‘A Gentle Whisper in Your Ear’

NIST WTC Recommendations 25-28 > Improved Practices

Previous Posts in This Series …

2011-10-25:  NIST’s Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses … GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity – Recommendations 1, 2 & 3 (out of 30)

2011-11-18:  NIST WTC Recommendations 4-7 > Structural Fire Endurance … GROUP 2.  Enhanced Fire Endurance of Structures – Recommendations 4, 5, 6 & 7

2011-11-24:  NIST WTC Recommendations 8-11 > New Design of Structures … GROUP 3.  New Methods for Fire Resisting Design of Structures – Recommendations 8, 9, 10 & 11

2011-11-25:  NIST WTC Recommendations 12-15 > Improved Active Protection … GROUP 4.  Improved Active Fire Protection – Recommendations 12, 13, 14 & 15

2011-11-30:  NIST Recommendations 16-20 > Improved People Evacuation … GROUP 5.  Improved Building Evacuation – Recommendations 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20

2011-12-04:  NIST WTC Recommendations 21-24 > Improved Firefighting … GROUP 6.  Improved Emergency Response – Recommendations 21, 22, 23 & 24

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2011-12-07:  SOME PRELIMINARY COMMENTS …

  1.     Concerning Recommendation 25 below … yes, this Recommendation applies to the types of organizations identified in the text, but it should also be understood as applying to ALL Organizations … public or private, governmental or non-governmental or quasi-governmental, whatever, etc … ‘supported’ (see the text further down in Recommendation 25) with rigorous enforcement, in all cases, by publically appointed building control officials and/or by private, independent, competent technical control professionals.

Once more … and again and again (!) … confirmed by the sort of debacle seen at the Priory Hall Apartment Complex, in Dublin … Self-Certification / Self-Approval, i.e. ‘lite’ regulation, does not work.  For National Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ’s), however, it is a cheap solution to a difficult, resource-devouring issue, i.e. protecting society and the consumer … in that order.

  2.     Concerning the Footnote to Recommendation 26 below … the choice should never be between either Fire Compartmentation or Sprinklers … or the other way around, whichever you prefer.  Neither is 100% reliable !

Fire Compartmentation

The division of a building into fire-tight compartments, by fire and smoke resisting elements of construction, in order …

• to contain an outbreak of fire, and to facilitate effective firefighting ;
• to prevent damage, within the building, to other adjoining compartments and/or spaces ;
• to protect a compartment interior from external fire attack, e.g. fire spread across the building’s facade or from an adjacent building ;
• to minimize adverse, or harmful, environmental impacts outside the building.

As developed as that definition is above, Fire Compartmentation should be regarded as just one Fire Safety Strategy / Fire Engineering Strategy … not the only strategy, and certainly not the main strategy.

Here are two reasons why not …

a)   The connection between compartment size and the ability to effectively fight a fire within a space of limited volume has been lost … so more and more, commercial pressure is being exerted on national authorities to expand the acceptable compartment sizes in buildings … which significantly increases the fire hazard ;

[ Remembering the difference between the limited Fire Safety Objectives of Building Codes/Regulations and the much broader Project-Specific Fire Engineering Objectives of Ethical Fire Engineering required to protect society and the full interests of our clients ... it is easy to understand why national authorities feel that they can respond positively to such commercial pressures.]

b)   In a Sustainable Building … it is a very common design strategy to take advantage of the natural patterns of air movement in a building, for either cooling or heating purposes, depending on local climate conditions.  So there is simply no compartmentation, as understood in conventional fire engineering terms … and this throws up a fundamental conflict between the two.  To be discussed in another post !

  3.     Concerning the 2nd Footnote to Recommendation 28 below … in the very same New York City … at 09.40 hrs on a Saturday morning, 28 July 1945 … lost in fog, a B-25 Bomber slammed head-on into the 79th Floor of the Empire State Building … and caused enormous damage.  That building is still standing today … and surprise, surprise … there was aviation fuel in the B-25 !

In a similar vein … Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse was not observed for the first time, in New York, on 11 September 2001 !

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2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS

GROUP 7.  Improved Procedures and Practices

The procedures and practices used in the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of buildings should be improved to include encouraging code compliance by non-governmental and quasi-governmental entities, adoption and application of egress and sprinkler requirements in codes for existing buildings, and retention and availability of building documents over the life of a building.

NIST WTC Recommendation 25.

Non-governmental and quasi-governmental entities that own or lease buildings and are not subject to building and fire safety code requirements of any governmental jurisdiction are nevertheless concerned about the safety of building occupants and responding emergency personnel.  NIST recommends that such entities be encouraged to provide a level of safety that equals or exceeds the level of safety that would be provided by strict compliance with the code requirements of an appropriate governmental jurisdiction.  NIST further recommends that as-designed and as-built safety be certified by a qualified third party, independent of the building owner(s).  The process should not use self-approval for code enforcement in areas including interpretation of code provisions, design approval, product acceptance, certification of the final construction, and post-occupancy inspections over the life of the buildings.*

[ * F-46  The long-standing stated policy of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ) was to meet and, where appropriate, exceed the requirements of local building and fire codes, and it entered into agreements with the New York City Department of Buildings and the Fire Department of the City of New York in accordance with that policy.  Although the PANYNJ sought review and concurrence from New York City in the areas listed in the Recommendation, the PANYNJ was not required to yield, and appears not to have yielded, approval authority to New York City.  The PANYNJ was created as an interstate entity, a 'body corporate and politic', under its charter, pursuant to Article 1, Section 10 of the United States Constitution permitting compacts between states.  Further, there are many other similar non-governmental and quasi-governmental entities in the U.S.  A comprehensive review of documents conducted as part of this Investigation suggests that the WTC towers generally were designed and maintained consistent with the requirements of the 1968 New York City Building Code.  Areas of concern included fireproofing of the WTC floor system, height of tenant separation walls, and egress requirements for the assembly use spaces of 'Windows of the World' in WTC Tower 1 and the 'Top of the World' Observation Deck in WTC Tower 2.  These areas of concern did not play a significant role in determining the outcomes related to the events on 11th September 2001.]

NIST WTC Recommendation 26.

NIST recommends that state and local jurisdictions adopt and aggressively enforce available provisions in building codes to ensure that egress and sprinkler requirements are met by existing buildings.*  Further, occupancy requirements should be modified where needed (such as when there are assembly use spaces within an office building) to meet the requirements in model building codes.  Provisions related to egress and sprinkler requirements in existing buildings are available in such codes as the International Existing Building Code (IEBC), International Fire Code, NFPA 1, NFPA 101, and ASME A 17.3.  For example, the IEBC defines three levels of building alteration (removal and replacement or covering of existing materials and equipment, reconfiguration of space or system or installation of new equipment, and extending the work area in excess of 50% of the aggregate area of the building).  At the lowest level, there are no upgrade implications for sprinklers and the egress system.  At the next level, sprinklers are required in work areas serving greater than 30 people if certain other conditions related to building height and use such as shared exits also are met.  There are numerous requirements for means of egress, including number of exits, specification of doorsets, dead-end corridors and travel distances, lighting, signage, and handrails.  At the highest level, the sprinkler and egress requirements are identical to the second level without the minimum 30-person restriction and the other conditions related to building height and use.  The Life Safety Code (NFPA 101) applies retroactively to all buildings, independent of whether any work is currently being done on the building, and ASME A 17.3 applies retroactively to all elevators as a minimum set of requirements.

[ * F-47  The WTC towers were unsprinklered when built.  It took nearly 28 years after passage of New York City Local Law 5 in 1973, which required either compartmentation or sprinklering, for the buildings to be fully sprinklered (the Port Authority chose not to use the compartmentation option in Local Law 5).  This was about 13 years more than the 15-year period for full compliance with Local Law 5 that was set by Local Law 84 of 1979.]

NIST WTC Recommendation 27.

NIST recommends that building codes incorporate a provision that requires building owners to retain documents, including supporting calculations and test data, related to building design, construction, maintenance, and modifications over the entire life of the building.*  Means should be developed for off-site storage and maintenance of the documents.  In addition, NIST recommends that relevant information be made available in suitably designed hard copy or electronic formats for use by emergency responders.  Such information should be easily accessible by responders during emergencies.  Model Building Codes:  Model building codes should incorporate this Recommendation.  State and local jurisdictions should adopt and enforce these requirements.

[ * F-48  The availability of inexpensive electronic storage media and tools for creating large searchable databases makes this feasible.]

NIST WTC Recommendation 28.

NIST recommends that the role of the ‘Design Professional in Responsible Charge’* be clarified to ensure that:  (1) all appropriate design professionals (including, e.g. the fire protection engineer) are part of the design team providing the highest standard of care when designing buildings employing innovative or unusual fire safety systems;**  and (2) all appropriate design professionals (including, e.g. the structural engineer and the fire protection engineer) are part of the design team providing the highest standard of care when designing the structure to resist fires, in buildings that employ innovative or unusual structural and fire safety systems.  Affected Standards:  AIA Practice Guidelines.  Model Building Codes:  The International Building Code (IBC), which already defines ‘Design Professional in Responsible Charge’, should be clarified to address this Recommendation.  NFPA 5000 should incorporate the ‘Design Professional in Responsible Charge’ concept, and address this Recommendation.

[ * F-49  In projects involving a design team, the 'Design Professional in Responsible Charge' - usually the lead architect - ensures that the team members use consistent design data and assumptions, co-ordinates overlapping specifications, and serves as the liaison between the enforcement and reviewing officials and the owner.  This term is defined in the International Building Code (IBC) and in the International Code Council's Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities (where it is the Principal Design Professional).]

[ ** F-50  If the fire safety concepts in tall buildings had been sufficiently mature in the 1960's, it is possible that the risks associated with jet-fuel ignited multi-floor fires might have been recognized and taken into account when the impact of a Boeing 707 aircraft was considered by the structural engineer during the design of the WTC towers.]

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Tags: 'supported' with rigorous enforcement in all cases, 2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS, Accessible Fire Engineering, Active fire protection, adoption and application of egress and sprinkler requirements in codes for existing buildings, AIA Practice Guidelines, all appropriate design professionals are part of the design team providing the highest standard of care when designing buildings employing innovative or unusual fire safety systems, all appropriate design professionals are part of the design team providing the highest standard of care when designing the structure to resist fires in buildings that employ innovative or unusual stru, and egress requirements for the assembly use spaces of 'Windows of the World' in WTC Tower 1 and the 'Top of the World' Observation Deck in WTC Tower 2, and post-occupancy inspections over the life of the buildings, and retention and availability of building documents over the life of a building, Article 1 Section 10 of the United States Constitution, ASME A 17.3, at 09.40 hrs on a Saturday morning 28 July 1945, Built Environment, by private independent competent technical control professionals, by publically appointed building control officials, certification of the final construction, Client Organizations, co-ordinates overlapping specifications, commercial pressure is being exerted on national authorities to expand the acceptable compartment sizes in buildings, confirmed by the sort of debacle seen at the Priory Hall Apartment Complex in Dublin, design approval, e.g. fire spread across the building's facade or from an adjacent building, Empire State Building, fire and smoke resisting elements of construction, Fire Compartmentation should be regarded as just one Fire Safety Strategy / Fire Engineering Strategy, Fire Department of the City of New York, Fire Engineering Design, Fire Safety, fire-induced progressive collapse, Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse was not observed for the first time in New York on 11 September 2001, fireproofing of the WTC floor system, governmental or non-governmental or quasi-governmental, GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity - Recommendations 1 2 & 3 (out of 30), GROUP 7. Improved Procedures and Practices, Group action, height of tenant separation walls, independent of the building owner(s), International Code Council's Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities, International Existing Building Code (IEBC), International Fire Code, interpretation of code provisions, Ireland, it is a cheap solution to a difficult resource-devouring issue i.e. protecting society and the consumer, it is a very common design strategy to take advantage of the natural patterns of air movement in a building, it is possible that the risks associated with jet-fuel ignited multi-floor fires might have been recognized and taken into account, it should also be understood as applying to ALL Organizations, lost in fog a B-25 Bomber slammed head-on into the 79th Floor of the Empire State Building, Means should be developed for off-site storage and maintenance of the documents, National Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ's), National Institute of Standards & Technology, New York City, New York City Department of Buildings, NFPA 1, NFPA 101, NFPA 5000, NIST, NIST further recommends that as-designed and as-built safety be certified by a qualified third party, NIST recommends that building codes incorporate a provision that requires building owners to retain documents, NIST recommends that relevant information be made available in suitably designed hard copy or electronic formats for use by emergency responders, NIST recommends that state and local jurisdictions adopt and aggressively enforce available provisions in building codes, NIST recommends that such entities be encouraged to provide a level of safety that equals or exceeds the level of safety that would be provided by strict compliance, NIST recommends that the role of the 'Design Professional in Responsible Charge' be clarified, NIST WTC, NIST WTC Recommendation 25, NIST WTC Recommendation 26, NIST WTC Recommendation 27, NIST WTC Recommendation 28, NIST WTC Recommendations 25-28 > Improved Practices, NIST's Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses, passage of New York City Local Law 5 in 1973, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey (PANYNJ), product acceptance, public or private, Self-Certification / Self-Approval i.e. 'lite' regulation does not work, serves as the liaison with the enforcement and reviewing officials and with the owner, So there is simply no compartmentation as understood in conventional fire engineering terms, strict compliance with the code requirements of an appropriate governmental jurisdiction, Such information should be easily accessible by responders during emergencies, Sustainable Building, Sustainable Design, Sustainable Fire Engineering, Sustainable Human & Social Development, Technical Control of Design and Construction, the 'Design Professional in Responsible Charge' - usually the lead architect - ensures that the team members use consistent design data and assumptions, the 15-year period for full compliance with Local Law 5 that was set by Local Law 84 of 1979, the choice should never be between either Fire Compartmentation or Sprinklers, The division of a building into fire-tight compartments, the IEBC defines three levels of building alteration, The International Building Code (IBC), the limited Fire Safety Objectives of Building Codes/Regulations, the much broader Project-Specific Fire Engineering Objectives of Ethical Fire Engineering required to protect society and the full interests of our clients, The PANYNJ was created as an interstate entity a 'body corporate and politic', The procedures and practices used in the design construction maintenance and operation of buildings should be improved to include encouraging code compliance by non-governmental and quasi-governmental, The process should not use self-approval for code enforcement, the WTC towers generally were designed and maintained consistent with the requirements of the 1968 New York City Building Code, The WTC towers were unsprinklered when built, to contain an outbreak of fire and to facilitate effective firefighting, to ensure that egress and sprinkler requirements are met by existing buildings, to minimize adverse or harmful environmental impacts outside the building, to prevent damage within the building to other adjoining compartments and/or spaces, to protect a compartment interior from external fire attack, United States of America, when the impact of a Boeing 707 aircraft was considered by the structural engineer during the design of the WTC towers

NIST WTC Recommendations 21-24 > Improved Firefighting

Previous Posts in This Series …

2011-10-25:  NIST’s Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses … GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity – Recommendations 1, 2 & 3 (out of 30)

2011-11-18:  NIST WTC Recommendations 4-7 > Structural Fire Endurance … GROUP 2.  Enhanced Fire Endurance of Structures – Recommendations 4, 5, 6 & 7

2011-11-24:  NIST WTC Recommendations 8-11 > New Design of Structures … GROUP 3.  New Methods for Fire Resisting Design of Structures – Recommendations 8, 9, 10 & 11

2011-11-25:  NIST WTC Recommendations 12-15 > Improved Active Protection … GROUP 4.  Improved Active Fire Protection – Recommendations 12, 13, 14 & 15

2011-11-30:  NIST Recommendations 16-20 > Improved People Evacuation … GROUP 5.  Improved Building Evacuation – Recommendations 16, 17, 18, 19 & 20

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2011-12-04:  SOME PRELIMINARY COMMENTS …

  1.     Such is the pervasively high level of both direct and indirect fire losses, not all of which have yet been identified … that a force of committed firefighters, having sufficient numbers and properly trained and equipped, is a valuable social asset in any community … and one not to be weakened or diluted easily.

