What is this published document about?
This is the second in a series of published documents (PDs) in support of BS 7974 – a British Standard providing a framework for developing a rational methodology for designs that protect people, property and the environment from fire. The standard uses an alternative fire safety engineering approach, based on applying scientific and engineering principles.
The PDs contain guidance and information on how to undertake quantitative and detailed analysis of specific aspects of the design. They are a summary of the "state of the art" and are updated as new theories, calculation methods and data become available. They don’t preclude the use of appropriate methods and data from other sources.
Part 2 gives design approaches to estimate the spread of combustion gases. Other parts in this series include:
- Part 1: Initiation and development of fire within the enclosure of origin
- Part 3: Structural response and fire spread beyond the enclosure of origin
- Part 4: Detection of fire and activation of fire protection systems
- Part 5: Fire service intervention
- Part 6: Evacuation
- Part 7: Probabilistic fire risk assessment
Who is this published document for?
Primary users will be fire safety engineering practitioners. Other users include:
- Members of the fire and rescue service
- Structural engineers
- Architects
- Government departments such as the Ministry of Defence
- Universities (for teaching and research)
- Regulators
- Related industries such as insurers and systems engineers
Why should you use this published document?
This Published Document provides guidance on the application of fire safety engineering principles for the treatment of smoke movement, control and management problems. The guidance is intended primarily for professional engineers with a responsibility for the design or assessment of fire safety in buildings.
It also includes data for probabilistic risk assessment, based on fire statistics, building characteristics and reliability of fire protection systems. It does not contain guidance on techniques for hazard identification or qualitative risk analysis.
What’s changed since the last update?
This is a full revision of the 2002 document and updates it in line with current thinking, new technological advances and changes to BS 7974 and other parts of the PD 7974 series.
