Alex Copping outlines an evaluation procedure for protecting British parish churches from fire. Historic buildings constitute a complex environment with regard to the building fabric, contents and occupants in terms of property usage and management. The effective management of fire safety requires the sympathetic integration of these components. Invariably, fire safety solutions must satisfy two or possibly three interacting components. For example, deriving successful egress routes under emergency conditions is dependent on the value and consequential flexibility of the building fabric, while the effective retrieval of contents interacts not only with the access routes available but also with the stability of the structural building fabric.
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