  2.     Lack of discipline among firefighters was an issue during the day of 9-11 (11th September 2011) in New York …

In real life or death situations, however, discipline is essential … but competent and efficient command, control and co-ordination … facilitated by reliable systems of communication (human and electronic) … are critical.

And accurate, real time information about what is happening at a building fire incident of whatever scale … i.e. situation awareness … is a tool which propels forward and encourages the effective functioning of both the firefighter and the user/occupant evacuating the building.

  3.     A serious gap, internationally … a deep cavern … in the awareness, training and education of firefighters at all levels … is the issue of ‘disability’ and the varying range of abilities in a typical building user/occupant profile.

It is not fully appreciated by firefighters that certain people may die if placed in a standard fireman’s lift position … or, if shouted and screamed at, many people may have no understanding whatever of the firefighter’s intended meaning … or that, in order for everyone to reach a place of safety, it is necessary for firefighters to ensure that safe, accessible routes from the building (i.e. clear of all obstacles, e.g. fire hose lines) are prepared for, thoroughly, in advance of any fire incident … and actually provided should one occur.

Panic attacks during an emergency do exist !   Standard movement times for people evacuating do not exist !!   And … firefighters may themselves become impaired during a building fire incident !!!

  4.     As for building designers … where do I even start ??   Much could, and should, be done in the design and initial construction of a building to assure firefighter safety.  But … where does any requirement to consider this issue appear in national building codes/regulations ??

I have already discussed this matter in relation to European Union (EU) Regulation 305/2011 on Construction Products, where such a requirement is contained in Basic Requirement for Construction Works 2: ‘Safety in Case of Fire’ (Annex I).

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2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS

GROUP 6.  Improved Emergency Response

Technologies and procedures for emergency response should be improved to enable better access to buildings, response operations, emergency communications, and command and control in large-scale emergencies.

NIST WTC Recommendation 21.

NIST recommends the installation of fire-protected and structurally hardened elevators to improve emergency response activities in tall buildings by providing timely emergency access to responders and allowing evacuation of mobility-impaired building occupants.  Such elevators should be installed for exclusive use by emergency responders during emergencies.*  In tall buildings, consideration also should be given to installing such elevators for use by all occupants.  NIST has found that the physiological impacts on emergency responders of climbing numerous (e.g. 20 or more) storeys makes it difficult to conduct effective and timely firefighting and rescue operations in building emergencies without functioning elevators.  The use of elevators for these purposes will require additional operating procedures and protocols, as well as a requirement for release of elevator door restrictors by emergency response personnel.

[ * F-44  The access time for emergency responders, in tall building emergencies where elevators are not functioning and only stairways can be used, averages between 1 minute and 2 minutes per floor, which, for example, corresponds to between 1½ and 2 hours (depending on the amount of gear and equipment carried) to reach the 60th floor of a tall building.  Further, the physiological impact on the emergency responders of climbing more than 10 to 12 floors in a tall building makes it difficult for them to immediately begin aggressive firefighting and rescue operations.]

Affected Standards:  ASME A 17, ANSI 117.1, NFPA 70, NFPA 101, NFPA 1221, NFPA 1500, NFPA 1561, NFPA 1620, and NFPA 1710.  Model Building and Fire Codes:  The standards should be adopted in model building and fire codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 22.

NIST recommends the installation, inspection, and testing of emergency communications systems, radio communications, and associated operating protocols to ensure that the systems and protocols:  (1) are effective for large-scale emergencies in buildings with challenging radio frequency propagation environments;  and (2) can be used to identify, locate, and track emergency responders within indoor building environments and in the field.  The federal government should co-ordinate its efforts that address this need within the framework provided by the SAFECOM programme of the Department of Homeland Security.

a.     Rigorous procedures, including pre-emergency inspection and testing, should be developed and implemented for ensuring the operation of emergency communications systems and radio communications in tall buildings and other large structures (including tunnels and subways), or at locations where communications are difficult.

b.     Performance requirements should be developed for emergency communications systems and radio communications that are used within buildings or in built-up urban environments, including standards for design, testing, certification, maintenance, and inspection of such systems.

c.     An interoperable architecture for emergency communication networks – and associated operating protocols – should be developed for unit operations within and across agencies in large-scale emergencies.  The overall network architecture should cover local networking at incident sites, dispatching, and area-wide networks, considering: (a) the scale of needed communications in terms of the number of emergency responders using the system in a large-scale emergency and the organizational hierarchy; and (b) challenges associated with radio frequency propagation, especially in buildings; (c) interoperability with existing legacy emergency communications systems (i.e. between conventional two-way systems and newer wireless network systems); and (d) the need to identify, locate, and track emergency responders at an incident site.

Affected Standards:  FCC, SAFECOM, NFPA Standards on Electronic Safety Equipment, NFPA 70, NFPA 297, and NFPA 1221.  Model Building Codes:  The standards should be adopted in model building codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 23.

NIST recommends the establishment and implementation of detailed procedures and methods for gathering, processing, and delivering critical information through integration of relevant voice, video, graphical, and written data to enhance the situational awareness of all emergency responders.  An information intelligence sector* should be established to co-ordinate the effort for each incident.

[ * F-45  A group of individuals that is knowledgeable, experienced, and specifically trained in gathering, processing, and delivering information critical for emergency response operations, and is ready for activation in large and/or dangerous events.]

Affected Standards:  National Incident Management System (NIMS), NRP, SAFECOM, FCC, NFPA Standards on Electronic Safety Equipment, NFPA 1221, NFPA 1500, NFPA 1561, NFPA 1620, and NFPA 1710.  Model Building Codes:  The standards should be adopted in model building codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 24.

NIST recommends the establishment and implementation of codes and protocols for ensuring effective and uninterrupted operation of the command and control system for large-scale building emergencies.

a.     State, local, and federal jurisdictions should implement the National Incident Management System (NIMS).  The jurisdictions should work with the Department of Homeland Security to review, test, evaluate, and implement an effective unified command and control system.  NIMS addresses interagency co-ordination and establishes a response matrix – assigning lead agency responsibilities for different types of emergencies, and functions.  At a minimum, each supporting agency should assign an individual to provide co-ordination with the lead agency at each incident command post.

b.     State, local, and federal emergency operations centres (EOC’s) should be located, designed, built, and operated with security and operational integrity as a key consideration.

c.     Command posts should be established outside the potential collapse footprint of any building which shows evidence of large multi-floor fires or has serious structural damage.  A continuous assessment of building stability and safety should be made in such emergencies to guide ongoing operations and enhance emergency responder safety.  The information necessary to make these assessments should be made available to those assigned responsibility (see related Recommendations 15 and 23).

d.     An effective command system should be established and operating before a large number of emergency responders and apparatus are dispatched and deployed.  Through training and drills, emergency responders and ambulances should be required to await dispatch requests from the incident command system and not to self-dispatch in large-scale emergencies.

e.     Actions should be taken via training and drills to ensure a co-ordinated and effective emergency response at all levels of the incident command chain by requiring all emergency responders that are given an assignment to immediately adopt and execute the assignment objectives.

f.     Command post information and incident operations data should be managed and broadcast to command and control centres at remote locations so that information is secure and accessible by all personnel needing the information.  Methods should be developed and implemented so that any information that is available at an interior information centre is transmitted to an emergency responder vehicle or command post outside the building.

Affected Standards:  National Incident Management System (NIMS), NRP, SAFECOM, FCC, NFPA Standards on Electronic Safety Equipment, NFPA 1221, NFPA 1500, NFPA 1561, NFPA 1620, and NFPA 1710.  Model Building Codes:  The standards should be adopted in model building codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

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Tags: 2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS, A continuous assessment of building stability and safety should be made in such emergencies, a force of committed firefighters having sufficient numbers and properly trained and equipped, a requirement for release of elevator door restrictors by emergency response personnel, A serious gap internationally ... a deep cavern ... in the awareness training and education of firefighters at all levels, a tool which propels forward and encourages the effective functioning of both the firefighter and the user/occupant evacuating the building, a valuable social asset in any community ... and one not to be weakened or diluted easily, Accessible Fire Engineering, accurate real time information about what is happening at a building fire incident of whatever scale ... i.e. situation awareness, all emergency responders that are given an assignment to immediately adopt and execute the assignment objectives, allowing evacuation of mobility-impaired building occupants, An effective command system should be established and operating before a large number of emergency responders and apparatus are dispatched, An information intelligence sector should be established to co-ordinate the effort for each incident, An interoperable architecture for emergency communication networks, ANSI 117.1, are planned for thoroughly in advance of any fire incident ... and actually provided should one occur, area-wide networks, As for building designers ... where do I even start ??, ASME A 17, assigning lead agency responsibilities for different types of emergencies and functions, associated operating protocols, between conventional two-way systems and newer wireless network systems, Built Environment, can be used to identify locate and track emergency responders within indoor building environments and in the field, certain people may die if placed in a standard fireman's lift position, challenges associated with radio frequency propagation especially in buildings, clear of all obstacles e.g. fire hose lines, Client Organizations, command and control in large-scale emergencies, Command posts should be established outside the potential collapse footprint of any building, competent and efficient command control and co-ordination ... facilitated by reliable systems of communication (human and electronic) ... are critical, difficult to conduct effective and timely firefighting and rescue operations in building emergencies, dispatching, each supporting agency should assign an individual to provide co-ordination with the lead agency at each incident command post, effective for large-scale emergencies in buildings with challenging radio frequency propagation environments, emergency communications, emergency communications systems and radio communications that are used within buildings or in built-up urban environments, emergency operations centres (EOC's), ensuring effective and uninterrupted operation of the command and control system for large-scale building emergencies, EU, european union, European Union (EU) Regulation 305/2011 on Construction Products, evidence of large multi-floor fires or has serious structural damage, Fire Safety, fire service support infrastructure, firefighters may themselves become impaired during a building fire incident, GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity - Recommendations 1 2 & 3 (out of 30), GROUP 6. Improved Emergency Response, if shouted and screamed at many people may have no understanding whatever of the firefighter's intended meaning, in order for everyone to reach a place of safety, In real life or death situations however discipline is essential, in tall buildings and other large structures (including tunnels and subways) or at locations where communications are difficult, interoperability with existing legacy emergency communications systems, it is necessary for firefighters to ensure that safe accessible routes from the building, Lack of discipline among firefighters was an issue during the day of 9-11 (11th September 2011) in New York, Much could and should be done in the design and initial construction of a building to assure firefighter safety, National Incident Management System (NIMS), NFPA 101, NFPA 1221, NFPA 1500, NFPA 1561, NFPA 1620, NFPA 1710, NFPA 70, NFPA Standards on Electronic Safety Equipment, NIMS addresses interagency co-ordination and establishes a response matrix, NIST has found that the physiological impacts on emergency responders of climbing numerous (e.g. 20 or more) storeys, NIST recommends the installation inspection and testing of emergency communications systems, NIST recommends the installation of fire-protected and structurally hardened elevators, NIST WTC Recommendation 21, NIST WTC Recommendation 22, NIST WTC Recommendation 23, NIST WTC Recommendation 24, NIST WTC Recommendations 21-24 > Improved Firefighting, NIST's Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses, operated with security and operational integrity as a key consideration, Panic attacks during an emergency do exist, People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), Personnes à Performances Réduites (2001 WHO ICF), pre-emergency inspection and testing, providing timely emergency access to responders, radio communications, response operations, so that information is secure and accessible by all personnel needing the information, Standard movement times for people evacuating do not exist, such a requirement is contained in Basic Requirement for Construction Works 2: 'Safety in Case of Fire' (Annex I), Such elevators should be installed for exclusive use by emergency responders during emergencies, Such is the pervasively high level of both direct and indirect fire losses not all of which have yet been identified, Sustainable Fire Engineering, Technologies and procedures for emergency response should be improved to enable better access to buildings, The access time for emergency responders in tall building emergencies, The federal government should co-ordinate its efforts that address this need within the framework provided, the issue of 'disability' and the varying range of abilities in a typical building user/occupant profile, the need to identify locate and track emergency responders at an incident site, The overall network architecture should cover local networking at incident sites, the SAFECOM programme of the Department of Homeland Security, the scale of needed communications in terms of the number of emergency responders using the system in a large-scale emergency and the organizational hierarchy, to enhance the situational awareness of all emergency responders, to guide ongoing operations and enhance emergency responder safety, to immediately begin aggressive firefighting and rescue operations, to improve emergency response activities in tall buildings, United States of America, where does any requirement to consider this issue appear in national building codes/regulations ?, without functioning elevators

NIST WTC Recommendations 12-15 > Improved Active Protection

Previous Posts in This Series …

2011-10-25:  NIST’s Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses … GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity – Recommendations 1, 2 & 3 (out of 30)

2011-11-18:  NIST WTC Recommendations 4-7 > Structural Fire Endurance … GROUP 2.  Enhanced Fire Endurance of Structures – Recommendations 4, 5, 6 & 7

2011-11-24:  NIST WTC Recommendations 8-11 > New Design of Structures … GROUP 3.  New Methods for Fire Resisting Design of Structures – Recommendations 8, 9, 10 & 11

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2011-11-25:  SOME PRELIMINARY COMMENTS …

  1.     Reliability has always been an issue with Active Fire Protection Systems … but, it is neither acknowledged, nor fully understood, that … Reliability Is Equally An Issue With Passive Fire Protection Measures !

Furthermore, the following should always be taken into account when considering the Safety Factors to be applied in calculating the level of satisfactory fire safety and protection which is provided in a specific project … one of the design objectives in Ethical Fire Engineering.

For example, if Category C below is indicative of the design and construction quality on a particular building site … just think of the Priory Hall Apartment Development in Dublin (!) … the Safety Factors to be applied in the design should be high … and with regard to actual construction, it should be expected that the Reliability of both Active Fire Protection Systems and Passive Fire Protection Measures will be initially low … with Life Cycle Reliability being entirely non-existent.

Quality of Fire Engineering Design & Related Construction 

Category A

(a)   Design of the works is exercised by an independent, appropriately qualified and experienced architect/engineer/fire engineer, with design competence relating to fire safety and protection in buildings ;

(b)   Installation/fitting of related construction products/systems is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel, with construction competence relating to fire safety and protection in buildings ;

(c)   Supervision of the works is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel from the principal construction organization ;

(d)   Regular inspections, by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel familiar with the design, and independent of the construction organization(s), are carried out to verify that the works are being executed in accordance with the fire engineering design.

Category B

(a)   Design of the works is exercised by an independent, appropriately qualified and experienced architect/engineer/fire engineer ;

(b)   Installation/fitting of fire-related construction products/systems is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel ;

(c)   Supervision of the works is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel from the principal construction organization.

Category C

This level of design and construction execution is assumed when the requirements for Category A or Category B are not met.

  2.     With regard to Recommendations 12 & 13 below … in an earlier post in this series, and elsewhere, I have defined Disproportionate Damage … and differentiated that structural concept from the related concept of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse.

A significant number of countries include a requirement on Resistance to Disproportionate Damage in their national building codes.  Often, it is only necessary to consider this requirement in the case of buildings having 5 Storeys, or more … a completely arbitrary height threshold.  I would consider that adequately tying together the horizontal and vertical structural elements of a building … any building … is a fundamental principle of good structural engineering !!

