The application of fire safety to architectural design

Safety from fire is a complex problem in today's society. It is considered to form part of a much wider problem conditioned by environmental, societal and political interactions. However, the consequences of fire are shown not to be unique to any particular country. Evidence indicating that fire in buildings is a considerable proportion of the total loss from fire is presented. Traditional methods of dealing with fire safety (i. e. legislation and hardware provision) seem to have failed to reduce the impact of fire, partly because of the emphasis on physical aspects neglecting the social facets of the problem. Within this framework, this thesis describes an investigation carried out to determine how fire safety is accounted for in the design of building and the conflicts associated with the integration of fire safety into architectural design. A review of relevant literature indicated that previous attempts made in this area had a limited scope. Evidence was also found that the subject of fire safety was not receiving proper attention by the architectural profession (both in schools and practices) despite mounting pressures brought about by new legislation and recent fire disasters. A cross sectional survey was conducted, early in 1980, among the people assumed to be most involved with fire safety in building design. Four postal self-administered questionnaires were sent out to the schools of architecture, all local fire authorities, architects in small practices and the largest architectural firms in this country. After several follow-up mailings, a good response was achieved. The results are presented in tabulated form and the main findings are discussed in some detail. The survey indicated that the architectural profession seem to consider fire safety mainly legislative requirements; hence, its integration to building design appear to be reduced to problems of interpretation and implementation of legislation. It is suggested that ignorance within the profession and the inadequacy of the current legislative system are the main hindrances to the integration of fire safety into building design. In the concluding part of the thesis, emphasis is placed on educating the architect in fire safety, as a viable alternative to teaching for compliance. Some general guidelines for an educational programme are given. The possible implications to fire safety in buildings of recently proposed changes in legislation are discussed also