Concepts of a Performance-Based Building Regulatory System for the United States. Report of the 1996 Activities of the SFPE Focus Group on Concepts of a Performance-Based System for the United States.
Concepts of a Performance-Based Building Regulatory
System for the United States. Report of the 1996
Activities of the SFPE Focus Group on Concepts of a
Performance-Based System for the United States.
(4046 K)
Meacham, B. J.
NIST GCR 98-762; 51 p. November 1998.
Sponsor:
National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD
Available from:
CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM: Website - http://www.bfrl.gov
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Keywords:
building codes; computer models; fire codes; fire
protection engineering; fire safety; fire safety
evaluation system; histories; International Standards
Org.; life safety code; NFPA 101; performance based
codes; risk analysis
Abstract:
The United States' building and fire communities have
recently begun transitioning towards the implementation
of performance-based building regulations and the use of
performance-based fire safety engineering. As a means
to facilitate discussion and gain insight as to the
potential structure of a performance-based building
regulatory system for the United States, and to help the
Society of Fire Protection Engineers place the
engineering aspects of such a system into perspective,
the SFPE Focus Group on Concepts of a Performance-Based
System for the United States was created in March 1996.
This group, which represents a wide cross-section of the
United States' building and fire communities, provided
key input on such issues as why the United States is
moving towards a performance-based system, how such a
system might be structured, what components will be
required for such a system to work, and what education
and qualification issues need to be addressed. The
conceptual framework for a performance-based system that
was used as the basis of discussion, the comments
received on that conceptual framework, and a summary of
the focus group discussion and consensus on a
performance-based system for the United States are
provided.
