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Introduction - What Is Fire Engineering?

The application of scientific and engineering principles, rules, Codes, and expert judgment, based on an understanding of the phenomena and effects of fire and of the reaction and behaviour of people to fire, to protect people, property and the environment from the destructive effects of fire.

These objectives will be achieved by a variety of means including such activities as:

• The assessment of the hazards and risks of fire and its effects;
• The mitigation of potential fire damage by proper design, construction, arrangement, and use of buildings, materials, structures, industrial processes, transportation systems and similar;
• The appropriate level of evaluation for the optimum preventive and protective measures necessary to limit the consequences of fire;
• The design, installation, maintenance and/or development of fire detection, fire suppression, fire control and fire related communication systems and equipment;
• The direction and control of appropriate equipment and manpower in the strategy and function of fire fighting and rescue operations;
• Post-fire investigation and analysis, evaluation and feedback.

A fire engineer, by education, training and experience:

Understands the nature and characteristics of fire and the mechanisms of fire spread and the control of fire and the associated products of combustion;

Understands how fires originate, spread within and outside buildings/structures, and can be detected, controlled, and/or extinguished;

Is able to anticipate the behaviour of materials, structures, machines, apparatus, and processes as related to the protection of life, property and the environment from fire;

Has an understanding of the interactions and integration of fire safety systems and all other systems in buildings, industrial structures and similar facilities Is able to make use of all of the above and any other required knowledge to undertake the practice of fire engineering.

Fire Engineering can mean:

• The calculation of pipe sizing for automatic fire sprinkler systems.
• The calculation of the response to fire of a structural building element such as a beam or column.
• Evaluating the life safety consequences of a specified fire - involving defining the context, defining the scenario and calculating the hazard.
• Developing a package of measures which has the objective of reducing the potential for injury, death, property and pecuniary loss to an acceptable level.
• Use and application of appropriate knowledge, training and experience to undertake manual fire fighting and/or rescue operations.

Fire Engineering also has many benefits to the community at large and particularly to the construction industry and those concerned with the mitigation of the effects of fire on people, property and the environment. Among its many benefits, it can:

Form the basis of design, especially of major projects such as airport terminals, stadiums and large atrium buildings which are of such magnitude that they cannot be designed using present technical guidance.

Overcome the restraints of design imposed by prescriptive regulations/codes.

Determine how safe buildings are by enabling a comparison of safety levels for alternative designs.

Identify topics for fire research and assist in the development of fire tests.

Facilitate more cost effective design whilst maintaining safety levels.

Enable specialists to acquire and maintain leading edge expertise in fire safe design.

Assist the management of fire safety for a building during its whole life cycle.

Identify fire protection measures which have the greatest impact on fire life safety and fire loss reduction, preferably without extra cost.

Fire Engineering Team (FET)

The fire engineering team exists to reduce fire risk in large and complex buildings. The majority of these buildings incorporate some element of fire engineering as a risk control measure e.g. smoke control or sprinklers.

Fire engineering may rely on complex systems to reduce risk to an acceptable level. It is essential that systems are maintained and that alterations to the building do not compromise the fire safety strategy and engineered systems for the building.

Strategy

The approach of the FET is four fold: -

1. Pre-submission advice and attendance at building design-team meetings for major building projects.
2. Building Regulations consultation (and consultation with other agencies where required) for both new-build and alterations to existing premises.
3. In house advice to district fire safety officers and provision of information to the operational response team.
4. Risk-based routine audits of complex and engineered buildings and enforcement of fire safety legislation where appropriate.

In this way, a comprehensive record of the building fire safety strategy is developed and monitored over the life of the building.

Team Structure

Day to day running of the team is the responsibility of a fire safety manager assisted by 5 other staff dealing with consultation and risk-based audit issues. The team has built up specialist skills knowledge and experience over a ten-year period.

Fire Engineered Buildings

Because of the varying types of building design and use, it is impractical to apply a precise definition of the type of development falling within the category of a fire engineered project or a complex building. The following examples offer guidance on projects for consideration:

Any new development, refurbishment or adaptation of an existing building that includes: - A shopping complex falling within the definition given in BS 5588 Part 10: 199l (sec 2.8)

Any building containing an atrium within the definition of BS5588 Part 7: 1997 (sec 1) 

A building where a fire engineering design strategy is used to demonstrate compliance with the functional requirements of Part B (Fire Safety) of The Building Regulations 2000

An indoor arena, large entertainment or assembly complex, mass transit system interchange or similar project.

Any large or unusual project where extended or complex consultation with the design team is necessary, which would require a disproportionate amount of a time given by a District based Planning Officer.

The premises identified above tend to be classed high risk with regard to property and/or life safety, and therefore specific tactical plans may benefit Operational crews.

When such a project/building is identified, either on planning application or through pre-submission meetings with Building Control (or Approved Inspector), the specialist Group Manager, or Station Manager, is responsible for the  strategy for dealing with any statutory consultation under the Building Regulations and other legislation.

Examples may include:

Level One - Developments where the Fire Engineering Team (FET) will undertake all consultation procedures with the design team and Building Control (or Approved Inspector). The Team will subsequently undertake all future inspections of the development. In such cases, the FET will provide the Operations Team with tactical information based on their personal knowledge of the project and from information contained in the 'Health & Safety File'.

Level Two - Developments where the FET will undertake all consultations and agree the Fire Strategy for the building, but they will not carry out future inspections. In such cases, the FET will provide the Operations Team with tactical information based on their personal knowledge of the project and from information contained in the 'Health & Safety File'.

Level Three - Developments where the district based specialist Fire Safety Officers from the Planning Team undertake the consultations, but the FET provide appropriate advice with regard to design specifications of sprinkler systems, smoke control systems, stair pressurisation systems etc.

In such cases, the Team Leader responsible for the premises will provide the Operations Team with tactical information based on their personal knowledge of the project and from information contained in the 'Health & Safety File'.

Contact Details

Station Manager - Fire Safety Engineering
Tel: 0113 290 4800

Group Manager - Fire Safety Engineering
Tel: 01274 655834

Last updated 04/12/2007

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