Fire Protection and Life Safety Provisions Applied to the Design and Construction of WTC 1, 2 and 7 and Post-Construction Provisions Applied After Occupancy. Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center.
Fire Protection and Life Safety Provisions Applied to
the Design and Construction of WTC 1, 2 and 7 and
Post-Construction Provisions Applied After Occupancy.
Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the
World Trade Center.
(567 K)
Grill, R. A.; Johnson, D. A.
NIST NCSTAR 1-1D; 156 p. September 2005.
Keywords:
World Trade Center; high rise buildings; building
collapse; disasters; terrorists; terrorism; fire
protection; life safety; fire safety; building design;
building construction; construction; compartments;
elevators (lifts); power supplied; fire alarm systems;
sprinklers; inspection; interior finishes; egress;
pressurization; vents; communication networks; fire
suppression; fire detection
Abstract:
This report was prepared to support the analysis of
building and fire codes and standards of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology World Trade Center
(WTC) Investigation. To best analyze the performance of
WTC 1,2, and 7 in response to the September 11,2001,
attacks, the provisions of the design and construction
of the buildings must first be understood. The purpose
of this report is to summarize the fire protection (both
passive and active) and life safety provisions that were
used to design and construct WTC 1, 2, and 7 and to
document the changes in building code regulations that
occurred after their construction. Determination of the
applicable building provisions was a multi-step task.
First, documentation (such as drawings, memoranda, and
New York City building regulations) was analyzed to
identify the initial construction provisions at the
times of construction of the three buildings. Second,
New York City building regulations, published since the
time of construction, were analyzed to identify the new
and amended building provisions. Third, the building
provisions were analyzed to determine their
applicability to the building characteristics of WTC 1,
2, and 7.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899