Putting it simply … for the purpose of showing compliance with this structural requirement … it is necessary to demonstrate that a building will remain structurally stable if a portion of the building’s structure is removed … always remembering that every building comprises both structure and fabric, i.e. non-structure.

In reality this may happen, and quite often does happen, when, for example, a large truck runs into the side of a building, which can happen anywhere … or there is a gas explosion in some part of the building, which happened in Dublin’s Raglan House back in 1987, and many times in other countries … or a plane hits a high-rise building, which happened to Milan’s iconic Pirelli Tower in 2002, and to New York’s Empire State Building way back in 1945 … etc., etc.  Raglan House collapsed … the Pirelli Tower and the Empire State Building did not.

[ The World Trade Center Towers were originally designed to absorb the impact of a large plane and to remain structurally stable afterwards ... in ambient conditions.  However, what was not considered in the ambient structural design was 'fire', i.e. the fuel tanks were empty and no fire in the building would be initiated as a result of the mechanical damage caused by the plane impact ... which, on 11 September 2001, proved to be a ridiculous basis for any structural design !   This is why 9-11 should be regarded, at its core, as being a very serious 'real' fire incident.]

What I am leading up to is this … the concept of removing a portion of a building, and it remaining structurally stable afterwards … should now – logically and rationally – also be incorporated into the fire engineering design of Active Fire Protection Systems.  In other words, if a portion of a building is removed, will any particular Active Fire Protection System continue to operate effectively in the rest of the building ?   This has implications for the location and adequate protection of critical system components in a building … and for the necessary redundancy, zoning and back-up alternative routeing which must be designed into the system from the beginning !

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2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS

GROUP 4.  Improved Active Fire Protection

Active fire protection systems (i.e. sprinklers, standpipes/hoses, fire alarms, and smoke management systems) should be enhanced through improvements to the design, performance, reliability, and redundancy of such systems.

NIST WTC Recommendation 12.

NIST recommends that the performance and possibly the redundancy of active fire protection systems (sprinklers, standpipes/hoses, fire alarms, and smoke management systems) in buildings be enhanced to accommodate the greater risks associated with increasing building height and population, increased use of open spaces, high-risk building activities, fire department response limits, transient fuel loads, and higher threat profile.  The performance attributes should deal realistically with the system design basis, reliability of automatic/manual operations, redundancy, and reduction of vulnerabilities due to single point failures.  Affected Standards:  NFPA 13, NFPA 14, NFPA 20, NFPA 72, NFPA 90A, NFPA 92A, NFPA 92B, and NFPA 101.  Model Building Codes:  The performance standards should be adopted in model building codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 13.

NIST recommends that fire alarm and communications systems in buildings be developed to provide continuous, reliable, and accurate information on the status of life safety conditions at a level of detail sufficient to manage the evacuation process in building fire emergencies;  all communication and control paths in buildings need to be designed and installed to have the same resistance to failure and increased survivability above that specified in present standards.  This should include means to maintain communications with evacuating occupants that can both reassure them and redirect them if conditions change.  Pre-installed fire warden telephone systems can serve a useful purpose and may be installed in buildings and, if so, they should be made available for use by emergency responders.  All communication and control paths in buildings need to be designed and installed to have the same resistance to failure and increased survivability above that specified in present standards.  Affected Standards:  NFPA 1, NFPA 72, and NFPA 101.  Model Building and Fire Codes:  The performance standards should be adopted in model building and fire codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 14.

NIST recommends that control panels at fire/emergency command stations in buildings be adapted to accept and interpret a larger quantity of more reliable information from the active fire protection systems that provide tactical decision aids to fire ground commanders, including water flow rates from pressure and flow measurement devices, and that standards for their performance be developed.  Affected Standards:  NFPA 1, NFPA 72, and NFPA 101.  Model Building and Fire Codes:  The performance standards should be adopted in model building and fire codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 15.

NIST recommends that systems be developed and implemented for:  (1) real time off-site secure transmission of valuable information from fire alarm and other monitored building systems for use by emergency responders, at any location, to enhance situational awareness and response decisions, and maintain safe and efficient operation;*  and (2) preservation of that information either off-site, or in a black box that will survive a fire or other building failure, for purposes of subsequent investigations and analysis.  Standards for the performance of such systems should be developed, and their use should be required.  Affected Standards:  NFPA 1, NFPA 72, and NFPA 101.  Model Building and Fire Codes:  The performance standards should be adopted in model building and fire codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

[ * F-35  The alarm systems in the WTC towers were only capable of determining and displaying: (a) areas that had at some time reached alarm point conditions; and (b) areas that had not.  The quality and reliability of information available to emergency responders at the Fire Command Station was not sufficient to understand the fire conditions.  The only information transmitted outside the buildings was the fact that the buildings had gone into alarm.  Further, the fire alarm system in WTC Building 7, which was transmitted to a monitoring service, was on 'test mode' during the morning of 11 September 2001, because routine maintenance was being performed.  Under test mode conditions: (1) the system is typically disabled for the entire building, not just for the area where work is being performed; and (2) alarm signals typically do not show up on an operator console.]

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END

Tags: (1) the system is typically disabled for the entire building not just for the area where work is being performed, (2) alarm signals typically do not show up on an operator console, (a) areas that had at some time reached alarm point conditions and (b) areas that had not, 2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS, a completely arbitrary height threshold, a large truck runs into the side of a building, a requirement on Resistance to Disproportionate Damage in their national building codes, Accessibility-for-All, Accessible Fire Engineering, Active fire protection systems should be enhanced through improvements to the design performance reliability and redundancy of such systems, all communication and control paths in buildings need to be designed and installed to have the same resistance to failure, always remembering that every building comprises structure and fabric i.e. non-structure, and maintain safe and efficient operation, at a level of detail sufficient to manage the evacuation process in building fire emergencies, Built Environment, Client Organizations, Design of the works is exercised by an independent appropriately qualified and experienced architect/engineer/fire engineer, Disproportionate Damage, Dublin's Raglan House back in 1987, enhanced to accommodate the greater risks associated with increasing building height and population, fire alarms, fire department response limits, Fire Engineering Design, Fire Safety, fire-induced progressive collapse, for purposes of subsequent investigations and analysis, from the active fire protection systems that provide tactical decision aids to fire ground commanders, GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity - Recommendations 1 2 & 3 (out of 30), GROUP 2. Enhanced Fire Endurance of Structures - Recommendations 4 5 6 & 7, GROUP 3. New Methods for Fire Resisting Design of Structures - Recommendations 8 9 10 & 11, GROUP 4. Improved Active Fire Protection, high-risk building activities, higher threat profile, I have defined Disproportionate Damage ... and differentiated that structural concept from the related concept of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse, I would consider that adequately tying together the horizontal and vertical structural elements of a building, if Category C below is indicative of the design and construction quality on a particular building site, in a black box that will survive a fire or other building failure, including water flow rates from pressure and flow measurement devices, increased survivability above that specified in present standards, increased use of open spaces, independent of the construction organization(s), Installation/fitting of related construction products/systems is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel, Ireland, is a fundamental principle of good structural engineering, it is necessary to demonstrate that a building will remain structurally stable if a portion of the building's structure is removed, it should be expected that the Reliability of both Active Fire Protection Systems and Passive Fire Protection Measures will be initially low, Italy, just think of the Priory Hall Apartment Development in Dublin (!), means to maintain communications with evacuating occupants that can both reassure them and redirect them if conditions change, Milan's iconic Pirelli Tower in 2002, necessary to consider this requirement in the case of buildings having 5 Storeys, New York's Empire State Building way back in 1945, NFPA 1, NFPA 101, NFPA 13, NFPA 14, NFPA 20, NFPA 72, NFPA 90A, NFPA 92A, NFPA 92B, NIST recommends that control panels at fire/emergency command stations in buildings be adapted to accept and interpret a larger quantity of more reliable information, NIST recommends that fire alarm and communications systems in buildings be developed to provide continuous reliable and accurate information on the status of life safety conditions, NIST recommends that systems be developed and implemented for, NIST recommends that the performance and possibly the redundancy of active fire protection systems in buildings, NIST WTC Recommendation 12, NIST WTC Recommendation 13, NIST WTC Recommendation 14, NIST WTC Recommendation 15, NIST WTC Recommendations 12-15 > Improved Active Protection, NIST WTC Recommendations 4-7 - Structural Fire Endurance, NIST WTC Recommendations 8-11 > New Design of Structures, NIST's Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses, one of the design objectives in Ethical Fire Engineering, Pre-installed fire warden telephone systems can serve a useful purpose, preservation of that information either off-site, Quality of Fire Engineering Design & Related Construction, Raglan House collapsed ... the Pirelli Tower and the Empire State Building did not, real time off-site secure transmission of valuable information from fire alarm and other monitored building systems for use by emergency responders, reduction of vulnerabilities due to single point failures, redundancy, Regular inspections by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel familiar with the design, Reliability has always been an issue with Active Fire Protection Systems, Reliability Is Equally An Issue With Passive Fire Protection Measures, reliability of automatic/manual operations, should now - logically and rationally - also be incorporated into the fire engineering design of Active Fire Protection Systems, smoke management systems, sprinklers, standpipes/hoses, Supervision of the works is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel, Sustainable Fire Engineering, Technical Control of Design and Construction, The alarm systems in the WTC towers were only capable of determining and displaying, the concept of removing a portion of a building and it remaining structurally stable afterwards, the fire alarm system in WTC Building 7 which was transmiitted to a monitoring service was on 'test mode' during the morning of 11 September 2001, the necessary redundancy zoning and back-up alternative routing which must be designed into the system from the beginning, The performance attributes should deal realistically with the system design basis, the principal construction organization, the Safety Factors to be applied in calculating the level of satisfactory fire safety and protection which is provided in a specific project, the Safety Factors to be applied in the design should be high, The World Trade Center Towers were originally designed to absorb the impact of a large plane and to remain structurally stable afterwards, there is a gas explosion in some part of the building, This has implications for the location and adequate protection of critical system components in a building, This is why 9-11 should be regarded at its core as being a very serious 'real' fire incident, to enhance situational awareness and response decisions, to verify that the works are being executed in accordance with the fire engineering design, transient fuel loads, United States of America, what was not considered in the ambient structural design was 'fire', with construction competence relating to fire safety and protection in buildings, with design competence relating to fire safety and protection in buildings, with Life Cycle Reliability being entirely non-existent, with regard to actual construction

NIST WTC Recommendations 8-11 > New Design of Structures

Previous Posts in This Series …

2011-10-25:  NIST’s Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses … GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity – Recommendations 1, 2 & 3 (out of 30)

2011-11-18:  NIST WTC Recommendations 4-7 > Structural Fire Endurance … GROUP 2.  Enhanced Fire Endurance of Structures – Recommendations 4, 5, 6 & 7

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2011-11-24:  SOME PRELIMINARY COMMENTS …

  1.     The first of two NIST Publications being referenced in this Series of Posts is as follows …

NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).  September 2005.  Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster: Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers.  NIST NCSTAR 1.  Gaithersburg, MD, USA.

The 2005 NIST Report concludes, in Chapter 9, with a list of 30 Recommendations for Action, grouped together under the following 8 Subject Headings …

i)        Increased structural integrity ;

ii)       Enhanced fire endurance of structures ;

iii)      New methods for fire resisting design of structures ;

iv)      Enhanced active fire protection ;

v)       Improved building evacuation ;

vi)      Improved emergency response ;

vii)     Improved procedures and practices ;   and

viii)    Education and training.

NIST has clearly stated that “the numerical ordering (of the Recommendations) does not reflect any priority”.

From my point of view, the 2005 NIST Report is especially noteworthy for the emphasis placed on:

(a)     The 3 R’s … Reality – Reliability – Redundancy ;

(b)     Evacuation Way Finding … should be ‘intuitive and obvious’ … a major challenge for building designers, since buildings are still typically designed for ‘access’ only.  In order to find the evacuation routes in a building, it is usually necessary to have a compass, a map, a magnifying glass, a torch … and a prayer book !!!   More about this in later posts …

  2.     However, following on from NIST’s emphasis on Reality … and just between you, me and the World Wide Web … there is a lot of misunderstanding in the International Fire Science and Engineering Community about what exactly is the Realistic End Condition.  But, here it goes …

Realistic End Condition:  A ‘real’ fire in a ‘real’ building, which is used by ‘real’ people with varying abilities in relation to self-protection, independent evacuation to a ‘place of safety’, and participation in the Fire Defence Plan for the building.

It is strange, therefore … and quite unacceptable … to have to point out that the Realistic End Condition IS NOT … a test fire or an experimental fire in a laboratory … or a design fire in a computer model, even IF it is properly validated !

  3.     With regard to Recommendation 8 below … NIST’s contention that “Current methods for determining the fire resistance of structural assemblies do not explicitly specify a performance objective” is not strictly the case.

If we examine Technical Guidance Document B (Ireland) and Approved Document B (England & Wales) once again, as examples close to home … Part B: ‘Fire Safety’ in both jurisdictions should be read in conjunction with its associated Part A: ‘Structure’, which contains a requirement on Disproportionate Damage.

In everyday practice, however, this never happens.  Instead, people dealing with Part B in both jurisdictions enter a sort of bubble … a twilight zone … and, if there is anything to do with structural performance in fire, they immediately refer to the Appendices at the back of both Guidance Documents (ignoring Part A altogether) … where we find a ‘single element’ approach to design, no consideration of connections, etc., etc., etc.

And … this fundamental error is further reinforced in Ireland because, under the national system of Fire Safety Certification for buildings, it is only Part B which is relevant.

At European Level, I would make the same point … under EU Regulation 305/2011 on Construction Products … Basic Requirement for Construction Works 2: ‘Safety in Case of Fire’ must be read in conjunction with Basic Requirement 1: ‘Mechanical Resistance & Stability’ … where we will again find a direct reference to Disproportionate Damage … and an indirect, but explicit, reference to Serviceability Limit States under normal conditions of use … including fire !

A major gap … the missing link at international level … is the failure, still, to elaborate and flesh out the structural concept of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse.  More about this in later posts …

  4.     With regard to Recommendation 10 below … and amplifying my earlier comments concerning Recommendation 6 … the manufacturers of all Lightweight Structural Fire Protection Systems … not just the Sprayed Systems … have a lot to answer for.

Major question marks concerning Life Cycle Durability, and Resistance to Mechanical Damage at any stage in a building’s life cycle, hang over all of these systems.

Fire testing, alone, does not show that a Lightweight Structural Fire Protection System is ‘fit for its intended use’ !   And manufacturers well know this !!!

And as for the Installation of Lightweight Structural Fire Protection Systems on site … it’s a hornets’ nest that nobody wants to touch !

Vested interests … vested interests … vested interests !!!

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2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS

GROUP 3.  New Methods for Fire Resisting Design of Structures

The procedures and practices used in the fire resisting design of structures should be enhanced by requiring an objective that uncontrolled fires result in burnout without partial or global (total) collapse.  Performance-based methods are an alternative to prescriptive design methods.  This effort should include the development and evaluation of new fire resisting coating materials and technologies, and evaluation of the fire performance of conventional and high-performance structural materials.

NIST WTC Recommendation 8.

NIST recommends that the fire resistance of structures be enhanced by requiring a performance objective that uncontrolled building fires result in burnout without partial or global (total) collapse.  Such a provision should recognize that sprinklers could be compromised, non-operational, or non-existent.  Current methods for determining the fire resistance of structural assemblies do not explicitly specify a performance objective.  The rating resulting from current test methods indicates that the assembly (component or sub-system) continued to support its superimposed load (simulating a maximum load condition) during the test exposure without collapse.  Model Building Codes:  This Recommendation should be included in the national model building codes as an objective, and adopted as an integral pert of the fire resistance design for structures.  The issue of non-operational sprinklers could be addressed using the existing concept of Design Scenario 8 of NFPA 5000, where such compromise is assumed and the result is required to be acceptable to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).  Affected Standards:  ASCE-7, AISC Specifications, ACI 318, and ASCE/SFPE 29.

