From Prescriptive codes to Performance based fire codes - pros and cons.

Transcription

1 From Prescriptive codes to Performance based fire codes - pros and cons.

2 A little bit about myself.... Claus Schmidt, Deputy Head of the Department of Fire Prevention, Copenhagen Fire Brigade, and Senior Divisional Officer, B.Sc. (hon.) in Civil Engineering, Master in Fire Safety Engineering, Teach FSE at The Technical University of Denmark, and on the Danish Emergency Management Agency, Fire Brigade Officer for 17 years, Over turn outs as commander, Member of the national committee for evaluating of the building codes

3 CONTENTS The history of the Danish building codes, The Rules of the game in Denmark, An introduction to the old prescriptive codes, cons and pros, Small break, The setup of the new performance based codes, cons and pros, The implementation of the performance based codes, CFD Best Practice, Debate?

4 History of the Danish Building Codes Prescriptive roles can be dated back to June , Sense 1961, 7 versions of the prescriptive building codes, Last Prescriptive Building Codes updated 1995, Empirical Building Codes, 2004 first official Performance- Based Building Codes.

5 General Fire Safety Objectives in Denmark Building code: Achieve satisfactory protection against fire and the spread of fire to other buildings on the same and neighboring plots, There must be appropriate provision for rescuing people and for fighting fires.

6 Roles of the game in Denmark The local building authority has the authority, The Fire Brigade has no authority - but advise the building authority. We possesses the education, the knowledge and the experience required,

7 6.1 General The old Prescriptive Codes 6.2 Definitions 6.3 Distance from boundaries etc 6.4 Fire walls and fire-division walls 6.5 Escape routes 6.6 Rescue facilities 6.7 Structural requirements

8 The old Prescriptive Codes 6.8 Multi-storey housing 6.9 Hotels etc 6.10 Nursing institutions 6.11 Assembly rooms 6.12 Classrooms 6.13 Day-care institutions 6.14 Shops and similar sales premises 6.15 Office premises etc 6.16 One-storey industrial and storage buildings 6.17 Car parks 6.18 Farm buildings

9 The old Prescriptive Codes Other buildings must conform to the fire requirements made by the local authority. Trade-off, Common sense, Gut filing,

10 Prescriptive Codes Pros Demand for education required is low, Easy to administrate, Go or No go, Difficult to argue against prescriptive codes, per definition the code is right, For ordinary types of buildings the level og fire safety is well known, Fire inspection is a walk in the park, The Fire Brigade knows what to expect in case of fire,

11 Prescriptive Codes Cons The intensions are uncertain, For other buildings, the performance criteria had to be invented using the implicit stated level of safety, Low level of education required - architects and fire prevention officers, few MFS, Low education => no real dialog, the code and the fire officer was all ways right Difficult to trade-off,

12 Prescriptive Codes Cons Fire officer was also fire safety advisor, the architect gave no professional sparring, The architect had no responsibility in case of fire, I just did what the man said, The fire officer had no responsibility, I just did what the code said, Difficult to obtain same trade-off policy between fire prevention officers,

13 Consequences with the Prescriptive Codes In general, low level of education, architects and fire prevention officers, No need for fire safety engineers, No marked for fire safety engineering, Almost no development within the profession of fire safety, But great need for developing the architectural design, Buildings with larger degree of complexity,

14 A new beginning around year 2000 Other buildings must conform to the fire requirements made by the local authority. New education on DTU Master in Fire Safety Engineering, 2000, Hand calculations, Two-zone models, Evacuation models, CFD, FDS, CFX But of cause - the common sense and gut filing

15 PARKEN - National Stadium The Eurovision Song Contest 2001, people

16 Fisketorvet Shopping Center m2 Field s Shopping Center m2

17 Danish National TV and Radio broadcasting Corporation (DR), Total m2, DR staff members, 4 segments, one inner street 600 mill. Euro, All facilities needed for TV and radio,

18 New Opera House m2 330 mill. Euro New Theatre m2 24 mill. Euro

19 Performance based codes was officially introduced in 2004 = Performance based building code Fire Safety Same level of fire safety (?) Very difficult to understand

20 Break

21 Performance based codes was officially introduced in 2004 = Performance based building code Fire Safety Same level of fire safety (?) Very difficult to understand

22 The 3 basic questions => 6 usage categories The entrance to the new roles: Day time and/or night time occupancy? Are the people familiar with the escape routes? Are they capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety? Performance based building code Fire Safety

23 The 6 usage categories Offices, industrial and warehouse buildings 1. Daily occupancy, the people are all familiar with the escape routes and capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety. Teaching rooms, school day-care centers etc 2. Daily occupancy by a few people who are not necessarily familiar with the escape routes but are capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety.

24 The 6 usage categories Shops, assembly halls, canteens, cinemas and restaurants 3. Daily occupancy by large numbers of people, who are not familiar with the escape routes but are capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety 4. Blocks of flats, youth dwellings etc 4. Night time occupancy, the people are familiar with the escape routes and are capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety.

25 The 6 usage categories Hotels, student halls of residence, youth hostels etc 5. Night time occupancy, the people are not familiar with the escape routes but are capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety. Assisted living housing for the elderly, treatment and bed care units in hospitals etc 6. Day time occupancy, and in some cases also for night time occupancy, the people are not capable of taking themselves unaided to a place of safety.

