Heritage structures are landmarks in a community and form a connection to its history and culture. As a structure’s life extends, it is renovated and is subject to physical changes and to changes in occupancy. When these changes occur, building regulations are applied that require meeting current life safety criteria. Attempts to comply with modern regulations have, in many cases, proved costly and resulted in the loss of heritage features that the owner may want to preserve. Therefore, application of fire safety regulations for heritage structures requires special treatment and has two main objectives – life safety and historic conservation. This paper focuses on the processes and tools that engineers employ to demonstrate acceptable life safety in Canada.
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