NIST WTC Recommendation 9.

NIST recommends the development of:  (1) performance-based standards and code provisions, as an alternative to current prescriptive design methods, to enable the design and retrofit of structures to resist real building fire conditions, including their ability to achieve the performance objective of burnout without structural or local fire collapse;  and (2) the tools, guidelines, and test methods necessary to evaluate the fire performance of the structure as a whole system.  Standards development organizations, including the American Institute of Steel Construction, have already begun developing performance-based provisions to consider the effects of fire in structural design.

This performance-based capability should include the development of, but not be limited to:

a.     Standard methodology, supported by performance criteria, analytical design tools, and practical design guidance;  related building standards and codes for fire resistance design and retrofit of structures, working through the consensus process for nationwide adoption;  comprehensive design rules and guidelines;  methodology for evaluating thermo-structural performance of structures;  and computational models and analysis procedures for use in routine design practice.

b.     Standard methodology for specifying multi-compartment, multi-floor fire scenarios for use in the design and analysis of structures to resist fires, accounting for building-specific conditions such as geometry, compartmentation, fuel load (e.g. building contents and any flammable fuels such as oil and gas), fire spread, and ventilation;  and methodology for rating the fire resistance of structural systems and barriers under realistic design-basis fire scenarios.

c.     Publicly available computational software to predict the effects of fires in buildings – developed, validated, and maintained through a national effort – for use in the design of fire protection systems and the analysis of building response to fires.  Improvements should include the fire behaviour and contribution of real combustibles;  the performance of openings, including door openings and window breakage, that controls the amount of oxygen available to support the growth and spread of fires and whether the fire is fuel-controlled or ventilation-controlled;  the floor-to-floor flame spread;  the temperature rise in both insulated and un-insulated structural members and fire barriers;  and the structural response of components, sub-systems, and the total building system due to the fire.

d.     Temperature-dependent thermal and mechanical property data for conventional and innovative construction materials.

e.     New test methods, together with associated conformance assessment criteria, to support the performance-based methods for fire resistance design and retrofit of structures.  The performance objective of burnout without collapse will require the development of standard fire exposures that differ from those currently used.

Affected National and International Standards:  ASCE-7, AISC Specifications, ACI 318, and ASCE/SFPE 29 for fire resistance design and retrofit of structures;  NFPA, SFPE, ASCE, and ISO TC92 SC4 for building-specific multi-compartment, multi-floor design basis fire scenarios;  and ASTM, NFPA, UL, and ISO for new test methods.  Model Building Codes:  The performance standards should be adopted as an alternative method in model building codes by mandatory reference to, or incorporation of, the latest edition of the standard.

NIST WTC Recommendation 10.

NIST recommends the development and evaluation of new fire resisting coating materials, systems, and technologies with significantly enhanced performance and durability to provide protection following major events.  This could include, for example, technologies with improved adhesion, double-layered materials, intumescent coatings, and more energy absorbing SFRM’s.*  Consideration should be given to pre-treatment of structural steel members with some type of mill-applied fire protection to minimize the uncertainties associated with field application and in-use damage.  If such an approach were feasible, only connections and any fire protection damaged during construction and fit-out would need to be field-treated.  Affected Standards:  Technical barriers, if any, to the introduction of new structural fire resisting materials, systems and technologies should be identified and eliminated in the AIA MasterSpec, AWCI Standard 12 and ASTM standards for field inspection, conformance criteria, and test methods.  Model Building Codes:  Technical barriers, if any, to the introduction of new structural fire resisting materials, systems, and technologies should be eliminated from the model building codes.

[ * F-34  Other possibilities include encapsulation of SFRM by highly elastic energy absorbing membranes or commodity grade carbon fibre or other wraps.  The membrane would remain intact under shock, vibration, and impact but may be compromised in a fire, yet allowing the SFRM to perform its thermal insulation function.  The carbon wrap would remain intact under shock, vibration, and impact, and possibly under fire conditions as well.]

NIST WTC Recommendation 11.

NIST recommends that the performance and suitability of advanced structural steels, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete, and other high-performance material systems be evaluated for use under conditions expected in building fires.  This evaluation should consider both presently available and new types of steels, concrete, and high-performance materials to establish the properties (e.g. yield and ultimate strength, modulus, creep behaviour, and failure) that are important for fire resistance, establish needed test protocols and acceptance criteria for such materials and systems, compare the performance of newer systems to conventional systems, and the cost-effectiveness of alternative approaches.  Technical and standards barriers to the introduction and use of such advanced steels, concrete, and other high-performance material systems should be identified and eliminated, or at least minimized, if they are found to exist.  Affected Standards:  AISC Specifications and ACI 318.  Technical barriers, if any, to the introduction of these advanced systems should be eliminated in ASTM E 119, NFPA 251, UL 263, ISO 834.  Model Building Codes:  Technical barriers, if any, to the introduction of these advanced systems should be eliminated from the model building codes.

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END

Tags: 2005 NIST WTC RECOMMENDATIONS, A 'real' fire in a 'real' building which is used by 'real' people with varying abilities, a major challenge for building designers, A major gap ... the missing link at international level, ability to achieve the performance objective of burnout without structural or local fire collapse, adopted as an integral pert of the fire resistance design for structures, AIA MasterSpec, AISC Specifications, American Institute of Steel Construction, an indirect but explicit reference to Fire Serviceability Limit States, an objective that uncontrolled fires result in burnout without partial or global (total) collapse, Approved Document B (England & Wales), as an alternative to current prescriptive design methods, ASCE, ASTM standards for field inspection conformance criteria and test methods, Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ), AWCI Standard 12, Basic Requirement for Construction Works 2: 'Safety in Case of Fire' must be read in conjunction with Basic Requirement 1: 'Mechanical Resistance & Stability', buildings are still typically designed for 'access' only, Built Environment, Client Organizations, computational models and analysis procedures for use in routine design practice, Consideration should be given to pre-treatment of structural steel members with some type of mill-applied fire protection, Current methods for determining the fire resistance of structural assemblies do not explicitly specify a performance objective, Design Scenario 8 of NFPA 5000, developing performance-based provisions to consider the effects of fire in structural design, Disproportionate Damage, Education and training, encapsulation of SFRM by highly elastic energy absorbing membranes or commodity grade carbon fibre or other wraps, England & Wales, Enhanced active fire protection, Enhanced fire endurance of structures, EU, EU Regulation 305/2011 on Construction Products, european union, Evacuation Way Finding ... should be 'intuitive and obvious', evaluation of the fire performance of conventional and high-performance structural materials, Federal Building and Fire Safety Investigation of the World Trade Center Disaster, Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Center Towers, Fire Engineering Design, Fire Safety, Fire testing alone does not show that a Lightweight Structural Fire Protection System is 'fit for its intended use' !, floor-to-floor flame spread, following on from NIST's emphasis on Reality, GROUP 1. Increased Structural Integrity - Recommendations 1 2 & 3 (out of 30), GROUP 2. Enhanced Fire Endurance of Structures - Recommendations 4 5 6 & 7, GROUP 3. New Methods for Fire Resisting Design of Structures, grouped together under the following 8 Subject Headings, if there is anything to do with structural performance in fire, Improved building evacuation, Improved emergency response, Improved procedures and practices, In order to find the evacuation routes in a building, Increased structural integrity, Installation of Lightweight Structural Fire Protection Systems on site, Ireland, ISO TC92 SC4, it is usually necessary to have a compass a map a magnifying glass a torch ... and a prayer book !!!, it's a hornets' nest that nobody wants to touch !, Life Cycle Durability, Lightweight Structural Fire Protection Systems, methodology for evaluating thermo-structural performance of structures, methodology for rating the fire resistance of structural systems and barriers under realistic design-basis fire scenarios, multi-compartment multi-floor fire scenarios for use in the design and analysis of structures to resist fires, national system of Fire Safety Certification for buildings, New methods for fire resisting design of structures, NFPA, NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology), NIST NCSTAR 1, NIST recommends that the fire resistance of structures be enhanced, NIST recommends that the performance and suitability of advanced structural steels, NIST recommends the development and evaluation of new fire resisting coating materials, NIST recommends the development of: (1) performance-based standards and code provisions, NIST WTC Recommendation 10, NIST WTC Recommendation 11, NIST WTC Recommendation 8, NIST WTC Recommendation 9, NIST WTC Recommendations 4-7 - Structural Fire Endurance, NIST WTC Recommendations 8-11 > New Design of Structures, NIST's Recommendations on the 9-11 WTC Building Collapses, no consideration of connections, only connections and any fire protection damaged during construction and fit-out would need to be field-treated, or a design fire in a computer model even IF it is properly validated, Part B: 'Fire Safety' in both jurisdictions should be read in conjunction with Part A: 'Structure', people dealing with Part B in both jurisdictions enter a sort of bubble ... a twilight zone, People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), Performance-based methods are an alternative to prescriptive design methods, Personnes à Performances Réduites (2001 WHO ICF), Publicly available computational software to predict the effects of fires in buildings, Realistic End Condition, reinforced and pre-stressed concrete and other high-performance material systems be evaluated for use under conditions expected in building fires, Resistance to Mechanical Damage at any stage in a building's life cycle, SFPE, should be identified and eliminated or at least minimized if they are found to exist, significantly enhanced performance and durability to provide protection following major events, Such a provision should recognize that sprinklers could be compromised, Sustainable Human & Social Development, Technical and standards barriers to the introduction and use of such advanced steels, Technical Control of Construction, Technical Guidance Document B (Ireland), technologies with improved adhesion double-layered materials intumescent coatings and more energy absorbing SFRM's, Temperature-dependent thermal and mechanical property data for conventional and innovative construction materials, The 2005 NIST Report concludes in Chapter 9 with a list of 30 Recommendations for Action, the 2005 NIST Report is especially noteworthy for the emphasis placed on, The 3 R's ... Reality - Reliability - Redundancy, the assembly (component or sub-system) continued to support its superimposed load (simulating a maximum load condition) during the test exposure without collapse, the development and evaluation of new fire resisting coating materials and technologies, the development of standard fire exposures that differ from those currently used, the failure still to elaborate and flesh out the structural concept of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse, The issue of non-operational sprinklers could be addressed, the numerical ordering (of the Recommendations) does not reflect any priority, The procedures and practices used in the fire resisting design of structures, The rating resulting from current test methods, the Realistic End Condition IS NOT ... a test fire or an experimental fire in a laboratory, the temperature rise in both insulated and un-insulated structural members and fire barriers, the tools guidelines and test methods necessary to evaluate the fire performance of the structure as a whole system, there is a lot of misunderstanding in the International Fire Science and Engineering Community, they are referred to the Appendices at the back of both Guidance Documents ... where we find a 'single element' approach to design, this fundamental error is further reinforced in Ireland, This Recommendation should be included in the national model building codes as an objective, to enable the design and retrofit of structures to resist real building fire conditions, to minimize the uncertainties associated with field application and in-use damage, to support the performance-based methods for fire resistance design and retrofit of structures, United States of America, varying abilities in relation to self-protection independent evacuation to a 'place of safety' and participation in the Fire Defence Plan for the building, Vested interests ... vested interests ... vested interests !!!, whether the fire is fuel-controlled or ventilation-controlled

Sustainable Fire Engineering – IABSE Lecture 1 December 2011

2011-11-14 …

On Thursday evening, 1st December 2011, at 19.00 hrs … in the Dublin Institute of Technology … I will present an IABSE-Ireland Sponsored Lecture on the subject: ‘Sustainable Fire Engineering IS THE FUTURE !’.

This Presentation has been in continuous development across a snaking international path … Dubayy (UAE) in 2008 … Lund (Sweden) and Bengaluru (India) in 2009 … Dilli (India), Zurich (Switzerland) and Dublin (Ireland) in 2010 … Paris (France), the IFE’s International Fire Conference in Cardiff (Wales) and the ASFP-Ireland Fire Seminar in 2011 … and on 1 December next, in Dublin, I will be introducing some tough new realities for fire engineering generally … not just in Ireland …

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IABSE Irish National Group Sponsored Lecture

Dublin Institute of Technology, Bolton Street – Michael O’Donnell Room (259)

Thursday, 1 December 2011 @ 19.00 hrs / 7.00 p.m.

CJ Walsh: Sustainable Fire Engineering IS THE FUTURE !  (Lecture Flyer, PDF File, 259 kb)

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The aim of Sustainable Fire Engineering is to realize a safe and sustainable built environment.

Responding ethically, in built and/or wrought form, to the still evolving concept of sustainable human and social development … a principal objective of Sustainable Fire Engineering is to design for maximum credible fire and user scenarios … in order to maintain a proper and satisfactory level of fire safety and protection over the full life cycle of, for example, a building … and for a Sustainable Building, that life cycle is 100 years minimum.

Sustainable Fire Engineering must, therefore, be ‘reliability-based’ & ‘person-centred’.

This presentation will examine the authentic language and meaning of sustainability … and will then track how this impacts on the professional practice of fire engineering.  Special mention will be made of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse.

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See you all there !   And I will be looking forward to a lot of challenging feedback on the night !!

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END

Tags: a principal objective of Sustainable Fire Engineering is to design for maximum credible fire and user scenarios, Accessibility-for-All, Accessible Fire Engineering, And I will be looking forward to a lot of challenging feedback on the night !!, and will then track how this impacts on the professional practice of fire engineering, Built Environment, CJ Walsh, Client Organizations, Dilli (India) Zurich (Switzerland) and Dublin (Ireland) in 2010, do building designers - including fire engineers - actually understand that the people who use their buildings are 'individuals' ... each having a different range of abilities, Dubayy (UAE) in 2008, Dublin Institute of Technology Bolton Street - Michael O'Donnell Room (259), EU, european union, Fire Engineering Design, Fire Safety, fire-induced progressive collapse, FireOx International, for a Sustainable Building that life cycle is 100 years minimum, France, human and social rights, I will be introducing some tough new realities for fire engineering generally ... not just in Ireland, IABSE Irish National Group Sponsored Lecture, IABSE-Ireland Sponsored Lecture on the subject: 'Sustainable Fire Engineering IS THE FUTURE !', Impact of 9-11 WTC Incident on People, in order to maintain a proper and satisfactory level of fire safety and protection over the full life cycle of a building, India, International Legal Instrument, Ireland, Lecture Flyer, Lund (Sweden) and Bengaluru (India) in 2009, On Thursday evening 1st December 2011 at 19.00 hrs ... in the Dublin Institute of Technology, Paris (France) the IFE's International Fire Conference in Cardiff (Wales) and the ASFP-Ireland Fire Seminar in 2011, Responding ethically in built and/or wrought form, Special mention will be made of Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse, Sustainability Implementation, Sustainable Fire Engineering - IABSE Lecture 1 December 2011, Sustainable Fire Engineering must be 'reliability-based' & 'person-centred', Sustainable Human & Social Development, Switzerland, Technical Control of Construction, The aim of Sustainable Fire Engineering is, the impact of witnessing the 9-11 WTC Incident in New York, the still evolving concept of sustainable human and social development, This Presentation has been in continuous development across a snaking international path, This presentation will examine the authentic language and meaning of sustainability, to realize a safe and sustainable built environment, Wales

‘Priory Hall’, Fire Engineering & Protecting Society’s Interests ??

