- Author
- Chow, W. K.
- Title
- Area of Strategic Development in Construction: Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes. Report 1 (Draft: October 1997): Review on the Fire Safety Codes for Buildings in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Possibility of Implementing Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes.
- Coporate
- Hong Kong Polytechnic Univ., Kowloon
- Report
- Report 1, October 1997, 20 p.
- Keywords
- construction | performance building codes | fire safety | building codes | interior finishes | construction materials | occupants | escape means | fire detection | fire fighting | atria | building design
- Identifiers
- Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR); Engineering Performance Based Fire Codes (EPBFC); direct distance and travel distance for buildings; minimum provision of fire engineering systems, installations, equipment for high rise commercial buildings
- Abstract
- Fire safety codes for buildings available in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) are reviewed. Main factors concerned are the building type; building interior layout; construction materials; occupant levels; circulation patterns; access and escape routes; fire detection and lighting systems. It is found out that those codes are good only for traditional buildings. Following these codes in modem buildings might lead to 'over-design' or providing safety systems which are not workable in case of fire. The possibility of implementing Engineering Performance-Based Fire Codes (EPBFC) is discussed. The fire safety requirements in atria are taken as an example for illustrating the concept. It is found that the prescriptive approach will be failed in meeting the expectations of both the building designers and the building users in the next century. Area for implementing EPBFC are identified and further studies must be carried out as soon as possible.