An Investigation on the Building Officials' Perception for the Use of Performance-Based Fire Engineering Approach in Building Design

Abstract

Traditionally, the spatial design of a building is influenced by the prescriptive fire safety codes. As buildings develop and become more complex and new materials are used, the prescriptive fire safety rules may not provide an efficient solution to the new building design. A system approach to the design of fire safety in buildings on the basis of performance criteria may be necessary. The recently published fire codes in Hong Kong have recognized the use of a performance-based fire safety engineering approach as a means to demonstrate the adequacy of fire safety design in a building. However, the judgement on the adequacy is made by the building control officials. Whether they believe the use of such a performance-based fire safety engineering approach can provide adequate fire safety level in a building can have influence on promoting performance-based design. This paper discusses the Hong Kong system and a survey on the views of the building control officials. The investigation indicates that the officials, in general, agree with the need of using performance-based approach, in particular to keep pace with the advancement of building technology. However, they have reservations on the adequacy of current tools for fire safety engineering design. Such views are in line with that of the building officials in the United States.