look around to see if there are any easy paths
through which smoke and fire may spread and
what you can do to stop that. In general, older
buildings will have more void areas, possibly
hidden from view, which will allow smoke and
fire to spread away from its source. Whatever
your type of building, you may need to
consider typical situations that may assist the
spread of fire and smoke such as:
• vertical shafts, e.g. lifts, open stairways, dumb
waiters or holes for moving stock around;
• false ceilings, especially if they are not
fire-stopped above walls;
• voids behind wall panelling;
• large roof cavities, particularly in cold stores;
• unsealed holes in walls and ceilings where
pipe work, cables or other services have
been installed; and
• doors, particularly to stairways, which are
ill-fitting or routinely left open.