the opening to the inside of SAS.
Communication between the internal movements of the residential buildings of the third and fourth families and the shops must be:
If these stores pose a risk of fire or explosion.
In the case of SAS, it is ventilated with two doors and closes automatically + h2/1CF + the direction of opening the door towards the inside of SAS.
In case these shops do not pose any danger with an automatic closing door + h2/1CF.

III Ventilation:

The ventilation system must be completed according to the plans provided by the operator.

In a single ventilation system, hot air conditioning or air conditioning, ducts and holders are made of non-flammable materials.
In a mass ventilation system, the ducts are made of non-combustible fire-cutting materials (CF1/4 h) and are far from flammable materials.
For residential buildings for the third and fourth families, ventilation ducts passing through shops that pose a fire hazard must be fire-stopping for 2 hours (CF 2 h).
The channels designated for dumping waste must be completed without causing the spread of fire from the dumped materials.

IV Electricity and gas:

  • The columns designated to contain the ascending channels for gas and electricity must be insulated from each other.
  • Columns containing ascending gas channels or ascending electricity channels must be made of non-combustible, fire-resistant materials (PF 1/4 h).
  • This recommendation mentioned above also applies to separation barriers in the case of a common sheath divided to isolate the ascending channels of gas and electricity between them.
  • Columns containing ascending channels for electrical gas must not have air-suppressing partitions at the level of the panels (floors and ceilings). Their size must not be narrowed at these levels and they must be covered on the upper side.

V. Drawers:

Protected drawers must:

  • To lead at each level to a horizontal corridor in accordance with the text of Article 13 of Decree 76/37.
  • It should not contain any sheath, openings, channels, garbage dumps, shops, elevators except for its own electrical channels for lighting, dry channels, hot water channels, and iron water outlets.
  • It contains electric lighting with its own accommodations and is independent of the lighting of other facilities of the building, and uncovered electrical wires must not spread fire.
  • It leads directly outside or to a foyer with adequate ventilation or no fire hazard.
  • It must contain surfaces and wings that withstand fire at least one hour.
  • Smoke-protected drawers are an internal drawer with fire-cutting walls with an hour grade (h/1CF) or fire-resistant walls with a 2-hour grade (h/2PF).
  • When separated from horizontal smoke-protected corridors (h/1CF) and separate from the rest of the building’s facilities.
  • On the upper side, it contains ventilation with a distance of 1 square meter in a position or above that leads to the roof of the building. This ventilation is permanent and not locked or connected to the smoke detection system
  • In this latter case, there must be permanent, usable manual control for civil protection agents when intervening. This procedure may not be mandatory if mechanical ventilation is available
  • Doors with a width of 0.80 meters must withstand fire for at least half an hour and are equipped with an automatic closing device and open in the direction of exiting the apartments to the outside.
  • Drawers with coatings or covers must be non-combustible.
  • In the case of stairs made in the open air, at least one of their walls is completely open to the outside of the facade. This opening must be less than or twice as wide

The wings are also at least 2 metres apart from the openings of their own building or another building.

  • When one of the walls of these drawers is adjacent to another building, it will be a fire breaker for 1 hour ((CF=1h At least if it is 2 meters away from the openings of any building, it can be without walls.
  • When there is a coating or wrapping, the latter is difficult to ignite.
  • When they have doors, security recommendations for smoke-protected drawers apply.
  • Buildings where the ground floor of the highest floor is more than 28 meters high must contain:
  • – Dry duct in stairs.
  • A device that gives priority to the use of the elevator at least for each room intended for exploitation by civil protection agents upon their arrival at the scene.