Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape), Regulations, 1985.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the Fire Safety in Places of Assembly (Ease of Escape). Regulations, 1985.
2 Commencement.
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paragraphs: These Regulations shall come into operation on the 1st day of September, 1985.
3 Interpretation.
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paragraphs: In these Regulations—
"escape route" means a route by which a person may reach a place of safety and means in relation to any point in a building, a route from that point;
"place of assembly" means a building or any part of a building put to any of the following uses that is to say, as an—
amusement arcade
bingo hall
bus or train passenger station
casino
cinema
concert hall
dance hall (including discotheque)
ecclesiastical building
exhibition hall
funfair building
grandstand
gymnasium
indoor bowling alley
indoor games court
non-residential club
premises licensed for the sale of intoxicating liquor other than an off-licence
radio or television studio to which the public are admitted
restaurant, cafÃ©, canteen
riding school
skating rink
sports pavilion
stadium
swimming baths (including any swimming pool, changing rooms, or similar facilities)
tent or marquee to which the public are admitted
theatre.
"place of safety" means a place in the open air at ground level in which persons are in no danger from fire and which, if it is an enclosed space, has a means of egress to an unenclosed space by an exit or exits having a width or aggregate width not less than the width of the exit or exits leading from the building to the enclosed space.
4 Precautions to be taken by persons having control.
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paragraphs: Every person having control over a place of assembly shall take the following precautions that is to say, he shall ensure that, while the place is in actual use as a place of assembly—
(i) subject to paragraph (ii), all escape routes are kept unobstructed and immediately available for use,
(ii) doors, gates and other like barriers across escape routes are not secured in such a manner that they cannot be easily and immediately opened by persons in the place of assembly,
(iii) all chains, padlocks and other removable fastenings for securing doors, gates or other like barriers are removed and kept in a place where they may be readily inspected by an authorised person for the purposes of section 22 of the Fire Services Act, 1981 ,
(iv) no hanging or drape is placed across or along an escape route in a manner which would impede or obstruct escape,
(v) no mirrors are placed across or along an escape route or adjacent to an exit in such a way as to confuse the direction of escape.
5 Duty of persons in a place of assembly.
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paragraphs: A person in a place of assembly shall not prevent or obstruct the person having control over the place of assembly from complying with these Regulations.
GIVEN under the Official Seal of the Minister for the Environment,
this 29th day of July, 1985.
LIAM KAVANAGH,
Minister for the Environment.
EXPLANATORY NOTE.
These Regulations provide for specified places of assembly, that certain fire safety precautions related to escape routes and exit doors should be taken by every person having control over a place of assembly and that a person in a place of assembly shall not prevent or obstruct the person in control from complying with the Regulations.