1 Scope
This British Standard gives recommendations and guidance for the design, specification, maintenance and operation of permanently installed sound systems used for emergency purposes at sports grounds, venues and other large buildings/sites that have similar electroacoustic systems, occupancy and occupant-generated sound levels, to convey specific instructions to the public to manage their behaviour in a variety of situations.
The standard is applicable to emergencies that require full or partial evacuation and those for which there is a need to keep people inside a building, safe from danger outside.
Emergency sound systems in large public buildings, venues and sports grounds are covered by this British Standard as a specific case because these form a class of building or complex which has certain parameters which define a particular need in terms of life safety.
These include, but are not restricted to:
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a) one centralized or several focused performance spaces or activity areas;
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b) “back of house” areas for operational and administrative purposes;
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c) large areas of internal circulation;
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d) large external areas of collection and dispersal, e.g. car and coach parks, railway stations;
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e) occasional high crowd density; or
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f) a fully engineered V5 system as defined in BS 5839‑8:2013.
In addition to the different types of area, a project is likely to fall under the scope of this British Standard when the venue has the following characteristics:
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1) has higher sound pressure level (SPL) requirements than a conventional public address or voice alarm system, typically above 90 dB(A);
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2) has several distributed equipment rack locations and/or multiple call/paging points;
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3) has complex operational requirements, such as the ability to run simultaneous activities;
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4) is a sports stadium or arena;
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5) is frequented by large members of the public unfamiliar with the building;
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6) has varying operational requirements depending on use, typically event and non-event mode or public and non-public days;
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7) has a combination of large open spaces and smaller enclosed areas; or
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8) has substantial periods of minimal or partial use.
This British Standard aims to ensure that, in an emergency, voiced messages are intelligible in all parts of the venue to which the public have access, no matter what type of event is taking place, as well as those areas outside the venue that the system is intended to serve. Emergency messages to cover staff areas are also covered.
This British Standard applies irrespective of whether a special sound system is installed for an event.