26 Performance based building code Fire Safety 1 General 1.1 Usage categories 2 Escape routes and rescue provisions 3 Structural factors 4 Fire safety installations (Prescriptive?) 5 Spread of fire and smoke 5.1 Spread of fire and smoke in the room where the fire starts 5.2 Spread of fire and smoke in the building where the fire starts or to other buildings on the same plot 5.3 Spread of fire to buildings on other plots 6 Emergency services access 6.1 Access and facilities for the emergency services 6.2 Smoke venting

27 Performance based codes versus Prescriptive codes Performance based building code Fire Safety Escape routes shall have a width of at least 10 mm per person Exits and escape routes must be designed for the people whom the exits and escape routes are intended to serve

28 Performance based building code Fire Safety Guideline #1 Examples = 6.8 Multi-storey housing 6.9 Hotels etc 6.10 Nursing institutions 6.11 Assembly rooms 6.12 Classrooms 6.13 Day-care institutions 6.14 Shops and similar sales premises 6.15 Office premises etc 6.16 One-storey industrial and storage buildings 6.17 Car parks 6.18 Farm buildings

29 Performance based building code Fire Safety Guideline #1 Examples 6.8 Multi-storey housing 6.9 Hotels etc 6.10 Nursing institutions 6.11 Assembly rooms 6.12 Classrooms 6.13 Day-care institutions 6.14 Shops and similar sales premises 6.15 Office premises etc 6.16 One-storey industrial and storage buildings 6.17 Car parks 6.18 Farm buildings

30 Guideline #1 Examples For ordinary buildings, NO FSE solutions, Is an interpretation of the performance based codes, Gives examples on have to meet the level of fire safety, But many solutions that complies with the requirements, Explains what to achieve,

31 Performance based building code Fire Safety Guideline #1 Examples Guideline #2 Fire Safety Engineering 6.8 Multi-storey housing 6.9 Hotels etc 6.10 Nursing institutions 6.11 Assembly rooms 6.12 Classrooms 6.13 Day-care institutions 6.14 Shops and similar sales premises 6.15 Office premises etc 6.16 One-storey industrial and storage buildings 6.17 Car parks 6.18 Farm buildings Other buildings must conform to the fire requirements made by the local authority.

32 Guideline #2 Fire Safety Engineering For complex buildings, = FSE solutions, Suggest acceptance criteria, The contents of a fire strategy rapport, Some FSE formula, NOT a very helpful tool!

33 Complex buildings, Many people, FSE - but when? Not an ordinary building, Great deal of Openness, Multi storey warehouse, Buildings more then 22 m,

34 Performance based Code - FSE Cons The process itself is tricky - until a tradition is established, In the beginning, the architects had to accept one more player on the field, No official acceptance criteria s in relation to ensure safe fire fighting, The safety of the property is not part of the game, A political problem: The Fire safety Level (FSL= Tevak/Tcritical) is x 2, No official system to certify fire safety engineer, The fire safety engineer meets different Fire Brigade officers around the country,

35 Performance based Code - FSE Cons No official standards or guidelines in FSE, what is the right way of doing it? The fire safety is offend depending on active fire installations, FSE is vulnerable, does it work, owners responsibility, Complex buildings => great complexity in fire fighting, When the fire safety engineer has been paid he is gone, Small changes in the building tomorrow => great cost? Expensive for the Fire Brigade, we have to invest many hours in the process, Different education around the country,

36 Number of in comming cases Number of preliminary/follow-up cases Number of cases

37 Performance based Code - FSE Pros The level of education is much higher today, on both side of the table, Professional communication, fire engineer and the fire prevention officer, Today co-operation often is based on confidence, Very few engineers are working in the field of fire safety - a small world (pros and cons), Today, the process is understood and accepted, Now we understand the objectives, and get a more uniform level of fire safety, More skills, knowledge and experience => development, Open minded in relation to other standards/codes, Everything is possible as long as it can be documented, and the level of fire safety is ok!,

38 The implementation of the Performance based Codes in 2004 The new codes came over night, with 6 month overlap, The architects did the job before, but not now, Very few qualified Fire Safety Engineers, less then 10, but little experience, Almost no consulting firms in FSE, The local authorities was not ready - and not qualified, Have to ensure fire safety when not ready?,

39 The implementation of the Performance based Codes in 2004 But jet no generally accepted methods, and no standard procedures, Is the computer programs valid?, Did we loose control? Have do we ensure safe fire fighting in performance based buildings? Have to do fire inspections in performance based buildings? Everybody was fumbling,

40 The good process of implementation of Performance based Codes Announce in good time before coming into force - and be ahead of time: Ensure time for preparations and be in control, Both consulting firms and authorities most be ready, Ensure enough qualified staff (FSE or other skills), educate! Try to plan Have to do Performance based cases, But accept you will Learn by doing, Try (eventually) to get generally accepted methods, Agree on the use of computer programs, FDS or others?, Think have to ensure safe fire fighting in performance based buildings? Think have to do fire inspections in performance based buildings?

41 The use of CFD Several CFD programs on the marked, A lot of buttons to push, Different use of the programs? The Output depends on the Input, Almost all consultants use CFD (FDS), The use of CFD is increasing, How to get the right estimate?, No official guideline / norm for FSE, No guideline for the use of CFD, V_(-y) V_(+x) z V_(+z) V_(-x) V_(+y) y x V_(-z)

42 Safety This document is accepted by everyone

43 Thank you for your attention! Any questions?