Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape) Regulations, 1985

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR SI 249/1985

S.I. No. 249 of 1985.
FIRE SAFETY IN PLACES OF ASSEMBLY (EASE OF ESCAPE), REGULATIONS, 1985.
The Minister for the Environment, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 37 of the Fire Services Act, 1981 (No. 30 of 1981) hereby makes the following Regulations:—
	1 Citation.	1. These Regulations may be cited as the Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape). Regulations, 1985.
	2 Commencement.	2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1985.
	3 Interpretation.	3. In these Regulations—
"escape route" means a route by which a person may reach a place of safety and means in relation to any point in a building, a route from that point;
"place of assembly" means a building or any part of a building put to any of the following uses that is to say, as an—
amusement arcade
bingo hall
bus or train passenger station
casino
cinema
concert hall
dance hall (including discotheque)
ecclesiastical building
exhibition hall
funfair building
grandstand
gymnasium
indoor bowling alley
indoor games court
non-residential club
premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor other than an off-licence
radio or television studio to which the public are admitted
restaurant, café, canteen
riding school
skating rink
sports pavilion
stadium
swimming baths (including any swimming pool, changing rooms, or similar facilities)
tent or marquee to which the public are admitted
theatre.
"place of safety" means a place in the open air at ground level in which persons are in no danger from fire and which, if it is an enclosed space, has a means of egress to an unenclosed space by an exit or exits having a width or aggregate width not less than the width of the exit or exits leading from the building to the enclosed space.
	4 Precautions to be taken by persons having control.	4. Every person having control over a place of assembly shall take the following precautions that is to say, he shall ensure that, while the place is in actual use as a place of assembly—
(i) subject to paragraph (ii), all escape routes are kept unobstructed and immediately available for use,
(ii) doors, gates and other like barriers across escape routes are not secured in such a manner that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by persons in the place of assembly,
(iii) all chains, padlocks and other removable fastenings for securing doors, gates or other like...