Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)
Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - THOMAS, David: Architectural Design and Technical Equipment for the Physical Protection and Conservation of Documents
248 Archive Buildings resisting construction, each of which will contain a fire and ensure the stability of the building structure. Opinion varies as to the maximum size of a compartment; the British Standard suggests 1,420 m3 71). In order to achieve this, walls should be capable of resisting fire for at least four hours. All openings in them should be fitted with self closing doors or with doors or shutters which are operated by automatic devices or an alarm system. Such doors or shutters should be fire-resistant. Fire can break through openings such as stairs, liftshafts and ducts. These should be protected by walls and doors of noncombustible materials; spaces round pipes and conduits should be sealed. Air- conditioning ducts should be fitted with automatic detectors which are capable of shutting down the system and actuating dampers to prevent the flow of smoke71 72). All materials in the building structure should be non-combustible; the framework of the building should be enclosed in concrete, brickwork or other fire-resistant material. Appropriate national standards should be observed for electrical installations, (including the use of flame-retardant cable) and the provision of suitable escape routes. Thought should be given to protecting the building against fire spreading from neighbouring structures and the use of metal window frames with wired glass should be considered73). Damage from water used in fire fighting can be reduced by the use of water proof ceilings and floors. Tests at Cornell in 1963 showed that in a tightly compartmented structure of the most modern fire-resistive design the risk to library materials was only moderate74). Nevertheless, compartmentation only confines fire to a small area and this building technique should be supplemented by an automatic detection system. The most common detectors used in archives are ones which react to the presence of combustion gases; either photoelectric devices which respond to visible smoke or ionization systems which can sense the presence of the products of burning materials. Other options include flame or heat detectors. At present ionization devices are the preferred choice. Any system selected should sound an alarm, indicate the location of the fire, close fire shutters and doors, shut down the air-conditioning system and operate dampers in the ducts and send a signal to the fire authority or a central monitoring station75). Fire detectors are of limited value as an element in the fire protection system. They are only really effective if the response to them is rapid; that is to say if a guard or fireman can attend within between five to ten minutes and use a hand held extinguisher to deal with the problem76). If response is delayed much longer, then a large fire may have developed and it is for this reason that the 71) BS section 7.5.1. n) BS section 7.5, 7.6. ,3) Fire Protection Association Fire in Buildings 16; National Fire Protection Association Protection of Records (Boston 1963) section 5422. 74) Morris Managing the Library Fire Risk 10. 75) BS section 7.8.1; Tillotson Museum Security 50—52. 76) Ibid. 56.
