Risk and Performance Standards.
Risk and Performance Standards.
(665 K)
Bukowski, R. W.
NISTIR 6030;
Fire Risk and Hazard Assessment Symposium: Research and
Practice: Bridging the Gap. Proceedings. National
Fire Protection Research Foundation. June 26-28, 1996,
San Francisco, CA, 37-45 pp, 1996 AND U.S./Japan
Government Cooperative Program on Natural Resources
(UJNR). Fire Research and Safety. 13th Joint Panel
Meeting. Volume 1. NISTIR 6030. March 13-20, 1996,
Gaithersburg, MD, Beall, K. A., Editor, 79-88 pp, 1997,
1997.
Available from:
National Technical Information Service
Order number: PB97-184204
Keywords:
fire risk; hazard assessment; standards; fire codes;
life safety; codes; risk assessment; scenarios;
occupants; performance based codes
Abstract:
Performance codes are replacing prescriptive codes in
much of the world. As the form of the codes change, the
form of standards which support those codes needs to
evolve in concert. Thus, performance standards need to
be explicit about the purpose(s) served by the
standardized systems and to provide quantitative means
to assess the degree to which they serve that purpose.
Most of the engineering methods evolving to support
performance based codes assess risk to life of building
occupants relative to the risk to occupants in buildings
which comply with the prescriptive code. Such relative
risk assessment is cumbersome and unreliable, and should
be replaced by absolute risk limits to enjoy all of the
efficiencies of performance codes. Financial risk is
easy to understand but is inappropriate to codes that
exist to protect life. Risk to life is difficult to
understand and communicate to the public. These risk
analysis methods utilize scenarios as a bridge to
experience and the means to quantify likelihoods. In
the absence of incident data some systematic methods of
identifying scenarios is needed. This paper deals with
each of these issues in an attempt to stimulate research
needed to find the answers.
Building and Fire Research Laboratory
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Gaithersburg, MD 20899