Engineering for fire safety
The built environment has responded to the threat of fire in many ways, such as fire brigades, insurance, building regulations, education and training, controls on use of building materials and products and structural features and design that resist the effects of fire. However, the potential dangers of a fire hazard still exist and continue to pose as severe threats to the loss of life and property.
Building regulations form an integral component in the design framework for fire safety and protection in structures. It is generally accepted that adherence to building regulations can not only control potential fire hazards, but avoid them to a great extent. But is it just a case of ensuring that these regulations are adhered to at the construction stage? Management and maintenance of building facilities tend to play an equally important role in ensuring that fire safety standards and norms are met.
The National Building Code of India (2005) is considered to be the 'mantra' to any development project laying down the basic guidelines for administrative regulations; development control rules and general building requirements; fire safety requirements; stipulations on use of materials; structural design; and construction and building. Part IV of the code relates specifically to fire protection and Clause 9 to 'requirements of educational buildings' provides guidelines on fire safe building designs.
In India however, the enforcement of stricter norms for structural safety, environmental factors and disaster management still pose a challenge. In spite of having 32 standards for fire fighting and another 132 standards in place for firefighting equipment as mentioned by the Bureau of Indian Standards, the country continues to grapple with cases of gross negligence and violation in the implementation and practice of such standards.
This has been evident in the recent cases over the last few years that have taken place in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, amongst others. With emergency exits blocked and building modifications having been made, mandatory regulations are often overlooked. Additionally, in the absence of adequate facilities management services, existing safety equipment structures are ill maintained and defeat to serve their purpose during an emergency. Even in the case of school buildings, the Supreme Court in India had to step in as late as April 2009 to ensure that national fire safety norms were being implemented.
So does this scenario exist only in India? Apparently not! Even in the UK, there are worrying inconsistencies between Building Regulations guidelines and the current code of practice for domestic fire alarm systems, BS 5839-6: 2004. The UK Communities and Government figures indicate that there was a 10% increase in the number of accidental deaths caused by domestic fires in 2008 as compared to the previous year. While for the same period the number of incidents in other types of buildings fell to just 19.
The world over, fire-engineered buildings are increasing, but managers taking over the premises on completion have very little knowledge in this area, resulting in a building having been designed only as a cost saving mechanism. In any fire engineering design, assumptions and calculations have to be very carefully checked to ensure minimal damage and loss.
The development and management of fires in buildings is often seen as a deterministic process whereby particular inputs result in well-defined outputs. However, it is also imperative to realise that there are uncertainties associated with both the prediction of fire development and the performance of the various measures employed to manage the effects of fires. The presence of such uncertainties indicates towards the probability of fire safety design objectives not being achieved.
The United Kingdom for example, is only just getting to grips with the concept of the 'responsible person', a fundamental aspect of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, 2006. Under this legal order, the responsible person must assess the fire risks on their premises and take steps to eliminate, reduce or otherwise manage them and implement and maintain a fire management plan covering:
l A means of detection and giving warning
l A means of escape
l A means of fighting fire
l The training of occupants in fire safety
This means installing and maintaining appropriate fire safety systems and equipment. Although probably not an expert on fire safety, the responsible person will be legally accountable for any failure or inadequacy in these systems.
It is fundamental that the process of risk assessment lend to the decision as to which building design is better from a fire safety viewpoint, and given a particular building design, the most effective on-going management protocol.
A rigorous and systematic approach to the assessment of explicit levels of fire safety and protection thus requires a comprehensive risk analysis to be undertaken of building fire safety and protection systems. Fundamentally, explicit consideration must be paid to the multiple fire scenarios present, response of building fire safety systems and human behavioural responses. For small or simple premises, this fire risk assessment could be carried out by the building owner, occupier or controller. In larger or more complex buildings, it is advisable that an expert conducts this assessment.
Keeping these conditions in mind, the practice of fire safety designs is changing in many countries. There is now a digression from traditional practice that simply follows the prescriptive code requirements to those that are based on fire safety analysis to obtain a required level of fire safety for occupants.
These performance-based codes attempt to provide clearer guidance taking into consideration the actual growing complexity of architectural designs, which helps managers to introduce and conceptualise more fire risks. A large number of countries such as the UK, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada and Japan are either in the process of or have already brought about this much needed change.
Fire safety audits are also found to be effective tools for assessing fire safety standards. It helps identify the areas for improvement and evolve an action plan. In India, this system is increasingly being adopted. In an era of highly competitive business environment any interruptions due to fire can be catastrophic. Strict adherence and implementation of fire safety standards in just the stepping stone to the creation of a safe built habitat. Periodic fire audits can not only prevent losses but also reduce the cost of insurance. Fire safety audits with quantitative risk assessment by using internationally accepted techniques will make the facilities management appreciate the need for fire safety measures and extend due credit to the recommendations of such methodologies.
