Forum Workshop on Establishing the Scientific Foundation for Performance-Based Fire Codes: Proceedings

Published

December 1, 2006

Author(s)

William L. Grosshandler

Abstract

NIST to develop a common, international vision for how a scientific foundation for performance-based fire safety design might be structured, which parts of the foundation are likely to be robust and where gaps are likely to exist into the foreseeable future. Five areas were identified at the top of the list of research priorities: improvement of our ability to predict the impact of active fire protection systems on fire growth and fate of combustion products; estimation of uncertainty and the means to incorporate it into hazard and risk analyses; the relationship between aspects of the building design and the safety of building occupants; the impact of material and geometry changes on fire growth and the fate of combustion products; and the prediction of the response of a structure to full building burn-out. In general, the commitment by the FORUM members to support research in a given area was consistent with its priority. A summary of the activities and justification for the vision and research priorities are contained in this report.

Citation

Special Publication (NIST SP) - 1061

Report Number

1061

NIST Pub Series

Special Publication (NIST SP)

Pub Type

NIST Pubs

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.sp.1061

Keywords

performance based codes, fire codes, fire research, fire safety, fire science, experiments, simulation, combustion models, data sets, fire models, risk analysis, hazard analysis, fire protection, fire growth, combustion products, building design, occupants, structures, design applications

Citation

Grosshandler, W. (2006), Forum Workshop on Establishing the Scientific Foundation for Performance-Based Fire Codes: Proceedings, Special Publication (NIST SP), National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, [online], https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.sp.1061 (Accessed October 16, 2025)