Construction Technology Assignment: Fire Safety Approaches Analysis

This report examines fire safety in multi-storey buildings, focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of prescriptive and performance-based approaches. The prescriptive approach, while straightforward, can be inflexible and may not accommodate innovative solutions or cost-effective designs. Conversely, the performance-based approach offers flexibility and allows for tailored solutions, it can be more complex and require specialized expertise and is useful in defining the performance criteria. The report also explains the role of fire models in predicting fire behavior and evacuation models in assessing human response during emergencies. It underscores the importance of both models in enhancing fire safety planning, risk assessment, and firefighter training. The report references various studies to support its analysis and concludes by emphasizing the importance of a balanced approach to fire safety that considers both prescriptive and performance-based strategies, as well as the use of fire and evacuation models to ensure the safety of building occupants.

Running Head: FIRE SAFETY
Construction Technology: Multi-Storey Buildings
Name
Institutional affiliation

FIRE SAFETY 2
FIRE SAFETY
This research paper seeks to identify the disadvantages and advantages of using performance and
prescriptive based approaches for fire safety and also explaining the fire model as well as
evacuation model as used for fire safety. Fire safety in multi-storey buildings can be defined as
any measure intended to minimize the fire destruction. These practices include those that are
used to reduce the effects and development of a fire after it begins or those that are intended to
prevent ignition of an uncontrolled fire.
Prescriptive Based Approach
As the name suggests, prescriptive based approach prescribe sets of measures to attain fire safety
in enclosures. This approach does not describe how to attain fire safety, because it does not
provide clear guidelines on how to assure and develop it. This cost of fire designs based on this
approach normally have a tendency of being high (Sanctis, Faber, & Fontana, 2014).
Advantages
The major advantage of this prescriptive based approach is that the fire safety practitioners with
more specific skills and qualifications such as CFD modeller or evacuation modeller are not
necessary. The process also involves a direct analysis since the only direct interpretation of the
requirements are necessary. This approach also enables a straightforward evaluation of
determining if the establishment requirement has been attained (Tanaka, 2011).

FIRE SAFETY 3
Figure 1: Example of a prescriptive based approach (Östman, Brandon, & Frantzich, 2017)
Disadvantages
The prescriptive based approach has always been used in specifying the fire protection system in
structures. This approach has evolved over numerous years, with newer requirements being
imposed over the current ones. Consequently, this method has become complex and is difficult to
use for a change in practices and new technologies. The other disadvantages of using the
prescriptive based approach is that the method cannot be used for the majority of large buildings
currently, there is only one way of providing the level of safety, little flexibility for unusual
situations and innovative solutions, does not provide cost-effective designs, and also the
requirements do not have a statement of objectives (Mikkola, Hakkarainen, & Matala, 2013).
Performance-Based Approach
A performance-based approach to the design of fire safety depends on the application of suitable
software modelling tools, engineering calculation and principles to satisfy the intentions of the

FIRE SAFETY 4
Code of Practices. This approach gives an alternative way of attaining the intentions of the Fire
Code. This approach is unique such that its provisions spell out the intention of qualitatively but
a way of attaining the intention of the code desired (Yang & Dong, 2013).
Advantages
The performance-based approach has been used through the application of equivalency clauses
for decades, normally through ad hoc manner which varied from engineer to engineer. However,
the establishment of guidelines of this approach have resulted in a more consistent framework
which may be applied when demonstrating the prescriptive code equivalency. One of the major
advantages of performance-based approach is that the implementation of the fire safety objective
is clearly defined and the fire safety designer has the liberty of defining the methodology and
criteria of attaining them (Yao, Huang, Shen, & Qiao, 2013).
Figure 2: Example of a performance-based approach (Fleischmann, 2011)
This approach establishes clear fire safety goals and leaves the ways if attaining these goals to
the designer. This approach also permits innovation design solutions that attain the establishment

FIRE SAFETY 5
performance requirement while removing technical barriers to trade for industrial products’
smooth flow. The performance-based approach allows international harmonization of the
regulation system and also permits the use of newly available knowledge. Only designs that are
flexible and cost-effective are allowed while eliminating the complexity of the current
prescriptive regulations (Tanaka, 2011).
Disadvantages
The major disadvantage of a performance-based approach is that it is impossible to describe the
quantitative criteria such as performance criteria and also it is impossible to evaluate and analyze
the equivalent project. This approach is also characterized by less certainty of approval, greater
expertise required for those approving designs, greater expertise needed by fire engineers and
designers, and also increased design time and cost. This method may also need training
especially during the initial implementation phase (Sanctis, Faber, & Fontana, 2014).
Fire Model
Fire model is a significant tool for engineers and scientists. Fire model is used to predict and
understand possible behaviour of fire without getting burned. Fire model is used in different
aspects of management of fire such as during fire for planning strategies of firefighter to assist
fire crews position equipment on the ground so as to stay safe and reduce damage, before fire for
developing a scenario for training and firefighter training purposes, and also before fire for
calculation of risk factor and this would assist firefighters to aim on sector with higher risk and
establish better infrastructure (Zhang & Li, 2014). An example of a fire model application is the
complex integral forest fire protection project in Dalmatia and Split County. The model is based
on a system of information for integration of every action connected with previous fire detection