The built environment has responded to the threat of fire in many ways, such as fire brigades, insurance, building regulations, education and training, controls on use of building materials and products and structural features and design that resist the effects of fire. However, the potential dangers of a fire hazard still exist and continue to pose as severe threats to the loss of life and property.
Building regulations form an integral component in the design framework for fire safety and protection in structures. It is generally accepted that adherence to building regulations can not only control potential fire hazards, but avoid them to a great extent. But is it just a case of ensuring that these regulations are adhered to at the construction stage? Management and maintenance of building facilities tend to play an equally important role in ensuring that fire safety standards and norms are met.
The National Building Code of India (2005) is considered to be the 'mantra' to any development project laying down the basic guidelines for administrative regulations; development control rules and general building requirements; fire safety requirements; stipulations on use of materials; structural design; and construction and building. Part IV of the code relates specifically to fire protection and Clause 9 to 'requirements of educational buildings' provides guidelines on fire safe building designs.
In India however, the enforcement of stricter norms for structural safety, environmental factors and disaster management still pose a challenge. In spite of having 32 standards for fire fighting and another 132 standards in place for firefighting equipment as mentioned by the Bureau of Indian Standards, the country continues to grapple with cases of gross negligence and violation in the implementation and practice of such standards.
This has been evident in the recent cases over the last few years that have taken place in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru, amongst others. With emergency exits blocked and building modifications having been made, mandatory regulations are often overlooked. Additionally, in the absence of adequate facilities management services, existing safety equipment structures are ill maintained and defeat to serve their purpose during an emergency. Even in the case of school buildings, the Supreme Court in India had to step in as late as April 2009 to ensure that national fire safety norms were being implemented.
So does this scenario exist only in India? Apparently not! Even in the UK, there are worrying inconsistencies between Building Regulations guidelines and the current code of practice for domestic fire alarm systems, BS 5839-6: 2004. The UK Communities and Government figures indicate that there was a 10% increase in the number of accidental deaths caused by domestic fires in 2008 as compared to the previous year. While for the same period the number of incidents in other types of buildings fell to just 19.
The world over, fire-engineered buildings are increasing, but managers taking over the premises on completion have very little knowledge in this area, resulting in a building having been designed only as a cost saving mechanism. In any fire engineering design, assumptions and calculations have to be very carefully checked to ensure minimal damage and loss.
The development and management of fires in buildings is often seen as a deterministic process whereby particular inputs result in well-defined outputs. However, it is also imperative to realise that there are uncertainties associated with both the prediction of fire development and the performance of the various measures employed to manage the effects of fires. The presence of such uncertainties indicates towards the probability of fire safety design objectives not being achieved.
The United Kingdom for example, is only just getting to grips with the concept of the 'responsible person', a fundamental aspect of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order, 2006. Under this legal order, the responsible person must assess the fire risks on their premises and take steps to eliminate, reduce or otherwise manage them and implement and maintain a fire management plan covering:
l A means of detection and giving warning
l A means of escape
l A means of fighting fire
l The training of occupants in fire safety
This means installing and maintaining appropriate fire safety systems and equipment. Although probably not an expert on fire safety, the responsible person will be legally accountable for any failure or inadequacy in these systems.
It is fundamental that the process of risk assessment lend to the decision as to which building design is better from a fire safety viewpoint, and given a particular building design, the most effective on-going management protocol.
A rigorous and systematic approach to the assessment of explicit levels of fire safety and protection thus requires a comprehensive risk analysis to be undertaken of building fire safety and protection systems. Fundamentally, explicit consideration must be paid to the multiple fire scenarios present, response of building fire safety systems and human behavioural responses. For small or simple premises, this fire risk assessment could be carried out by the building owner, occupier or controller. In larger or more complex buildings, it is advisable that an expert conducts this assessment.
Keeping these conditions in mind, the practice of fire safety designs is changing in many countries. There is now a digression from traditional practice that simply follows the prescriptive code requirements to those that are based on fire safety analysis to obtain a required level of fire safety for occupants.
These performance-based codes attempt to provide clearer guidance taking into consideration the actual growing complexity of architectural designs, which helps managers to introduce and conceptualise more fire risks. A large number of countries such as the UK, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, US, Canada and Japan are either in the process of or have already brought about this much needed change.
Fire safety audits are also found to be effective tools for assessing fire safety standards. It helps identify the areas for improvement and evolve an action plan. In India, this system is increasingly being adopted. In an era of highly competitive business environment any interruptions due to fire can be catastrophic. Strict adherence and implementation of fire safety standards in just the stepping stone to the creation of a safe built habitat. Periodic fire audits can not only prevent losses but also reduce the cost of insurance. Fire safety audits with quantitative risk assessment by using internationally accepted techniques will make the facilities management appreciate the need for fire safety measures and extend due credit to the recommendations of such methodologies.
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