What is refuge area?

An area built for the emergency shelter in residential and commercial properties for people is a refuge area. A refugee area in a building is a demarcated space which is made mandatory by the Indian government for all the builders and developers to be included in residential and commercial buildings.

Any building having more than 9 floors falls into the category of a high rise building. The binding laws for developers by the government has clearly mentioned to have a refugee area after the seventh floor. 

According to the National Building Code, it is mandatory to have a refugee area after every 24 meters in a high rise building. 

Refuge floor is a floor where one can find all the equipment and accessories in case of any mishap or emergency. A refuge floor is expected to have adequate supply of power and ventilation, fire protective gears, emergency medical kit, etc. In a non-high rise building, a terrace can be counted as a refuge floor. The refuge areas are safe as they are equipped and built to withstand the crisis or emergencies such as fire break out, earthquake, etc.

There are a few safety rules that are associated with the refuge floor. Below is the list.

• The refugee floor or are must be easily accessible.
• The area should not be used for any other purposes
• A building above 70m of height must have ‘fire check’ floor in the building.