How far does a fire assembly point sign have to be from a building?

There are no specific guidelines for distance away from a building during a fire drill, however, there are a couple factors to consider when designating assembly points for drills.

Many emergency coordinators fail to realize that weather conditions could dictate where you assemble. If there is wind that is blowing smoke and debris it could impact your assembly point in the event of a fire, so an alternative assembly point(s) should be considered.

Likewise, you have to consider that if the building becomes fully involved with fire the heat, smoke and debris field coming from the building should also be considered.

To answer your question, no there isn't a specific distance spelled out by a specific regulation, but common sense and good planning should make an assembly point at a distance where fire fighting equipment can get access, where the heat, flames and potential smoke will not impact personnel in an assembly point.

A good rule of thumb for moving away from the building for an assembly point would be at least twice the height in distance away.