ᐅ 2. Emergency escape routes, emergency hand cranks, and parapet height under 60 cm
Created on: 9 Feb 2022 08:08
D
Diany4605
I am hoping for some help here again because I am beginning to seriously doubt the full competence of my architect. Not only did he cost us €75,000 in KfW funding by simply not getting things done on time, now he is starting to make changes to the house that I can neither believe nor find anywhere documented.
It’s about second escape routes in the house. Hopefully, one day we will live in our new house in Baden-Württemberg. Every window in the house has electric exterior blinds without exception. The architect has already marked one window on each floor as a second escape route, which MUST be equipped with an emergency manual crank. To this day, I don’t know if this is really a mandatory requirement for exterior blinds, only for roller shutters, or if it is required at all. Online you find conflicting information—it’s a complete mess. Not only is it definitely bad from an energy-efficiency perspective to have a hole with a metal rod going from inside outwards, but with our sun protection manufacturer (Roma), it seems a radio motor cannot be combined with a crank. So now something different has to be done, which will again cost time, nerves, and above all, money.
Secondly, through a plan change, he has now lowered the window sills on these windows and others to under 60cm (24 inches). Luckily, we noticed this and asked why he had done it—now you literally can’t put anything on the sill without it looking terrible. His answer was that this is now required by regulation, that the sill at a second escape route must not be higher than 60cm (24 inches). And because it would look awkward in the same room otherwise, he extended all the windows accordingly. I absolutely can’t find any evidence for this nonsense anywhere. Everywhere I find only 120cm (47 inches) stated. Nothing about 85cm (33 inches) no longer being allowed (which was the previous measurement), and certainly nothing about 60cm (24 inches).
The third issue is that we are planning an additional one-room granny flat. Apparently, the same applies here; again, all the window sills are lowered to 60cm (24 inches). But what I also could not find is whether it can really be mandatory to design a second escape route window with an emergency manual crank in a one-room apartment (!) less than 4m (13 feet) from the front door (which is presumably the primary escape route). In the same room—that just can’t be right, can it?
Please do not comment with things like: “just leave out the exterior blinds,” or “skip the motor,” etc. I am at my wit’s end because my dream has turned into the worst nightmare of my life over the last three weeks. I am picky and a perfectionist, I know that—I just have absolutely no more trust in this architect and don’t believe a single word he says anymore. Please just try to understand me and help if you can, especially if you have any insight into the escape route regulations in Baden-Württemberg.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
It’s about second escape routes in the house. Hopefully, one day we will live in our new house in Baden-Württemberg. Every window in the house has electric exterior blinds without exception. The architect has already marked one window on each floor as a second escape route, which MUST be equipped with an emergency manual crank. To this day, I don’t know if this is really a mandatory requirement for exterior blinds, only for roller shutters, or if it is required at all. Online you find conflicting information—it’s a complete mess. Not only is it definitely bad from an energy-efficiency perspective to have a hole with a metal rod going from inside outwards, but with our sun protection manufacturer (Roma), it seems a radio motor cannot be combined with a crank. So now something different has to be done, which will again cost time, nerves, and above all, money.
Secondly, through a plan change, he has now lowered the window sills on these windows and others to under 60cm (24 inches). Luckily, we noticed this and asked why he had done it—now you literally can’t put anything on the sill without it looking terrible. His answer was that this is now required by regulation, that the sill at a second escape route must not be higher than 60cm (24 inches). And because it would look awkward in the same room otherwise, he extended all the windows accordingly. I absolutely can’t find any evidence for this nonsense anywhere. Everywhere I find only 120cm (47 inches) stated. Nothing about 85cm (33 inches) no longer being allowed (which was the previous measurement), and certainly nothing about 60cm (24 inches).
The third issue is that we are planning an additional one-room granny flat. Apparently, the same applies here; again, all the window sills are lowered to 60cm (24 inches). But what I also could not find is whether it can really be mandatory to design a second escape route window with an emergency manual crank in a one-room apartment (!) less than 4m (13 feet) from the front door (which is presumably the primary escape route). In the same room—that just can’t be right, can it?
Please do not comment with things like: “just leave out the exterior blinds,” or “skip the motor,” etc. I am at my wit’s end because my dream has turned into the worst nightmare of my life over the last three weeks. I am picky and a perfectionist, I know that—I just have absolutely no more trust in this architect and don’t believe a single word he says anymore. Please just try to understand me and help if you can, especially if you have any insight into the escape route regulations in Baden-Württemberg.
Thank you very much for your understanding.
Diany4605 schrieb:
The issue with emergency manual cranks comes from the electric roller shutters. Although it is not explicitly stated anywhere in writing, it is generally criticized during the building permit / planning permission process and therefore must be included. For external blinds, it always depends on the responsible official; in some cases, a "loophole" might work, meaning you try your luck without following the rule, but if it goes wrong, you would still have to add it.In our case, the emergency manual crank for the external venetian blind on the garage roof (second escape route) slipped through during the building permit / planning permission process without our knowledge. We feel so uneasy about this that I removed this venetian blind from the automated KNX control system and set it to open again at certain times. Even though I am confident that the venetian blind can be forced open, I do not believe my 5-year-old daughter could manage it in an emergency.
A crank handle for the venetian blind is, in my opinion, the standard solution. In reality, however, manually turning the crank takes forever. In this case, an emergency wire cutter would be much more efficient to simply cut the few cords of the blind and push it down. 🙂