S 1.13 Layout of building parts requiring protection

Initiation responsibility: Project planner; agency/company management

Implementation responsibility: Construction supervisor; Head of Site/Bldg Technical Service

Rooms or building parts requiring protection should never be in exposed or particularly endangered areas:

• basement rooms are exposed to water damage;

• first-floor rooms - facing public traffic zones - are exposed to attacks, vandalism and force majeure (traffic accidents in the vicinity of the building);

• first-floor rooms of buildings with courtyards that cannot be easily observed are exposed to breaking and entering and to sabotage;

• rooms immediately below flat roofs are exposed to rainwater.

As a rule of thumb, it may be assumed that rooms or areas requiring protection will best be located in the centre of a building rather than in its outer parts.

The optimum approach is to include these aspects already in the project planning of a new building or in the room allocation plans for moving into an existing building. Where buildings are already in use, the pertinent utilisation scheme will often involve moves within the given buildings. Alternatively, consequent use should be made of the opportunities offered by changes which are to be made anyhow to room allocation.

Additional controls:

• Which rooms requiring protection are in an exposed location?