2011-10-23:  Further to my post, dated 18 October 2011 …

Has anybody’s interests been protected by what has happened at the ‘Priory Hall’ Apartment Development, in Donaghmede, Dublin 13 ?   NO.

Now that the buildings there have been completed … will it be possible to effectively repair the most serious fire protection, sound transmission and energy conservation problems with the buildings ??   NO.

At the heart of these problems lie Fundamental Design and Construction Flaws … because, back in the 1990′s and early 2000′s, indigenous builders of simple two storey semi-detached houses suddenly became ‘developers’ of apartment complexes … and these were very different building animals altogether, requiring a degree of technical competence well beyond their reach.  And, of course, during the actual construction process everything had to be finished ‘yesterday’, and as cheaply as possible (a policy of cheap product substitution was the un-stated national norm !).  In fact, so many corners were cut on Irish Building Sites, at the time, that we should refer to almost the entire construction output from this era as: The Celtic Tiger Round Towers !

And guess who is going to carry out the Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works at ‘Priory Hall’ ?   The very same Construction Organization which created the mess in the first place !!   Can you believe it ??

Furthermore … once these Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works are eventually finished … the performance of the Fire Protection Measures in ‘Priory Hall’ will still be compromised, because you can only do so much, physically, when a building is completed.  BUT … it would be possible to achieve a Proper Level of Fire Safety in ‘Priory Hall’ … by installing a Fire Suppression System (sprinklers or mist) throughout the development.  That’s what it will take !!

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WHO IS PROTECTING SOCIETY ?

So extensive is the damage caused by fire … throughout Europe … that not all of the Direct and Indirect Fire Losses have yet been identified.

Pause, to consider this definition …

Environmental Impact:  Any effect caused by a given activity on the environment, including human health, safety and welfare, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems, climate, landscape and historical monuments or other physical structures, or the interactions among these factors; it also includes effects on accessibility, cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions resulting from alterations to those factors.

And this means, of course, that our current Fire Loss Data and Statistics are unreliable.

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It is not well known, or widely publicised, that the Fire Safety Objectives of Building Regulations are limited to protecting building occupants.  The Objectives are only concerned with protecting property, insofar as it is relevant to the protection of those building occupants.

Can you image the look of astonishment on the face of a Managing Director, after his/her factory has been entirely destroyed by a fire, when told by a fire consultant …

” We complied with Part B of the Building Regulations, and here is your Fire Safety Certificate to prove it”  ??

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What should be happening instead ?

     1.  Fire Engineering Design & Practice cannot … and must not … be concerned merely with the ‘cost-effective’ compliance with minimal (which they most certainly are !) Fire Safety Objectives mandated by Building Legislation.

     2.  To properly protect the interests of Society and Clients/Client Organizations … Fire Engineering Design & Practice must also take into account: Safety at Work Legislation; Rights, Equality & Anti-Discrimination Legislation; Environmental Impact Legislation; Public Procurement Legislation; Product Liability Legislation; etc., etc.

     3.  There is an evolving realization in Ethical Fire Engineering Design & Practice, however, that there is still a significant gap to be bridged.  There is no legislation (effective, or otherwise) yet in place, anywhere, which deals with such issues as …

• Resistance to Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse – as very strongly recommended in the 2005 & 2008 U.S. NIST Final Reports on the 9-11 World Trade Center Building 1, 2 & 7 Collapses ;
• Protection of Vulnerable Building Users in ‘Situations of Risk’ – as required, for example, by Article 11 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) ;
• Safety of Firefighters/Rescue Teams – as specified in Basic Requirement for Construction Works No.2, in Annex I of European Union Construction Product Regulation 305/2011 ;
• Adaptation to Climate Change and Severe Weather Events – the Developed World Economies appear to have no interest, whatsoever, in these issues ;
• Sustainable Human & Social Development !

     4.  We must clearly distinguish, therefore, between the Fire Safety Objectives of Building Regulations/Codes … and Project-Specific Fire Engineering Design Objectives.  This difference must be fully understood by the Fire Engineer himself/herself … and then, in all circumstances, properly explained to the Client/Client Organization.

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In designing a Building for conditions of fire, and its aftermath … which may take place at any time during the Life Cycle of that Building … Project-Specific Fire Engineering Design Objectives should cover the following spectrum of concerns … in order to properly protect the interests of Society and our Clients/Client Organizations …

  -   Protection of the Health & Safety of All Building Users … including People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), visitors to the building who may be unfamiliar with its layout, and contractors or product/service suppliers temporarily engaged in work or business transactions on the premises ;

  -   Protection of Property … including the building, its contents, and adjoining or adjacent properties … from loss or damage ;

  -   Protection of the Health & Safety of Firefighters, Rescue Teams & Other Emergency First Response Personnel ;

  -   Facility, Ease & Efficient Cost of Carrying Out Effective Reconstruction, Refurbishment or Repair Works after a Fire ;

  -   Sustainability of the Human Environment (social, built, virtual, economic, …) – including Fitness for Intended Use and Life Cycle Costing of fire engineering related products, components, systems, etc., fixed, installed or incorporated in the building ;

  -   Protection of the Natural Environment from Harm, i.e. Adverse Impacts.

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CRIMINAL RESPONSE TO 1981 DUBLIN STARDUST TRAGEDY !

As I write … a stampede has just commenced by the various Construction-Related Professional Institutes and Organizations … to demand closer independent monitoring of what is happening on Irish Building Sites.  Far too little … and definitely, far too late !   Back in the early 1990′s, everybody stood by … and co-operated with the installation of an entirely ineffective and dysfunctional system of National Building Control in Ireland … which, let us not forget, survives intact to this day … while, at the same time, the strong long-established and well-resourced Building Control Sections in Dublin and Cork were being quietly dismantled.

The Minister for the Environment, Community & Local Government, Mr. Phil Hogan T.D. … is also chirping in from his ivory tower !

Crocodile Tears !!

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Take a Fire Safety Certificate for a Building, for example …

With or Without Conditions … this document confirms that the Local Building Control/Fire Authority is satisfied that the Design Documentation for that building shows proper compliance with the Legal Requirements of Part B of the Irish Building Regulations.

Focus in on the relevant wording of a Fire Safety Certificate, which is as follows …

‘ … hereby certify that the works or building to which the application relates, will, if constructed in accordance with the plans, calculations, specifications and particulars submitted, comply with the requirements of Part B of the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations 1997 to 2008.’

Fire Safety Related Inspections of Construction Projects are not carried out by Competent Local Authority Personnel, or by Competent Independent Technical Controllers.  Therefore … a Fire Safety Certificate cannot give, and is not intended to give, any indication with regard to Fire Safety in the Completed Building.  The ‘Fire’ Establishment in Ireland knows full well that this is the situation !

Is this any sort of a reasonable, caring or competent response to the 1981 Stardust Discotheque Fire Tragedy in Dublin ??

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END

Tags: 'Priory Hall' Apartment Development in Donaghmede Dublin 13, 'Priory Hall' Fire Engineering & Protecting Society's Interests ??, ... and Project-Specific Fire Engineering Design Objectives, a Fire Safety Certificate cannot give and is not intended to give any indication with regard to Fire Safety in the Completed Building, a policy of cheap product substitution was the un-stated national norm !, a stampede has just commenced by the various Construction-Related Professional Institutes and Organizations, Adaptation to Climate Change and Severe Weather Events, after his/her factory has been entirely destroyed by a fire, also chirping in from his ivory tower, and co-operated with the installation of an entirely ineffective and dysfunctional system of National Building Control in Ireland, and must not ... be concerned merely with the 'cost-effective' compliance with minimal Fire Safety Objectives mandated by Building Legislation, Article 11 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as cheaply as possible, as very strongly Recommended in the 2005 & 2008 U.S. NIST Final Reports on the 9-11 World Trade Center Building 1 2 & 7 Collapses, At the heart of these problems lie Fundamental Design and Construction Flaws, at the same time the strong long-established and well-resourced Building Control Sections in Dublin and Cork were being quietly dismantled, back in the 1990's and early 2000's indigenous builders of simple two storey semi-detached houses suddenly became 'developers' of apartment complexes, Back in the early 1990's everybody stood by ..., Basic Requirement for Construction Works No.2 in Annex I of European Union Construction Product Regulation 305/2011, because you can only do so much physically when a building is completed, Built Environment, Can you image the look of astonishment on the face of a Managing Director, Client Organizations, Climate Change Adaptation, Competent Independent Technical Controllers, components systems etc. fixed installed or incorporated in the building, contractors or product/service suppliers temporarily engaged in work or business transactions on the premises, CRIMINAL RESPONSE TO 1981 DUBLIN STARDUST TRAGEDY !, Crocodile Tears !!, Developed World Economies appear to have no interest whatsoever in these issues, during the actual construction process everything had to be finished 'yesterday', Environmental Impact Legislation, EU, european union, Facility Ease & Efficient Cost of Carrying Out Effective Reconstruction Refurbishment or Repair Works after a Fire, Fire Engineering Design, Fire Engineering Design & Practice cannot ... and must not, Fire Engineering Design & Practice must also take account of Safety at Work Legislation, Fire Safety, Fire Safety Certificate for a Building, Fire Safety Related Inspections of Construction Projects are not carried out by Competent Local Authority Personnel, FireOx International, Fitness for Intended Use and Life Cycle Costing of fire engineering related products, Focus in on the relevant wording of a Fire Safety Certificate, guess who is going to carry out the Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works at 'Priory Hall' ?, human environment, if constructed in accordance with the plans calculations specifications and particulars submitted, In designing a building for conditions of fire and its aftermath, In order to properly protect the interests of Society and our Clients/Client Organizations, insofar as it is relevant to the protection of building occupants, International Legal Instrument, Ireland, Is this any sort of a reasonable caring or competent response to the 1981 Stardust Discotheque Fire Tragedy in Dublin ??, it would be possible to achieve a Proper Level of Fire Safety in 'Priory Hall' ... by installing a Fire Suppression System, not all of the Direct and Indirect Fire Losses have yet been identified, our Clients, our current Fire Loss Data and Statistics are unreliable, People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), Personnes à Performances Réduites (2001 WHO ICF), Product Liability Legislation, Protection of Property, Protection of the Health & Safety of All Building Users, Protection of the Health & Safety of Firefighters Rescue Teams & Other Emergency First Response Personnel, Protection of the Natural Environment from Harm i.e. Adverse Impacts, Protection of Vulnerable Building Users in 'Situations of Risk', Public Procurement Legislation, requiring a degree of technical competence well beyond their reach, Resistance to Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse, Rights Equality & Anti-Discrimination Legislation, Safety of Firefighters/Rescue Teams, So extensive is the damage caused by fire ... throughout Europe, so many corners were cut on Irish Building Sites at the time, Sustainability Implementation, Sustainability of the Human Environment (social - built - virtual - economic ...), Sustainable Fire Engineering, Sustainable Human & Social Development, Technical Control of Construction, The 'Fire' Establishment in Ireland knows full well that this is the situation !, the Design Documentation for that building shows proper compliance with the Legal Requirements of Part B of the Irish Building Regulations, the Fire Safety Objectives of Building Regulations are limited to protecting building occupants, The Minister for the Environment Community & Local Government Mr. Phil Hogan T.D., The Objectives are only concerned with protecting property, the performance of the Fire Protection Measures in 'Priory Hall' will still be compromised, The very same Construction Organization which created the mess in the first place !!, then in all circumstances properly explained to the client/client organization, There is an evolving realization in Ethical Fire Engineering Design & Practice, There is no legislation (effective or otherwise) yet in place anywhere which deals with such issues as ..., there is still a significant gap to be bridged, these were very different building animals altogether, This difference must be clearly understood by the Fire Engineer himself/herself, this document confirms that the Local Building Control/Fire Authority is satisfied, to demand closer independent monitoring of what is happening on Irish Building Sites, To properly protect the interests of Society and Clients/Client Organizations, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, visitors to the building who may be unfamiliar with its layout, We must distinguish between the Fire Safety Objectives of Building Regulations/Codes, we should refer to almost the entire construction output from this era as: The Celtic Tiger Round Towers, What should be happening instead ?, which may take place at any time during the Life Cycle of that Building, WHO IS PROTECTING SOCIETY ?, will it be possible to effectively repair the most serious fire protection sound transmission and energy conservation problems

Fixing ‘Priory Hall’ in Dublin – Practical Solutions Needed Now !

2011-10-18:  A large ‘can of worms’ has recently been opened in Ireland …

For the last few days, including today, I have been listening intently to Joe Duffy on the RTE Radio ‘Liveline’ Programme at lunchtime.  Joe is being very cautious because he cannot quite believe his ears … either about the unfolding harrowing events for occupants in ‘Priory Hall’, Donaghmede, Dublin 13 – a Private, Multi-Storey Apartment Development – or the tales and anecdotes about Irish Building Sites during the Celtic Tiger Years.

This will be of no consolation to anybody … but the big surprise, for me, is that there is so much public shock.  ‘Priory Hall’ is the Tip of the Iceberg !   Ireland’s current dysfunctional approach to the development of Our(!) Built Environment … has been designed (for want of a better word) in a chaotic, haphazard and malevolent way … to end up in exactly the sort of mess which we are all now witnessing in North County Dublin.

Just to be clear … what has been happening in the Irish Construction Industry, during the boom years, has been happening for twenty years all over the country … more precisely, since the introduction of Legal National Building Regulations, with NO Effective Building Control, in 1991 … and, before that again, in those parts of this jurisdiction, outside of the major urban areas having Legal Building Bye-Laws, and Effective Building Control, i.e. mandatory inspections by competent local authority personnel at the foundation level and drainage level of all building sites … and, depending on the type of project, occasional or frequent inspections above ground level.

[ 1991:  Statutory Instrument No.304 of 1991 - Building Control Act, 1990 (Commencement Order), 1991;  Statutory Instrument No.305 of 1991 - Building Control Regulations, 1991;  Statutory Instrument No.306 of 1991 - Building Regulations, 1991 ]

And the biggest joke of all … is that the sum of the many resources, both human and material, required to repair sub-standard construction throughout Ireland … will count as a positive contribution towards the economic indicator of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) !   FUBAR

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PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS NEEDED NOW

What I have not been hearing from the radio, or reading in the newspapers, is practical solutions.

Lest there be any doubt … this is one of the professional services we provide at Sustainable Design International !

So … how do we fix Priory Hall as the situation now presents itself … in such a way that, as soon as it is practicable, a satisfactory level of long-term safety, protection, convenience and comfort will be provided for the occupants of Priory Hall … and the social wellbeing of the local community, there, can be restored.

Afterwards … we can worry about who’s responsible, and about the reasons for the many ‘system’ failures in Ireland.

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FIXING ‘PRIORY HALL’ IN DUBLIN

The following list of practical suggestions … a simple roadmap … is addressed to the Owners and Occupants of Apartments in Priory Hall.

As they have a large vested interest in the problems of Priory Hall … either directly or indirectly … no assurances or undertakings should be accepted, on face value, from either Dublin City Council (DCC) or the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government (DECLG) … or their representatives.

     1.  Informed Consent of Apartment Owners and Occupants

Demand that the Informed Consent of the Owner/Occupant of an Apartment is required, in writing, before any necessary Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works are carried out …

Informed Consent:  Consent freely obtained – without threats or improper inducements – after appropriate disclosure to a person of relevant, adequate and easily assimilated information in a form and language understood by that person.

     2.  ‘As Constructed’ Drawings & Specification of Entire Development

If they exist … we’re on the way !   But, if they don’t exist … and they may not … demand that an ‘As Constructed’ Survey of the Entire Development be carried out immediately.

Demand to see a copy of the Detailed ‘As Constructed’ Drawings, and Specification, for the Entire Development.

