HIQA Compliant Floor Plans for Nursing Homes

FireEscapePlans.ie is Ireland’s leading designer of HIQA compliant floor plans for Designated Centres for Older People.

HIQA have very specific requirements for how Article (3) of Regulation 28 (3) of the Health Act 2007 (Care and Welfare of Residents in Designated Centres for Older People) Regulations 2013 is to be implemented in residential care homes.

Compliance with Regulation 28 will require:

• Wall-displayed floor plans in strategic areas
• Folded maps to be included in the fire safety and training manuals
• A zone plan adjacent to the fire detection and alarm system control panel(s)

Floor Plans

The primary purpose of fire escape plans is to facilitate emergency evacuation, not to facilitate firefighting operations. Therefore, the following information should be included on a carefully designed manner that doesn’t clutter the plan and serve to distract from its primary purpose.

HIQA‘s Fire Safety Handbook – A guide for registered providers and staff states that the information to be shown on floor plans includes but is not limited to:

• Locations of fire compartment and subcompartment walls
• Locations and rating of fire doors (shown as part of the compartmentation strategy)
• Locations of escape corridors and fire exits
• A “You are here” locator showing the location of the viewer within the floor space and relevant to the nearest and alternative fire exits
• Fire alarm control panel and nodes
• Fire extinguishers
• Fire blankets
• Fire hose reels
• Wet or dry riser outlet valves
• Sprinkler control valves
• First aid kits and defibrillator
• Oxygen cylinders and stores

Other information not mentioned by HIQA but nonetheless required includes:

• The location of refuge areas and voice communication systems
• The location of evacuation equipment
• The location where the PEEP plans are kept
• The identity of the fire compartment with the “You are here” locator in it
• The maximum bed capacity of the compartment (for sleeping compartments)
• The identity and location of the compartment to which occupants will be moved to during a progressive/phased evacuation
• The location of the external fire assembly point for total evacuation
• The location of smoke ventilation controls

Folded Maps

HIQA requires floor plans to be provided in each designated centre on which are marked:

• Room numbers
• Locations of fire-resisting doors
• Locations of all compartment and sub-compartment boundaries (walls, doors, floors, ceilings and roof spaces)
• Travel distances to the alternative exits

This information would be taken from the facility’s fire engineering plans as approved by the local fire authority and is intended for inclusion in the fire safety manual in the form of a simplified floor plan that can be easily understood by staff and managers (who are not CAD technicians or fire engineers/fire officers):

“Floor plans of the building that show the locations of all compartment boundaries should be available to the provider, managers and staff in the centre and should be used during staff training and fire drills to ensure that all staff are aware of their locations, and the critical role they play in the safety of people in the centre.”

The Handbook also states:

“Accurate floor plans that show the locations of compartment elements, along with their required fire rating, should be included in fire safety training material provided to staff and be used to inform contractors whenever works are being carried out on the premises.”

HIQA further states that it is recommended that the following items are included in the fire procedure or separately in a fire safety manual which is available to all staff and is easily retrievable in the event of an emergency:

• Floor plans of the premises
• Site plan indicating the assembly points and location of hydrants
• The layout of compartment boundaries, fire alarm zones and escape routes
• The locations of:
  • Fire doors
  • Evacuation equipment
  • Oxygen storage
  • Ventilation fire dampers (shut off panels in the ventilation ducting to restrict spread of smoke)
  • Firefighting equipment
  • Break-glass units
  • Emergency lights
  • Fire-suppression systems
  • Utility shut-off points
• Description of the evacuation aids provided and the facilities required to assist firefighters
• A summary of personal emergency evacuation plans

Zone Plans

HIQA’s Fire Precautions in Designated Centres for Older People states:

“It is of particular benefit to display such a floor plan adjacent to any fire detection and alarm system panel(s) to further aid in the quick identification of any alarm activation.”

Page 130 of the Handbook seems to confuse fire escape plans with fire alarm zone plans:

“The locations of all firefighting equipment should be marked on the floor plans displayed next to the fire detection and alarm system panel and on any floor plans displayed throughout the premises.”

Zone plans should not show the locations of firefighting equipment. Therefore the requirement is to show a fire escape floor plan adjacent to the panel(s) in addition to a zone plan.