BS 3632:1989 download free.British Standard Specification for Park homes ( mobile homes).
0 Introduction
One of the main concerns of the Technical Committee in drawing up BS 3632 has been the matter of technical performance that it is reasonable to require from a park home.
By definition, the mass and size of a park home are small enough to enable it to be transported by road from one place to another, esther towing it on its own wheels or on a transporter. Some park homes may never be moved, while others may (for various reasons) be relocated periodically. The committee has accepted that in either case the park home has to be regarded as being inhabited on a permanent basis and that park homes represent a permanent way of life.
A park home thus combines some of the mobility of a caravan with the comparative spaciousness and convenience of a small house. The committee, therefore, had to consider whether the technical standards of performance and of accommodation that apply to permanent housing should be applied to park homes, or whether there should be some modification of them. It decided that certain requirements in the standard should be different from those normally associated with traditional housing.
The ceiling height specified is lower than generally allowed by the building regulations. However, research has shown that a ceiling heigit of 2100 mm is acceptable where the roof is insulated, as is required in all park homes, and from an aesthetic point of view the lower figure may be more in scale with the smaller rooms that are usual in park homes. The committee was well aware of the vulnerability of the occupants of a park home in the event of fire and have, therefore, paid careful attention to the provision of means of escape and have given advice on fire fighting appliances. It was also borne in mind that the model standards issued under the Caravan Sites Control of Development Act of 1960 specify a minimum of 6 m between park homes on the park.
As park homes are sited as detached residences with, as stated above, at least 6 m between them, the problem of noise disturbance between the homes is reduced. The provisions of 4.6 will ensure some degree of sound insulation within the structure.
With regard to structural requirements, it is accepted that, as a factory-made product, a park home cannot be constructed by traditional building methods. Nevertheless, it should be designed for the most adverse combination of loads that may occur, but the choice of realistic design loads (and, in particular, wind loads and other imposed loads) depends on many factors.
The application of the selected values will always be subject to certain basic assumptions to ensure that a park home will exhibit the necessary stability and strength. The feasibility of providing data that will enable such values to be stated iS being investigated and the results of the investigation will be considered by the committee when they are available; details of criteria for required resistance to the loads will be published as soon as agreement has been reached.
4.4 Doors and windows
There shall be two external access doors, spaced well apart, one of which shall open outwards.
All habitable rooms and the kitchen shall be provided with windows or glazed doors or both, the total glazed area of which shall be not less than 10 % of the floor area. Windows to habitable rooms and the kitchen shall be openable to the extent of 5 % of their floor area.
If a porch is fitted over an external door of a park home, any external door of the porch shall open outwards and give direct access to the open air. A porch door shall not impede nor be impeded by the full opening of the external door of the park home and no other door with in the porch shall obstruct the means of escape. No ventilation opening of the park home nor terminal to the flue of any fuel burning appliance shall be located within an enclosed porch. All single glazed windows shall be fitted with a condensation channel.
4.5 Means of escape
Dining rooms, bedrooms and living rooms shall each be provided with a means of escape by a door or a window which shall give direct access to the open air. In the case of a door this may be through a porch, the access to the external door of which shall comply with the requirements of 4.4 If a jamb of the only door opening into a kitchen is within 1 m of any cooking equipment and more than 2 m from an external exit in another part of the park home. an alternative means of escape shall be provided from the kitchen.
Escape doors shall give a clear opening of not less than 1800 mm in height and 600 mm in width. Escape windows shall give a clear opening of not less than 750 mm in height and 515mm in width with the ciii preferably not more than 760 mm above the floor level, but never more than 900 mm above floor level. They shall be capable of being easily and quickly opened from the inside. Escape shall not be provided by means of a top-hung or horizontally pivoted window.
4.6 Partitions
All fixed partitions, together with any hinged or sliding doors separating any rooms, shall completely separate the two rooms between which they are used.
NOTE. An acceptable form of construction for this purpose consists of hardboard or plywood, not less than 3.2 mm in thickness on each side of timber framinG; or the quivalent in solid material.
The doors shall fit the openings as close as is practicable.
NOTE. ‘U value’ means thermal transmittance coefficient, that is to say, the rate of heat transfer in watts through I m2 of a structure when the combined radiant and air temperature at each side of the structure differ by I K arid is expressed in W/(mK).
Means shall be provided to prevent water vapour condensing within the insulating material.
6.3 Drainage
The roof shall be desi9ned to discharge rainwater into a rainwater pipe or pipes by way of gutter or roof trough. The rainwater pipe shall be so positioned as to be clear of doors, windows and ventilators.
Foul drainage connections shall be so positioned as to avoid structural members of the chassis.
7 Internal equipment
7.1 Lighting, heating and cooking
There shall be provision for gas or electric lighting of all areas in a park home. It shall be equipped with fixed space heating capable of raising the temperature in the living areas to 20 °C and in halls and passages to 13 °C, when the external temperature is 0 °C. It shall also be equipped with an oven cooker with a minimum of two boiling rings.
7.2 Installation of services
Electrical installations shall comply with the Regulations for the Electrical Equipment of Buildings published by the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
Installations for the use of butane or propane gas shall be in accordance with BS 5482 : Part 2. Provision for the connection of the installation to any gas container shall be outside the park home.
Natural gas installations shall be in accordance with BS 6891, BS 5440: Part 1 and BS 5440 : Part 2.
NOTE. Compliance with the requirements of BS 3632 does not confer immunity from statutory rquirements, Particular attention is drawn to the Gas Safety Regulations 1972.
7.3 Installation of equipment
Heating appliances shall be installed in accordance with BS 5601 : Part 2, Part 3 or Part 4 or BS 5482 Part 2, as appropriate, and shall not be in a position where they may cause any obstruction, particularly to passageways and fire exits.
7.4 Storage
A food storage cupboard of capacity not less than 1.5 m3,
ventilated to the external air, or space for a refrigerator.
or both, shall be provided.