CHECK the adequacy of the Detailed Drawings and Specification !

At this stage, remember … all of the emphasis must now be placed on actual construction … not on paperwork !   The ‘As Constructed’ Survey Drawings and Specification are only a means towards a satisfactory end … that’s all !!

     3.  Failures to Properly Comply with Current Building Regulation Requirements A to M (Second Schedule to Irish Building Regulations)

Demand to see a Detailed Schedule of the many failures to properly comply with current Building Regulation Requirements, i.e. Parts A to M in the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations, as amended.

Do not entertain, even for a moment, any discussion about past legal building regulation requirements, which were in force at the time of initial design or construction !

An important point to note !   The Guidance Texts in, for example, Technical Guidance Document B: ‘Fire Safety’ are merely that … GUIDANCE !   This guidance is not infallible … and in a few respects, is entirely inadequate … for example, when dealing with the structural performance of buildings during conditions of fire, and the ‘cooling phase’ immediately afterwards … and the fire evacuation of people with activity limitations, in which case the guidance actually ensures that fire evacuation is made extremely difficult, if not prevented altogether !

Do not be sucked in to any conversations about what is stated, or not stated, in the Technical Guidance Documents.  This is irrelevant.  The Law mandates proper compliance with the Requirements !

Some people may even attempt to quote from the Building Regulation Approved Documents for England & Wales.  Just tell them to take a long jump off a short pier … suggest Howth Harbour !

Become very, very suspicious whenever there is a use of, or reference to, the term ‘Substantial Compliance’ !!

CHECK the adequacy of this Detailed Schedule !   And … ensure that it is Comprehensive !!

     4.  The Necessary Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works

Demand to see Full Detailed Information, in the form of annotated drawings and descriptive texts, etc., etc … on the exact nature, timetable and phasing of all of the Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works which are necessary to effectively solve the serious problems in the Development.

Beware of decorative solutions, which look good to a superficial visual inspection in ambient conditions … but don’t actually solve anything !

CHECK the adequacy of this Full Detailed Information !

     5.  Independent Technical Control of Construction Works

Demand only Category A Construction Execution of the necessary Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works …

Category A Construction Execution:

(a)  Supervision of the works is exercised by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel from the principal construction organization ;

(b)  Regular inspections, by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel familiar with the design and independent of the construction organization(s) … and other vested interests … are carried out to verify that the works are being executed in accordance with the design.

Demand receipt of a clear undertaking, in writing, that this will be the case … before any Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works commence.

And remember these words from the 2005 Final Report of the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) on the 9-11 World Trade Center Tower Collapses …

” NIST urges state and local agencies to rigorously enforce building codes and standards since such enforcement is critical to ensure the expected level of safety.  Unless they are complied with, the best codes and standards cannot protect occupants, emergency responders, or buildings.”

CHECK the adequacy of the Proposed Method of Independent Technical Control during execution of the Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works !

     6.  Meeting & Discussion with Other Owners/Occupants

Do not act alone … meet the other Owners/Occupants, and discuss issues with them.  Share and collate all available information together.  Try to identify information gaps.  If you do not understand something … ask !

When, and only when, you are happy … signal your Informed Consent that works should commence.

     7.  Commencement of Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works

Visit the Construction Site Office regularly … to show that you are taking a keen interest in what is happening.  Keep your eyes and ears wide open.

Expect that you will not be permitted to just wander around the Site.  Construction Sites are one of the most hazardous ‘workplaces’ in this country !

CHECK the adequacy of the Independent Technical Control actually being undertaken.

Demand to be updated, regularly, and at the very least on the progress of Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works at your Apartment … in the Common Areas of your Block … and throughout the full extent of the Approach Routes to your Block Entrances and Exits.

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Advisory Note:  Should you, or the Residents’ Committee of your Building or Development, be concerned about any matter discussed in this Post … please contact C.J. Walsh  by e-mail: cjwalsh@sustainable-design.ie  or by phone: (01) 8386078 / +353 1 8386078.

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END  (for now, but to be continued soon !)

Tags: 'Priory Hall' is the Tip of the Iceberg !, 1. Informed Consent of Apartment Owners and Occupants, 2. 'As Constructed' Drawings & Specification of Entire Development, 2005 Final Report of the U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST) on the 9-11 World Trade Center Tower Collapses, 3. Failures to Properly Comply with Current Building Regulation Requirements A to M (Second Schedule to Irish Building Regulations), 4. The Necessary Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works, 5. Independent Technical Control of Construction Works, 6. Meeting & Discussion with Other Owners/Occupants, 7. Commencement of Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works, A large 'can of worms' has recently been opened in Ireland, a Private Multi-Storey Apartment Development, a satisfactory level of long-term safety protection convenience and comfort will be provided for the occupants of Priory Hall, As they have a large vested interest in the problems of Priory Hall ... either directly or indirectly, Become very very suspicious whenever there is a use of or reference to the term 'Substantial Compliance' !!, before any necessary Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works are carried out, Beware of decorative solutions which look good to a superficial visual inspection in ambient conditions ... but don't actually solve anything, Building Regulation Approved Documents for England and Wales, Built Environment, CHECK the adequacy of the Detailed Drawings and Specification, CHECK the adequacy of the Independent Technical Control actually being undertaken, CHECK the adequacy of the Proposed Method of Independent Technical Control during execution of the Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works, CHECK the adequacy of this Detailed Schedule ... ensure that it is Comprehensive, CHECK the adequacy of this Full Detailed Information, Client Organizations, Construction Sites are one of the most hazardous 'workplaces' in this country, Demand only Category A Construction Execution of the necessary Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works, demand that an 'As Constructed' Survey of the Entire Development be carried out immediately, Demand that the Informed Consent of the Owner/Occupant of an Apartment is required in writing, Demand to be updated regularly, Demand to see a Detailed Schedule of the many failures to properly comply with current Building Regulation Requirements, Demand to see Full Detailed Information in the form of annotated drawings and descriptive texts, Department of the Environment Community and Local Government (DECLG), depending on the type of project occasional or frequent inspections above ground level, Do not act alone ... meet the other Owners/Occupants and discuss issues with them, Dublin City Council (DCC), Energy Performance of Buildings, fire evacuation of people with activity limitations, Fire Safety, fire service support infrastructure, FIXING 'PRIORY HALL' IN DUBLIN, Fixing 'Priory Hall' in Dublin - Practical Solutions Needed Now !, FUBAR, has been designed (for want of a better word) in a chaotic haphazard and malevolent way, has been happening for twenty years all over the country, how do we fix Priory Hall as the situation now presents itself, I have been listening intently to Joe Duffy, Ireland, Ireland's current dysfunctional approach to the development of Our(!) Built Environment, Joe Duffy on the RTE Radio 'Liveline' Programme at lunchtime, Joe is being very cautious because he cannot quite believe his ears, mandatory inspections by competent local authority personnel at the foundation level and drainage level of all building sites, necessary to effectively solve the serious problems in the Development, no assurances or undertakings should be accepted on face value, outside of the major urban areas having Legal Building Bye-Laws and Effective Building Control, Parts A to M in the Second Schedule to the Building Regulations as amended, People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), Personnes à Performances Réduites (2001 WHO ICF), PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS NEEDED NOW, Share and collate all available information together, since the introduction of Legal National Building Regulations with NO Effective Building Control in 1991, Structural Fire Engineering, Sustainable Design International, Technical Control of Construction, the big surprise for me is that there is so much public shock, the biggest joke of all, the Common Areas of your Block, the exact nature timetable and phasing of all of the Corrective/Repair/Refurbishment Works, The following list of practical suggestions is addressed to the Owners and Occupants of Apartments in Priory Hall, The Guidance Texts in Technical Guidance Document B: 'Fire Safety' are merely that ... GUIDANCE, the social wellbeing of the local community there can be restored, the structural performance of buildings during conditions of fire and the 'cooling phase' immediately afterwards, the sum of the many resources both human and material required to repair sub-standard construction throughout Ireland, the tales and anecdotes about Irish Building Sites during the Celtic Tiger Years, the unfolding harrowing events for occupants in 'Priory Hall' Donaghmede Dublin 13, This guidance is not infallible ... and in a few respects is entirely inadequate, this is one of the professional services we provide at Sustainable Design International, throughout the full extent of the Approach Routes to your Block Entrances and Exits, to end up in exactly the sort of mess which we are all now witnessing in North County Dublin, United States of America, Visit the Construction Site Office regularly, what has been happening in the Irish Construction Industry during the boom years, will count as a positive contribution towards the economic indicator of GDP (Gross Domestic Product)

Public Procurement & ‘Design for All’ – It’s Crunch Time, Folks !

2011-10-12 & 2011-10-17:  Close your eyes … and imagine, for a split second, the value and material extent of all the Public Procurement Contracts being tendered for and awarded each week, throughout Europe.  ‘Enormous’ is the only appropriate word which must spring to your mind !   If you don’t believe me, check out the statistics for yourself !!   And that value is going to keep increasing !!!

The European Commission has recently proposed that suitable instruments be developed which will permit the operation of the Accessibility / Design for All Requirements in EU Public Procurement Directives to commence, with full effect.  This process is proving to be problematic … and it is certainly not as open and transparent as it should be.

Leaving aside the utilities sectors (water, energy, transport and postal services) … recall that EU Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 31 March 2004, on the Co-Ordination of Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts, Public Supply Contracts and Public Service Contracts had to be implemented, at national level in all of the EU Member States, no later than 31 January 2006.  This Directive was amended, in a minor way, by Directives 2005/51/EC and 2005/75/EC.  In spite of these amendments, 31 January 2006 remained the target date for national implementation.

[ Ireland's national implementing legislation ... European Communities (Award of Public Authorities' Contracts) Regulations 2006 ... came into operation on 22 June 2006.]

In addition, each Member State had to ensure that Directive 2004/18/EC was properly implemented by using effective, available and transparent Monitoring Mechanisms.

With regard to specific rules governing specifications and contract documents … Article 23.1 of Directive 2004/18/EC stated, and still does state …

‘ The technical specifications as defined in point 1 of Annex VI shall be set out in the contract documentation, such as contract notices, contract documents or additional documents.  Whenever possible these technical specifications should be defined so as to take into account accessibility criteria for people with disabilities or design for all users.’

Not the strongest possible language to encourage ‘accessibility’ … there’s nothing quite like a shall to concentrate minds !

[ However, in Ireland ... with regard to the same specific rules governing specifications and contract documents ... Section 23 (2) of the European Communities (Award of Public Authorities' Contracts) Regulations 2006 states ...

' In awarding a public contract, a contracting authority shall, as far as practicable, ensure that the technical specifications for the contract take account of the need to prescribe accessibility criteria for all persons who are likely to use the relevant works, products or service, particularly those who have disabilities.' ]

As already discussed in my post, dated 2 November 2010 … many people in the European Union Institutions would prefer to steer completely away from the Social Aspects of Sustainable Human and Social Development … fuzzy areas, not capable of easy quantification … leaving small, peripheral groups in the Institutions (neither well connected to the mainstream, nor fully aware of the ‘ins’ and ‘outs’ of that mainstream) to look after the Social Aspects.

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Public Procurement in the European Union (EU)

The Award of Public Works Contracts, Public Supply Contracts and Public Service Contracts concluded in the EU Member States on behalf of State, Regional or Local Authorities and other bodies governed by public law entities, is subject to the respect of Principles enshrined in the EU Treaties and, in particular, to …

• the principle of freedom of movement of goods ;
• the principle of freedom of establishment ;
• the principle of freedom to provide services ;   and
• the principles deriving therefrom, such as the principle of equal treatment, the principle of non-discrimination, the principle of mutual recognition, the principle of proportionality and the principle of transparency.

For Public Contracts Above A Certain Value … it has been deemed necessary to draw up provisions of Community Co-Ordination of National Procedures for the award of such contracts, which are based on these principles so as to ensure the effects of them and to guarantee the opening-up of public procurement to competition.

- Adapted from Preamble Paragraph #2, EU Directive 2004/18/EC

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Is Europe Serious about Implementing the Public Procurement Accessibility / Design for All Requirements ?

Before looking at how Accessibility / Design for All is being handled within the fast evolving European Public Procurement Framework … it is sobering to compare and contrast how DG Environment (ENV), in the European Commission, is promoting and actively supporting Green Public Procurement, i.e. Public Procurement which is environment-friendly … http://ec.europa.eu/environment/gpp/index_en.htm … no messing about there !

If we (speaking as a European) are serious, therefore, about the ‘real’ implementation of Accessibility for All / Design for All / Inclusive Design / Universal Design / Barrier-Free Design in the Built Environment … it is of fundamental importance that an easily assimilated Standard (as defined in Paragraph #2, ANNEX VI of Directive 2004/18/EC) be produced ‘on the table’ for reference by Public Contracting Authorities … NOW !!!

Built Environment:  Anywhere there is, or has been, a man-made or wrought (worked) intervention in the natural environment, e.g. cities, towns, villages, rural settlements, service utilities, transport systems, roads, bridges, tunnels, and cultivated lands, lakes, rivers, coasts, and seas, etc … including the Virtual Environment.

Virtual Environment:  A designed environment, electronically generated from within the built environment, which may have the appearance, form, functionality and impact – to the  person perceiving and actually experiencing it – of a real, imagined and/or utopian world.

The Built and Virtual Environments continue to merge into a new Augmented Reality.

A comprehensive document capable of answering a major portion of Europe’s current needs in this area is on the verge of being published as a full International Standard … ISO 21542: ‘Building Construction – Accessibility & Usability of the Built Environment’.  And … as is the case with hundreds of ISO Standards in other sectors, this standard could easily be approved by CEN, one of Europe’s Standards Organisations, as an EN (European Standard) … under the Vienna Agreement on Technical Co-Operation between ISO and CEN, which was confirmed by both organizations in 2001 … and the period to practical application of ISO 21542 on the ground would be relatively swift.

Every delay represents not only a precious opportunity missed to improve the Accessibility of the Built Environment … but another blatant Denial of Human and Social Rights to vulnerable groups of people in all our communities !

Yes, this document was badly managed at the beginning of its very long gestation period, and its contents were a bit of a mess for the first few years … AND European countries were indignant, then, at the prospect of it becoming a European Standard.  However, walking around any major city in any country in Europe today, and witnessing the universally appalling and miserable efforts at Accessibility Implementation … you would have to be outraged at the level of hypocrisy and blatant self-delusion practiced by Europeans !

BUT NOW … ISO FDIS 21542 … the Final Draft of the International Standard which was issued for voting, beginning on 22 September 2011 … is a very respectable looking document altogether.  It makes important statements about ‘creating a sustainable built environment which is accessible’.  Its purpose is ‘to define how the built environment should be designed, constructed and managed to enable people to approach, enter, use, egress from and evacuate a building independently, in an equitable and dignified manner and to the greatest extent possible’ … ‘principles which are supported by Preamble (g) and Articles 9, 10 and 11 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’.  I could go on, and on … but I will resist the temptation, since I was heavily involved in the development of this ISO Standard !

The point is … there is no longer any reason for European countries to complain about the inadequacy of this International Standard … and it should be the preferred instrument of choice to facilitate the immediate operation of the Accessibility / Design for All Requirements in EU Public Procurement Directive 2004/18/EC.

Unfortunately, this may not happen !

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Years too late, near the end of 2007 … DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion (EMPL), in the European Commission, issued the following Mandate …

M/420 EN – Brussels, 21 December 2007

Standardization Mandate 420 to CEN, CENELEC and ETSI in Support of European Accessibility Requirements for Public Procurement in the Built Environment

Click the Link Above to read and/or download PDF File (67.4 kb)

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This Mandate covers 2 Phases of Work.  Phase I deals with compiling an inventory of existing accessibility-related standards and an analysis of any gaps … as well as with issues of accessibility implementation monitoring and conformity assessment.  Phase II is the actual accessibility standard(s) development phase.

