A Risk-based Equivalence Approach to Fire Resistance Design for Buildings

Abstract

This article presents a risk, or probability-based method for determining the residual fire resistance that is required when sprinklers are installed supplementary to building regulatory requirements. The concept of equivalence of a building design to a code-complying design on the basis of risk is introduced. The probability of failure is formulated, taking into account the probability density distributions for fire resistance of building structures and for fire severity. The sprinkler system is treated as a dual-exclusive-status system which has a bi-valued probability distribution. The probability density distribution for fire severity is moderated by the discrete reliability for sprinklers. A parametric study is conducted to demonstrate the sensitivity of the residual fire resistance to sprinkler reliability and fire severity distribution.

Comparative Evaluation Method for Fire Safety Design of Large Storage Spaces

“…He and Grubits [4] pointed out that extra measures for reinforcing fire protection may counteract increased fire risk caused by larger building areas. This situation is acceptable if the fire protection rating is no lower than the fire severity, that is to say, the safety margin is greater than zero.…”

“…Quantifiable performance requirements are difficult to find in building codes. Fire safety engineers often resort to the equivalence approach in which the prescriptive provisions or deemed-to-satisfy provisions are used as benchmarks [4]. This approach, also known as the equivalence approach, is based on the design philosophy that "the safety level of a performance-based design building should not be lower than that of a prescriptive design".…”

Vulnerability assessment of an innovative precast concrete sandwich panel subjected to the ISO 834 fire

“…In this rapidly shifting built environment, during the planning process a major reliability and system safety component of precast systems is the impact of fire hazards. To ensure maximum safety for modular constructions with prefabricated elements, an accurate fire risk level estimation should be an integral part of a conscious design [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. This challenge is particularly acute in the building sector context, in which a vast majority of fire events involve old constructions and, most frequently, reflect the deficiency of a prudent design to confront risks when the threat rises beyond a certain level [23][24][25].…”

Modeling of Barrier Failure and Fire Spread in CUrisk

“…Yaping He [78][79][80] proposed a risk-based probabilistic method to calculate the failure probability of fire resistance design. The design parameters of fire resistance level and fire severity are treated as random parameters.…”