All commercial construction is typically designed based on building codes established by the local jurisdiction in which the project takes place. There are certain prescriptive designs that are created addressing needs such as fire protection. According to the 2007 edition of the SFPE Engineering Guide to Performance-Based Fire Protection, the definition is declared as “”an engineering approach to fire protection design based upon agreed upon fire safety goals and objectives, deterministic and/or probabilistic analysis of fire scenarios, and quantitative assessment of design alternatives against the fire safety goals using accepted fire engineering tools, methodologies, and performance criteria.”

What Are the Fire Protection Goals?

Using performance-based commercial construction design is an excellent method determining fire protection goals for any facility. Factors used in this determination include building materials used, layout, occupancy and local fire department response time. The data is analyzed establishing several possible fire scenarios that may occur. Once these scenarios are created, the building design team can decide how fire protection goals can be met through using computer-based or real-life models or through calculations-based analysis. Using a performance-based design model to address a commercial building’s fire protection needs will show owners which design should be selected that best creates a protection system to meet specific needs, including local fire departments,

Everyone Shares Goals Input

It should be noted that a building owner’s goals will be the most influential. Additionally, it is important to include representatives from the local fire department in any goal-setting process. Since an effective fire-protection system will affect many different business decisions such as equipment and insurance purchasing, as comprehensive a design plan as possible needs to be created. There are many factors consulting with local fire officials that can help set specific goals such as a need to make sure the building remains structurally sound during all suppression and rescue operations. Sharing building design information with local firefighters can be an important part of the process, For example, it could be determined that if a specific building is a warehouse where goods stored are of little value, no rescue needs will be initiated , of course if it is an unmanned facility then suppression efforts can be guided by such shared information.

Goals Dictate Firefighter Response

 This continues to be an important factor in commercial building design. Fire-fighters responding to a call for help can respond appropriately. If the commercial building’s fire protection design only calls for exposure protection, there will more than likely be limited fire protection attending to structural elements inside the building. This could lead to quick building collapse presenting an extremely dangerous situation if firefighters are in a position placing them in danger.

Performance-Based Design Produces Top Quality Construction

A good performance-based commercial building construction design will assure owners the team hired is looking at each and every aspect in order to provide the highest-quality possible. Knowing a commercial construction company will design a building with the best protection possible also provides investors in commercial sites a financially well-protected asset.

All parties involved – building owner, construction company and local firefighters participate in an everyone wins construction project.