However … Mandate M/420 EN is a flawed document, and it should have received much closer scrutiny from the European Standards Organizations named in the document title … before any work in Phase I commenced.  Failing that … the first work item on the Phase I Agenda should certainly have been a critical examination of the mandate.

In a post, dated 15 January 2011 … I wrote …

” The European Union’s Accessibility Strategy, related Policies and Programmes … and the monitoring, targeting and independent verification of Accessibility Implementation … all require a radical overhaul !

All those Officials in the European Commission who are involved, in any way, shape or form, with Accessibility of the ‘Human Environment’ would do well to RE-READ AND MEDITATE DEEPLY on the contents of the 2003 Final Report from the Group of Accessibility Experts, which was established by the European Commission itself … “

The Final Report from the 2003 EU Group of Accessibility Experts, of which I was a Member, can be downloaded towards the end of that post.

The Officials who drafted Commission Mandate M/420 EN paid little, if any, attention to that 2003 Expert Group Report.

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At the end of Phase I … in response to the European Commission’s Mandate M/420 EN … a long, rambling CEN Joint Report (document ref. CEN/BT/WG 207 N 29) of 425 Pages was issued, dated 8 August 2011, for general discussion and comment.

Some Comments on the CEN Joint Report …

1.  Terminology

CEN Joint Report – CEN/BT/WG 207 N 29

3.4     Conclusions View, Findings and Recommendations

3.4.1  Overview

Terms such as ‘procurement’, ‘inclusion’, ‘accessibility’ and ‘compliance’ are difficult to define precisely, and they are often not fully understood by those responsible for managing or providing the products or environments people use.  They are also not readily understood by those administrating and triggering the procurement process.

It is strange, therefore … and unacceptable … that this Report does not attempt to reduce and/or remove the ambiguity surrounding these terms … by providing a clear definition, with a supporting explanatory text, for each of the terms listed above.

I’m not even sure that the large numbers of people who helped to draft the CEN Joint Report fully understand those terms !

Most importantly, the Report is not at all precise about … and in fact appears to be completely confused by … the clear distinction which must be made between ‘accessibility’ and ‘access’.

2.  ‘Accessibility’ & UN CRPD

Accessibility does not begin and end with Article 9 of the United Nations 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) !!!   See my post, dated 15 January 2011 … and #6 below.

3.  EU Ratification of UN CRPD

The full implications arising from European Union (EU) Ratification, on 23 December 2010, of the United Nations 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) … for both EU Institutions, and the EU Member States (whether or not they have individually ratified the UN Convention) … have not been properly examined in the CEN Joint Report.

See my post, dated 5 February 2011 .

4.  Mainstreaming ‘Accessibility’

For the majority of people involved in the spatial planning, design and development of the European Built Environment, Accessibility is all about transport issues … for example, how far a proposed new building is from a transportation node.

We are communicating such a confused message (is it Accessibility for All, Design for All, Inclusive Design, Universal Design, or Barrier-Free Design ?) … that many policy and decision makers just could not be bothered.  And who, in Europe, is really concerned with the quality of Accessibility Implementation ???

In addition … the CEN Joint Report neglected to deal adequately … or at all … with a major body of EU Legislation which has been implemented at national level, in the Member States, many years ago … Safety at Work Legislation !   All of the EU Directives require that workplaces be accessible.  Yet, I know for a fact that, in Ireland, the Health & Safety Authority (HSA) is doing absolutely nothing to check whether this requirement is being complied with or not.

A Sustainable Built Environment is Accessible for All !   So many different types of International/European/National Legislation mandate that the Built Environment shall be Accessible for All !!   Good Design demands that the Built Environment is Accessible for All !!!

So why is Accessibility not being properly integrated into the operation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Legislation ?

Environmental Impact:  Any effect caused by a given activity on the environment, including human health, safety and welfare, flora, fauna, soil, air, water, and especially representative samples of natural ecosystems, climate, landscape and historical monuments or other physical structures, or the interactions among these factors; it also includes effects on accessibility, cultural heritage or socio-economic conditions resulting from alterations to those factors.

No case need be made for the integration of Accessibility into Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) … it self-evidently must be !

Sustainability Impact Assessment:  A continual evaluation and optimization process – informing initial decision-making, or design, and shaping activity/product/service realization, useful life and termination, or final disposal – of the interrelated positive and negative social, environmental, economic, institutional, political and legal impacts on balanced and equitable implementation of Sustainable Human and Social Development.

5.  What Is The Overriding European Social Priority ?

The overriding European Social Priority is to commence operation, with full effect, of the Accessibility / Design for All Requirements within the fast evolving European Public Procurement Framework … as quickly as possible.

Do we have to wait another 2 or 3 years, at least, for the production of an ‘acceptable’ European Accessibility Standard ??   Instead, why not approve ISO 21542 as the European Standard when it is published as a full standard … which will be very soon ?   ISO 21542 is already being used as the benchmark in the CEN Joint Report !

AND … do we have to wait, for who knows how long … before Effective Monitoring Procedures … and Independent Verification Procedures … are put in place at European and National/Regional/Local Levels ???

Quality of European Accessibility Implementation … is critical !

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2011-10-17 …

6.  Post UN CRPD – A More Demanding Scope & Quality of Implementation

Not unexpected … but it has still been a most enlightening experience to read the recent UN CRPD Committee Report on Spain … selected extracts from which are reproduced below.  The language used by the Committee is strong and direct … finally !

This is not a good report and, in places, it makes for unpleasant reading … a concrete example of the ‘hypocrisy and blatant self-delusion practiced by Europeans’, which I talked about earlier.

In accordance with Article 36.3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) … the UN Secretary-General will be making this Report available to all States Parties.

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United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Sixth Session – 19 to 23 September 2011

Concluding Observations on Initial Report of Spain

(Article 35 of UN CRPD)

The Committee considered the initial report of Spain (CRPD/C/ESP/1) at its 56th and 57th meetings, held on 20 September 2011, and adopted the following concluding observations at its 62nd meeting, held on 23 September 2011.

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III.  Principal Areas of Concern & Recommendations

A.  General Principles & Obligations (Articles 1 & 4)

11.  The Committee takes note of the adoption of Act 26/2011 which introduces the concept of ‘person with disabilities’ as defined in the Convention and expands the protection of persons with disabilities.  However, it is concerned that not all persons with disabilities are covered by the law.

12.  The Committee urges the State Party to ensure that all persons with disabilities enjoy protection against discrimination and have access to equal opportunities irrespective of their level of disability.

13.  The Committee welcomes Act 49/2007, dated 26 December 2007, establishing the Permanent Specialized Office to deal with offences and sanctions in equal opportunities, non-discrimination and universal accessibility by persons with disabilities.  However, it is concerned by the slow development and lack of promotion of this arbitration system at the regional government level; by the lack of information on the number of sanctions submitted and resolved; and by the failure of the State Party to report on actions undertaken to implement this law.  The Committee is concerned about the overall effectiveness of the system.

14.  The Committee recommends that the State Party raise awareness among persons with disabilities about the system of arbitration; increase the level of free legal aid; and ensure the regulation of offences and sanctions at the regional government level.

15.  The Committee regrets the lack of information on the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations at the regional level in designing, and evaluating the implementation of legislation, policy and decision-making processes; and the participation of children with disabilities at all levels.

16.  The Committee recommends that the State Party take specific measures to: ensure the active participation of persons with disabilities in public decision-making processes at the regional level; and to include children with disabilities at all levels.

17.  The Committee takes note of Act 2/2010 of 3 March 2010 on sexual and reproductive health decriminalizing voluntary termination of pregnancy, allowing  pregnancy to be terminated up to 14 weeks and including two specific cases in which abortion is allowed for longer time limits due to the fact that the foetus has a disability:  until 22 weeks of gestation, provided there is ‘a risk of serious anomalies in the foetus’, and beyond week 22 when, inter alia, ‘an extremely serious and incurable illness is detected in the foetus’.  It also notes the explanations provided by the State Party for maintaining this distinction.

18.  The Committee recommends that the State Party abolish the distinction made in Act 2/2010 in the period allowed under law within which a pregnancy can be terminated, based solely on disability.

B. Specific Rights (Articles 5-30)

Equality and non-discrimination (Article 5)

19.  The Committee welcomes the adoption of Act 26/2011 amending regulations which will abolish the need to have a disability certificate to bring a discrimination claim before a judicial body.  However, it regrets the lack of information on cases of discrimination, and it is concerned that persons with disabilities will still be marginalized.  The Committee is further concerned by the lack of information on reasonable accommodation.  It is also concerned that in practice disability affects parents’ guardianship or custody of their children and that legal protection against discrimination on the grounds of disability is not enforceable in cases of discrimination due to perceived disability or association with a person with a disability.

20.  The Committee urges the State Party to expand the protection of discrimination on the grounds of disability to explicitly cover multiple disability, perceived disability and association with a person with a disability, and to ensure the protection from denial of reasonable accommodation, as a form of discrimination, regardless of the level of disability.  Moreover guidance, awareness raising and training should be given to ensure a better comprehension by all stakeholders, including persons with disabilities, of the concept of reasonable accommodation and prevention of discrimination.

Article 8 – Awareness-Raising

25.  The Committee commends the many initiatives taken by the State Party to implement the Convention.  However, it notes that more needs to be done to increase awareness in society, in the media and amongst persons with disabilities themselves of the right of persons with disabilities.

26.  The Committee calls upon the State Party to take proactive measures to enhance awareness of the Convention and its Optional Protocol at all levels, in particular among the judiciary and the legal profession, political parties, Parliament and Government officials, civil society, media, persons with disabilities, as well as the general public.

Article 9 – Accessibility

27.  The Committee takes note that Act 26/2011 amends regulations which will shorten the timelines for meeting accessibility requirements in public facilities; and goods and services available to the public.  However, it remains concerned at the low level of compliance with these requirements, in particular, at regional and local levels, in the private sector, and in relation to existing facilities.  The Committee is aware of situations of discrimination faced by air passengers with disabilities, including situations of denial of boarding.  The Committee reminds the State Party that Article 9 of the Convention also demands access to information and communication.

28.  The Committee recommends that sufficient financial and human resources be allocated as soon as possible to implement, promote and monitor compliance with accessibility legislation through national measures as well as through international cooperation.

Article 11 – Situations of Risk & Humanitarian Emergencies

31.  The Committee is concerned at the insufficiency of specific protocols for persons with disabilities in emergency situations.

32.  The Committee calls upon the State Party to review its laws and policies related to emergency situations with a view to including provisions guaranteeing the security and protection of persons with disabilities.

[ My Comment:  This is a gross understatement of a serious problem which continues to fester not only in Spain but, more generally, in Europe ! ]

Article 19 – Living Independently & Being Included in the Community

39.  The Committee is concerned at the lack of resources and services to guarantee the right to live independently and to be included in the community, in particular in rural areas.  It is further concerned that the choice of residence of persons with disabilities is limited by the availability of the necessary services, and that those living in residential institutions are reported to have no alternative to institutionalization.  Finally, the Committee is concerned about linking eligibility of social services to a specific grade of disability.

40.  The Committee encourages the State Party to ensure that an adequate level of funding is made available to effectively enable persons with disabilities to: enjoy the freedom to choose their residence on an equal basis with others; access a full range of in-home, residential and other community services for daily life, including personal assistance; and to enjoy reasonable accommodation so as to better integrate into their communities.

41.  The Committee is concerned that the law for the promotion of autonomy limits the resources to hire personal assistants only to those persons who have level 3 disabilities and only for education and work.

42.  The Committee encourages the State Party to expand resources for personal assistants for all persons with disabilities in accordance with their requirements.

Article 24 – Education

43.  The Committee welcomes the fact that the principle of inclusion governs the schooling of pupils with special educational needs; that discrimination in education is prohibited; and that most children with disabilities are included in the regular education system.  It commends the enactment of Organic Act 2/2006 on Education, which obliges the education authorities to provide specialist teachers, qualified professionals and the necessary materials and resources, as well as the laws that oblige schools to make necessary curricular adjustments and diversifications for pupils with disabilities.  However, the Committee is concerned by the implementation of these laws in practice, in view of reported cases of failure to provide reasonable accommodation, of continued segregation and exclusion, of financial arguments used as justification for discrimination, and of the cases of children enrolled in special education against their parents’ will.  The Committee notes with concern that parents challenging the placement of their children with disabilities in special education have no possibility of appeal and that their only alternative is to educate them at their own expense or pay for the reasonable accommodation of their child in the regular education system.

44.  The Committee reiterates that denial of reasonable accommodation constitutes discrimination and the duty to provide reasonable accommodation is immediately applicable and not subject to progressive realisation.  It recommends the State Party to:

     (a)  Increase its efforts to provide reasonable accommodation in education, allocating sufficient financial and human resources to implement the right to inclusive education; paying particular attention to assessing the availability of teachers with specialist qualifications; and ensuring that educational departments of local governments understand their obligations under the Convention and act in conformity with its provisions ;

     (b)  Ensure that the decisions to place children with a disability in a special school or in special classes, or to offer them solely a reduced standard curriculum, are taken in consultation with the parents ;

     (c)  Ensure that the parents of children with disabilities are not obliged to pay for the education or for the measures of reasonable accommodation in mainstream schools ;

     (d)  Ensure that decisions on placing children in segregated settings can be appealed swiftly and effectively.

C.  Specific Obligations (Articles 31-33)

Statistics and data collection (Article 31)

49.  The Committee regrets the low level of disaggregated data on persons with disabilities.  The Committee recalls that such information is indispensable to: understanding the situations of specific groups of persons with disabilities in the State Party who may be subject to varying degrees of vulnerability; developing laws, policies and programmes adapted to their situations; and assessing the implementation of the Convention.

50.  The Committee recommends that the State party systematize the collection, analysis and dissemination of data, disaggregated by sex, age and disability; enhance capacity building in this regard; and develop gender-sensitive indicators to support legislative developments, policymaking and institutional strengthening for monitoring and reporting on progress made with regard to the implementation of the various provisions of the Convention.

51.  The Committee regrets that the situation of children with disabilities is not reflected in the data on the protection of children.

52.  The Committee recommends that the State Party systematically collect, analyse and disseminate data, disaggregated by sex, age and disability, on abuse and violence against children.

