The Current State of Fire Protection Design

Experts Debate Using Structure To Resist Fire Loads (ENR, October 13, 2002), summarizes discussion at an October event sponsered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). This invitation-only event was attended by approximately 60 representatives of the building professions, industry, and research institutions.

Points addressed in this brief article include:

• Are currently codes adequately protecting buildings?
• Do we know the relative risk of catastrophic fire in buildings?
• Do we still understand today the historical basis for prescriptive fire protection codes?
• What should be the role of performance based fire protection codes?
• What design professional should be responsible for fire performance design?

The list of quoted attendees makes interesting reading in itself:
--Johnathan C. Siu, principal engineer, Seattle Department of Design, Construction and Land Use
--Ronald O. Hamburger, principal, San Francisco office, Simpson, Gumpertz & Heger, Inc.
--Barbara Lane, associate, ArupFire, London
--Gregory G. Deirlein, director, John A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, Stanford University
--Jeremy Isenberg, president and CEO, Weidlinger Associates, Inc.