FIRE SAFETY 6
by 20 hours and post-recuperation of the burned landscape, forest fire fighting management, and
micro-locations meteorological monitoring (Yaping & Grubits, 2010).
Figure 3: Classification of fire models (Peizhong & Xin, 2012)
Evacuation Model
This model is used as a tool for evacuation design for the purposes of predicting and evaluating
the evacuation time of people in case of fire by introducing human reaction models to smoke or
fire. This model is developed to evaluate the behaviour of people during a fire (Lovreglio,
Ronchi, & Nilsson, 2015). There is no method of validating human reaction to fire conditions
virtually currently, and it will need more time during the determination of fire safety design of a
structure since this model is sensitive to the condition of fire. The model also ensures different
responses under different scenarios of fire such as behaviour of smoke movement, and location
of the room of fire origin (Purser, 2014).
In an evacuation model, in case there is the possibility of predicting the evacuation when the
level of hazard to evacuees is not high, a structure should be designed to attain the necessary

FIRE SAFETY 7
safety level during the moment of evacuation through smoke control or compartmentation. The
figure shows an example of modelling of building spaces which allow movement of people after
the onset of fire to prevent delay (Yang & Xin, 2011).
Figure 4: Evacuation modelling of building spaces (Bryan & Christina, 2014)
CONCLUSION
The establishment of performance-based approach guidelines has resulted in a more consistent
framework that can be applied when demonstrating the equivalency of prescriptive code. The
prescriptive based approach does not explain how to attain fire safety, because it does not
provide clear guidelines on how to assure and develop it. Fire model is used to predict and
understand possible behaviour of fire without getting burned.

FIRE SAFETY 8
REFERENCES
Bryan, M., & Christina, B. (2014). Incorporation of decision, game, and Bayesian game theory in an
emergency evacuation exit decision model. Fire Safety Journal. Vol 67. pp. 121-134.
Fleischmann, C. (2011). Is Prescription the Future of Performance-Based Design? Fire Safety Science. Vol
10. pp. 77-94.
Lovreglio, R., Ronchi, E., & Nilsson, D. (2015). A model of the decision-making process during pre-
evacuation. Fire Safety Journal. Vol 78. pp. 168-179.
Mikkola, E., Hakkarainen, T., & Matala, A. (2013). Fire safety of EPS insulated facades in residential multi-
storey buildings. MATEC Web of Conferences. Vol 9. pp. 4002.
Peizhong, Y., & Xin, W. (2012). Retraction notice to “Agent-based simulation of fire emergency
evacuation with fire and human interaction model” [Safety Science 49 (2011) 1130–1141]. Safety
of Science. Vol 50. pp. 1171.
Purser, D. (2014). Fire safety and evacuation implications from behaviours and hazard development in
two fatal care home incidents. Fire and Materials. Vol 39. pp. 430-452.
Sanctis, D., Faber, M., & Fontana, M. (2014). Assessing the Level of Safety for Performance-Based and
Prescriptive Structural Fire Design of Steel Structures. Fire Safety Science. Vol 11. pp. 996-1009.
Tanaka, T. (2011). Integration of Fire Risk Concept into Performance-Based Evacuation Safety Design of
Buildings. Fire Safety Science. Vol 10. pp. 3-21.
Yang, N., & Dong, Y. (2013). Fire tests on two-way concrete slabs in a full-scale multi-storey steel-framed
building. Fire Safety Journal. Vol 58. pp. 38-48.
Yang, P., & Xin, W. (2011). RETRACTED: Agent-based simulation of fire emergency evacuation with fire
and human interaction model. Safety of Science. Vol 49. 1130-1141.
Yao, W., Huang, H., Shen, S., & Qiao, L. (2013). Fire risk mapping based assessment method applied in
performance-based design. Fire Safety Journal. Vol 56. pp. 81-89.
Yaping, H., & Grubits, S. (2010). A Risk-based Equivalence Approach to Fire Resistance Design for
Buildings. Journal of Fire Protection Engineering. Vol 20. pp. 5-26.
Zhang, X., & Li, X. (2014). A probabilistic occupant response model for fire emergencies. Fire Safety
Journal. Vol 68. pp. 41-51.