- Author
- Nelson, H. E.
- Title
- Fire Evaluation System for Health Care Facilities.
- Coporate
- National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
- Report
- NBS SP 549
- Book or Conf
- National Bureau of Standards. National Conference on Regulatory Aspects of Building Rehabilitation. NBS SP 549. October 30, 1978, Gaithersburg, MD, Berry, S. A., Editors, 85-102 p., 1979
- Keywords
- health care facilities | fire safety | life safety | building design | fire safety evaluation system
- Abstract
- The ideal goal of life/fire safety design is to prevent all fire deaths, injuries and losses under all imaginable circumstances. Practically, however, society can neither forestall all loss of life nor spend limitlessly to avert loss of life due to fire. Building codes are designed to provide a minimum acceptable level of life safety at a cost society is able and willing to support. The Life Safety Code of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA No. 101) is a voluntary code widely accepted for setting acceptable fire safety levels. The code provides fixed solutions for life safety in designated occupancies, but allows "equivalent" solutions. However, it does not define alternative solutions nor provide a mechanism for evaluating equivalence.