Security grilles in Ashford, Kent

Grilles across exits in business premises

In workplaces and other non-domestic premises, including the common parts of blocks of flats and HMOs, the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 makes the responsible person keep escape routes and emergency exits available and easy to open while people are present. A grille across an exit should be unlocked and parked open whenever the building is occupied, and covered in the fire risk assessment.

Bedroom and escape windows

Approved Document B (fire safety) expects many habitable rooms in houses, especially first-floor rooms, to have an emergency escape window with an unobstructed opening of at least 0.33 m², at least 450 mm high and 450 mm wide, with the bottom of the opening no more than 1,100 mm above the floor. We only fit grilles over escape windows with a release that opens from inside without a key.

External grilles and planning

External grilles and shutters on shops and other commercial buildings normally need planning permission from the local council because they change the building's appearance. Many councils' shopfront guides favour internal, open-lattice grilles, particularly in conservation areas.