Fire Safety Requirements in the International Building Code

Fire safety has long been an important consideration when building new buildings and the International Building Code and older code bodies have long reflected this. It’s important that all new buildings meet strict fire safety regulations. New regulations have made future buildings much safer. These fire safety regulations affect very tall buildings more than any others.

In total there are 23 changes in the fire code, but we will only look at some of the major changes here. These changes have all been approved by the ICC (International Code Council).

Reasons for Changes

The changes to the fire safety standards were triggered after the world trade center collapse in 2001. Investigations carried out by the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) discovered that certain changes could of helped save more lives.

These changes are all designed to give people more time to escape a burning building which is very tall. The September 11th attacks might have been awful, but we’ve managed to learn a lot from them. Getting out of a burning building which is over 420 feet using just stairs is near impossible if you’re on the top floor. We saw this when people were jumping out of the WTC.

Extra Exits

For any building which is over 420 feet high, an extra emergency exit stairway is required. In the past only two exits were needed, now however a third is required.

These stairs must also be 50 percent wider than the others to prevent overcrowding and trampling.

Elevators

According to old fire safety regulations elevators could not be used to evacuate people from buildings. Now however they are an extra alternative for any building which is over 420 feet high. Not just any elevator can be used for evacuation, however. It’s important that the elevator meets very strict safety standards in order to be used for evacuation.

All elevator shafts and exit stairway passes must be hardened when the building is over 420 feet high. This is also essential in hospitals regardless of the building height. Hardening these passageways will prevent fire from taking hold of the building and spreading as quickly.

Any building over 120 feet must now have a dedicated fire service access elevator. This must have an area of at least 150 sq feet and must be kept free from everything, including storage.

Fireproofing

Fireproofing must be installed according to the manufacturers guidelines, and the surfaces must be thoroughly cleaned before fixing the fireproofing materials to the walls.

Original Regulations

The original fire safety regulations are still very important. You must have some form of escape other than the main stairway in any commercial building.

There must also be a form of fire alarm in all commercial buildings. Smoke alarms are recommended in residential buildings.

Planning

Nothing can avoid the need for planning for fire safety. You must try and identify the dangerous areas of your building where a fire may break out. Then try to identify how the fire will spread and choose exit routes accordingly.

Fire can be very dangerous and you can’t not think about it. It’s very important that you consider fire safety so that you and your whole family are protected.