2. Escape route for semi-detached house - requirements

Good morning everyone,

we have already gained a lot of input as silent readers here from the forum (Thank you!), but now we have four specific questions regarding the second escape route for a semi-detached house. We are building in BW. For illustration, attached is a sample photo (not our semi-detached house, it is only for illustration purposes)

1. Have we correctly understood the state building regulations that the minimum window dimensions for the 2nd escape route must be 90x120 (WxH)?

2. Do the second escape routes in a semi-detached house always have to lead to the front? Our provider says that the fire brigade cannot access the house from the back (garden), so all escape routes would have to be planned to the street (front)? On the ground floor, we would much prefer the 2nd escape route to go out into the garden at the back.

3. We are planning an attic studio that has a large window only on the garage side (see attached photo). Our provider says that this cannot count as an escape route because the garage is underneath and therefore the fire brigade would have no ladder access. Is that really the case? (We are supposed to build a dormer at the front just so that this can be the 2nd escape route)

4. Are there any requirements for the 2nd escape route inside? For example, can a bathtub or toilet be placed under the escape route window?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH in advance, your opinions would REALLY help us
Markus

Our provider says that the fire brigade wouldn’t be able to reach the house from the back (garden), so we would have to plan all RW towards the street (front)?!

If that were the case, then none of our single-story semi-detached houses where all the bedrooms are in the attic would be allowed, because the second escape route is sideways in the gable.

Our provider says that can’t count as an escape route because there is a garage underneath and therefore the fire brigade would have no ladder space.

You can very well get out of a gable window and jump onto the roof if there is a fire... I myself once had a case where a child got out that way.
I don’t understand the provider.

I may not know better, but in our case – as I already said – there are such houses that according to your provider shouldn’t exist.

We are currently also building a semi-detached house in BW (on a slope). The second emergency exit leads out the back in the basement.

Thank you for the first responses, it also matches our understanding. Are there any other "regulations" or explanatory texts besides the state building code where such cases might possibly be described? Or do you go to the building authority in advance for something like this and have it confirmed in writing?

Zweiter Rettungsweg geht nach hinten raus im UG.

Okay, and is there a freely accessible way for the fire department to get into the garden?

yes, an escape route is indicated in the planning documents. It starts next to the houses on the cross street and runs along the row of houses in the basement. But because the basement is on a slope towards the street, the only second escape route remaining is the way to the back - so the question is whether it is an exception, in the sense that it may only be to the back if the front is not possible.

Every floor with at least 2 living rooms must have a second escape route. According to the [Landesbauordnung BW]
It should be defined similarly/the same in other federal states.