Evaluation of reality and standards for fire evacuation routes in buildings – case study

Abstract

Any building, at any time could experience a fire. Because of that, occupants need a fire evacuation path that is designed according to the design standards as they are unable to be entirely prepared for fire emergency scenarios. However, the majority of these standards were developed using empirical judgments. The aim of the paper is to determine whether the fire escape exit route design takes into account the demands and behaviour of building occupants or if it only considers the recommendations and regulations already in place. One university building has been chosen for qualitative research, and as a result, students and teachers are the primary target population. The following factors are taken into consideration throughout the research: the number of students and professors, the movement speed of building occupants and persons with special needs, the plan, the number of floors, the width and length of corridors, the location and type of stairways, as well as type, position and geometry of doors. The findings of this case study indicated that younger occupants can safely exit the building, however older occupants and students with disabilities, as well as teaching personnel need more time for evacuation across the same evacuation paths in fire situation. In this regard, the findings of this research paper offer conclusions that might be useful in design and organization of such and similar buildings and environments.