Preparing your Fire Escapes for the Winter

Most people have external fire escapes in their buildings or homes but rarely consider the value of it until an actual emergency situation happens and they need to use the fire escape for egress. It’s especially important to protect your fire escapes from the harsh winter weather. Metal escapes are very susceptible to cold and moist climates.

At Boston Ironworks, we encourage our clients to carry out thorough fire escape inspections in Boston before the winter sets in. Here’s what you need to do.

Carry Out a Visual Inspection

It’s always recommended that you get a thorough inspection done but if that’s not possible, you need to carry out a visual inspection at the very least. According to the MA Fire Escape Law, all fire escapes older than 5 years need to be inspected and maintained every 5 years.

However, to be visually certifiable, the fire escape needs to be reinforced, its connections need to be rebolted or repaired, and its load bearing capacity needs to be tested. If all these repairs and maintenance have been performed properly, you can get visual certification after fire escape inspections in Boston.

The visual test usually consists of a keen examination of all the nuts and bolts, the connections, the platform supports, the rail posts, etc. If the inspector finds these aspects unsatisfactory, he’ll not consider the fire escape safe to use.

The Load Test

According to MS Fire Escape Law, the installation must be able to handle a load of 100 lbs per square foot. This inspection is recommended for properly maintained escapes that are anywhere between 25 to 75 years old. The escape should be stable enough to handle this level of load or it won’t be certified for use.

This is a calculated load inspection and your fire escape must pass this to get live load fire escape inspections in Boston. It is usually supervised by a structural engineer and is carefully documented. It is recommended for any fire escape that’s more than 75 years old and should be conducted every 25 years.

These fire escape inspections in Boston will ensure that all your fire escapes are in good enough condition to bear the extreme wintertime temperatures. You need to make sure that there are no loose screws, railings, and missing pieces.

For questions and enquires, you can call Boston Ironworks at 617 657 3117. You can also fill in this contact us form. We’ll get in touch with you as soon as possible.