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END

Tags: 'Accessibility' & UN CRPD, 'Enormous' is the only appropriate word which must spring to your mind !, 2003 Final Report from the Group of Accessibility Experts, A comprehensive document capable of answering a major portion of Europe's current needs in this area is on the verge of being published as a full International Standard, a contracting authority shall, A Sustainable Built Environment is Accessible for All, A. General Principles and Obligations (Articles 1 & 4), accessibility criteria for all persons who are likely to use the relevant works products or service particularly those who have disabilities, accessibility criteria for people with disabilities or design for all users, Accessibility does not begin and end with Article 9 of the United Nations 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Accessibility for All / Design for All / Inclusive Design / Universal Design / Barrier-Free Design in the Built Environment, Accessibility of buildings for people with disabilities, Accessible Fire Engineering, Adapted from Preamble Paragraph #2 EU Directive 2004/18/EC, All of the EU Directives require that workplaces be accessible, all require a radical overhaul, And that value is going to keep increasing !!!, and the monitoring targeting and independent verification of Accessibility Implementation, another blatant Denial of Human and Social Rights to vulnerable groups of people in all our communities, Article 23.1 of Directive 2004/18/EC stated, Article 35 of UN CRPD, Article 36.3 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as defined in Paragraph #2 ANNEX VI of Directive 2004/18/EC, as is the case with hundreds of ISO Standards in other sectors this standard could easily be approved by CEN as an EN (European Standard), B. Specific Rights (Articles 5-30), Built Environment, C. Specific Obligations (Articles 31-33), CJ Walsh, Client Organizations, Community Co-Ordination of National Procedures for the award of such contracts, Concluding Observations on Initial Report of Spain, creating a sustainable built environment which is accessible, DG Employment Social Affairs & Inclusion (EMPL) in the European Commission, Do we have to wait another 2 or 3 years at least for the production of an 'acceptable' European Accessibility Standard ??, Effective Monitoring Procedures, Environmental Impact, EU, EU Directive 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on the Co-Ordination of Procedures for the Award of Public Works Contracts Public Supply Contracts and Public Ser, EU Ratification of UN CRPD, European Commission has recently proposed that suitable instruments be developed, european union, Every delay represents not only a precious opportunity missed to improve the Accessibility of the Built Environment, Fire Safety, For Public Contracts Above A Certain Value, fuzzy areas not capable of easy quantification, Good Design demands that the Built Environment is Accessible for All, human and social rights, III. Principal Areas of Concern and Recommendations, Independent Verification Procedures, International Legal Instrument, Ireland, Ireland's national implementing legislation ... European Communities (Award of Public Authorities' Contracts) Regulations 2006, Is Europe Serious about Implementing the Public Procurement Accessibility / Design for All Requirements ?, ISO 21542 is already being used as the benchmark in the CEN Joint Report, ISO 21542: 'Building Construction - Accessibility & Usability of the Built Environment', it has still been a most enlightening experience to read the recent UN CRPD Committee Report on Spain, it is certainly not as open and transparent as it should be, it is of fundamental importance ... that an easily assimilated Standard be produced 'on the table' for reference by Public Contracting Authorities ... NOW, it is sobering to observe how DG Environment (ENV) in the European Commission is promoting and actively supporting Green Public Procurement, Leaving aside the utilities sectors (water - energy - transport - postal services), leaving small peripheral groups in the Institutions to look after the Social Aspects, long rambling CEN Joint Report (document ref. CEN/BT/WG 207 N 29) of 425 Pages was issued dated 8 August 2011 for general discussion and comment, M/420 EN - Brussels 21 December 2007, Mainstreaming 'Accessibility', Mandate M/420 EN is a flawed document, many people in the European Union Institutions would prefer to steer completely away from the Social Aspects of Sustainable Human and Social Development, neither well connected to the mainstream nor fully aware of the 'ins' and 'outs' of that mainstream, No case need be made for the integration of Accessibility into Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA), Not the strongest possible language to encourage 'accessibility', one of Europe's Standards Organisations, People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF), permit the operation of the Accessibility / Design for All Requirements in EU Public Procurement Directives to commence with full effect, Personnes à Performances Réduites (2001 WHO ICF), Post UN CRPD - A More Demanding Scope and Quality of Implementation, principles which are supported by Preamble (g) and Articles 9 - 10 - 11 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Public Procurement & 'Design for All' - It's Crunch Time Folks !, Public Procurement in the European Union (EU), Public Procurement which is environment-friendly, Quality of European Accessibility Implementation ... is critical !, Safety at Work Legislation, Section 23 (2) of the European Communities (Award of Public Authorities' Contracts) Regulations 2006, Sixth Session - 19 to 23 September 2011, So many different types of International/European/National Legislation mandate that the Built Environment shall be Accessible for All, So why is Accessibility not being properly integrated into the operation of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Legislation, social rights, Some Comments on the CEN Joint Report ..., Standardization Mandate 420 to CEN CENELEC and ETSI in Support of European Accessibility Requirements for Public Procurement in the Built Environment, subject to the respect of Principles enshrined in the EU Treaties, Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA), Sustainable Human & Social Development, Technical Control of Construction, Terms such as 'procurement' - 'inclusion' - 'accessibility' - 'compliance' are difficult to define precisely, The Award of Public Works Contracts Public Supply Contracts and Public Service Contracts, The Built and Virtual Environments continue to merge into a new Augmented Reality, the clear distinction which must be made between 'accessibility' and 'access', The European Union’s Accessibility Strategy related Policies and Programmes, The language used by the Committee is strong and direct ... finally !, The Officials who drafted Commission Mandate M/420 EN paid little if any attention to that 2003 Expert Group Report, the period to practical application of ISO 21542 on the ground would be relatively swift, the principle of equal treatment, the principle of freedom of establishment, the principle of freedom of movement of goods, the principle of freedom to provide services, the principle of mutual recognition, the principle of non-discrimination, the principle of proportionality, the principle of transparency, the value and material extent of all the Public Procurement Contracts being tendered for and awarded each week throughout Europe, there is no longer any reason for European countries to complain about the inadequacy of this International Standard, This Directive was amended in a minor way by Directives 2005/51/EC and 2005/75/EC, This is not a good report and in places it makes for unpleasant reading, This process is proving to be problematic, this Report does not attempt to reduce and/or remove the ambiguity surrounding these terms, to define how the built environment should be designed constructed and managed, to enable people to approach enter use egress from and evacuate a building independently in an equitable and dignified manner and to the greatest extent possible, under the Vienna Agreement on Technical Co-Operation between ISO and CEN which was confirmed by both organizations in 2001, United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, virtual environment, walking around any major city in any country in Europe today, was properly implemented by using effective available and transparent Monitoring Mechanisms, What Is The Overriding European Social Priority ?, Whenever possible these technical specifications should be defined so as to take into account, who in Europe is really concerned with the quality of Accessibility Implementation ???, why not approve ISO 21542 as the European Standard when it is published as a full standard, With regard to specific rules governing specifications and contract documents, witnessing the universally appalling and miserable efforts at Accessibility Implementation, you would have to be outraged at the level of hypocrisy and blatant self-delusion practiced by Europeans !

Check Now for Child Safe Window Blinds & Other Coverings !

2011-09-27:  A recent child fatality in Ireland has alerted our population to the common danger of  Window Blinds, Shades and Other Window Coverings which are not Child Safe.

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In Ireland … our Consumer Protection Laws are weak … our National Consumer Protection Organizations are even weaker … and the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) is under-resourced, and not fit for purpose.

In the European Union (EU) … a work programme, having the aim of eliminating the risk of strangulation and internal asphyxiation due to child accessible window covering cords and small parts, only commenced in the early part of 2011.  Refer to this Page on the WebSite of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Health & Consumers (DG SANCO) … http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/health_consumer/dyna/enews/enews.cfm?al_id=1109

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HOWEVER, back on 15 December 2009 … the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)  issued the following Press Release …

CPSC Announces Voluntary Recalls to Repair Millions of Roman Shades and Roll-Up Blinds by Multiple Firms

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing that multiple firms are recalling millions of units of Window coverings, including Roman shades and roll-up blinds.  These window coverings present a serious risk of strangulation to young children.

CPSC has received reports of five deaths and 16 near-strangulations in Roman shades since 2006, and three deaths in roll-up blinds since 2001.  Strangulations in Roman shades occur when a child places his/her neck between the exposed inner cord and the fabric on the back side of the blind or when a child pulls the cord out and wraps it around his/her neck.  Strangulations in roll-up blinds occur when the lifting loop slides off the side of the blind and a child’s neck becomes entangled on the free-standing loop or if a child places his/her neck between the lifting loop and the roll-up blind material.

The recalled Roman shades and roll-up blinds were sold by a variety of manufacturers and retailers, including major discount department stores, home improvement stores and window covering manufacturers and retailers.  Remedies vary among firms from repair kits to refunds.

“Parents need to make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side, or back of their window coverings”, said CPSC Chairperson Inez Tenenbaum.  ”Avoid these deadly dangers by getting the repair kit or installing cordless window coverings in all homes where small children live or visit.”

To help prevent child strangulation in window coverings, CPSC and the  Window Covering Safety Council  urge parents and caregivers to follow these guidelines:

• Examine all shades and blinds in the home.  Make sure there are no accessible cords on the front, side or back of the product.  CPSC recommends the use of cordless window coverings in all homes where children live or visit.
• Do not place cribs, beds and furniture close to windows with corded window coverings because children can climb on them and gain access to the cords.
• Make loose cords inaccessible.
• If the window shade has looped bead chains or nylon cords, install tension devices to keep the cord taut.

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A Table at the end of the CPSC Press Release (15 December 2009) indicated that  IKEA was ‘voluntarily’ recalling 3,360,000 Roman Shades, Roller Blinds and Roll-Up Blinds from its stores, nationwide in the USA.  Don’t worry … I blinked, and then re-checked that number !

What has IKEA done in its stores, continent wide in Europe ??

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END

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Buildings & Firefighters Not Yet Safer ! – 10 Years After 9-11 (II)

2011-09-20:  Continuing on from where I left off on 11 September 2011 …

Applying the Recommendations contained in the 2005 & 2008 National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST – USA) Reports on the 9-11 WTC Buildings 1, 2 & 7 Collapses to the everyday practice of Architecture and Fire Engineering has been a central part of our work for many years.  Long discussions on this subject have taken place within CIB (International Council for Building Research) Working Commission 14: ‘Fire Safety’ … and I also chair Commission 14′s Research Working Group IV on ‘Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse’.

My particular interest in Disproportionate Damage and Progressive Collapse reaches back as far as the late 1980′s !

So I was intrigued, amused … and at the same time, highly concerned … to read the following Letter to the Editor of the Irish Times Newspaper, on Saturday 10 September 2011 …

Recalling 9/11

Sir, – One of the most important factors in the tragedy of 9/11, and one that has received scant attention, was the mode of failure of the towers.

They were struck high up on their structures and failed via progressive collapse.  Had they been designed this side of the Atlantic, they would not have collapsed.  These were flimsy structures. -

Yours, etc,

Jim Ryan, Chartered Structural Engineer,

Waterfall, Cork.

.

JIM …  If the WTC Towers (which were not flimsy structures !) had been designed on this side of the Atlantic … they would have collapsed.

Furthermore …  If the Towers had only been completed last week in the USA, Ireland, England & Wales, India or China … they would still collapse, if a similar event were to occur next year.

To be crystal clear …  What we witnessed, on Tuesday 11 September 2001, was a Collapse Level Event (CLE) which exposed, very harshly and cruelly, a catastrophic failure in all of our common Design and Construction Practices and Procedures used in/by/as …

• Architectural Design | (Ambient) Structural Engineering | Fire Engineering ;
• Building Management Systems ;
• Emergency Responders | Firefighters | Rescue Teams ;
• Technical Control Organizations Having Authority (AHJ’s) or Jurisdiction ;
• Fire Safety Objectives in Building Legislation, Codes and Standards.

To the average ‘person in the street’ …  Whether he/she lives in Manhattan or Chicago in the USA, Dublin or Cork in Ireland, Cardiff or London in Britain, Dilli or Mumbai in India, Beijing or Shanghai or Hong Kong in China … it is unacceptable that buildings collapse … entirely unacceptable !!

.

COLLAPSE OF WTC BUILDINGS 1, 2 & 7

JIM …  Unless you believe in conspiracy theories, please study the 2005 & 2008 NIST(USA) Reports on the 9-11 WTC Buildings 1, 2 & 7 Collapses.  The 2 Final Reports can be downloaded from this Page on Sustainable Design International’s Corporate WebSite … http://www.sustainable-design.ie/fire/structdesfire.htm … along with other key documents and links.

Some indication of the enormous quantity of 9-11 WTC Incident Documentation issued by NIST(USA) can be seen below …

.

PUBLIC SAFETY 10 YEARS AFTER 9-11 ?

If it is entirely unacceptable to the Public that buildings collapse … in how many National Building Codes does the following Critical Public Safety Equation appear today ?   The answer is NONE !

.

Is there some fundamental reason why Levels of Safety for the Public should vary so much from one country to another ?   NO, there is not !

Within Europe, and in relation to the New EU Construction Product Regulation 305/2011, which I discussed here a few days ago … the European Commission, in a discussion document dating back to the mid-1980′s, suggested that the only way to effectively realize a Single Market for Construction Products would be to introduce Harmonized EU Building Regulations in all of the EU Member States.  Of course the Member States, at the time, went ballistic at the very mention of this idea … and it was quickly withdrawn.  I take great pleasure in repeating that important idea today.

Jim …  The Critical Public Safety Statement above is fully consistent with … and meets … the ‘Basic Requirements for Construction Works’ in Annex I of EU Regulation 305/2011.

.

However, in relation to any one EU Member State … let’s take Ireland as an example … compare a situation where, in a remote rural location, it might take almost an hour for a sufficient fire service presence to arrive at the scene of a building fire emergency … with a similar situation in the middle of a city, or large town, where the time required will not be greater than 15 minutes … then, although the Level of Safety for the Public can be / should be / must be the same in both situations … I would expect, in the remote rural location having a poor fire service support infrastructure, that the range of Fire Protection Measures to be employed in a typical building would be more extensive, and the performance expected of those Measures would be higher … in order to achieve an Equivalent Level of Safety in both rural and urban locations.  Is that not a rational idea ??

Unfortunately, that’s not how the present systems work … National or European !   Levels of Public Safety differ from one country to the next … and from one region, within any one country, to the next … without any good reason … and without meaningful consultation and the full understanding of the Public.

.

BUILDINGS & FIREFIGHTERS ARE NOT YET SAFER

JIM …  In spite of all of the spin coming from the other side of the Atlantic … and discounting criminality and fraud in construction practices … Buildings and Firefighters are not yet safer … because the large, difficult, complex flaws and failures in Conventional Fire Engineering have not yet been aggressively confronted … and properly solved.

In a post last year, on 18 October 2010 … I referred to the Cul-de-Sac of Current Fire Engineering … and illustrated a typical architectural detail in a Dublin Building – a common detail also to be found in India, China, USA, England & Wales, etc., etc – which demonstrates a Fundamental Flaw at the very core of conventional thinking and practice.

On Thursday next … 22 September 2011 … at the ASFP Ireland Fire Seminar and Workshop in the RDS, Dublin … I will present this flawed detail … and a solution which is fully compatible with … and answers … the NIST Recommendations !

BUT … would anybody like to show me where any National Building Codes have been revised and updated to solve this Fundamental Flaw ?

. 

.

.

.

.

A CASE STUDY OF ENGLAND & WALES

10 years after 9-11 … there are two reasons for taking a closer look at England & Wales (Britain) …

• The Building Regulations for England & Wales were used as the model for the Irish Building Regulations, which were first introduced here in the early 1990′s.  And, in the absence of Harmonized European Standards … British National Standards tend, with only a few exceptions, to become the default Irish National Standard ;
• British National Standards are being applied in many different parts of the world outside England & Wales … in most cases, without any proper consideration of content … or adaptation to local conditions.

.

.

The Institution of Fire Engineers (Ireland) Annual Fire Conference, which was held last year, on Wednesday 20th October 2010 … in the Dublin Fire Brigade Training Centre, Marino, Dublin … threw up some interesting ‘notions’ for consideration by a diverse range of participants.

One curious proposition … repeated quite often during the day … was that Approved Document B, in the British System of Building Regulations, was basically still a sound document … and that it should pass an upcoming major review with little difficulty.

I don’t agree … Approved Document B is inadequate and dysfunctional !

With regard to Structural Performance in Fire … instead of referring to Approved Document A – Structure … the reader is referred to Appendices at the back of Approved Document B, which only reinforce the erroneous concept of Single Structural Element Fire Protection …

And along with its many other major problems … see my post, dated 2009-06-14 … British Standard BS 9999 takes no account of any of the 2005 & 2008 NIST Recommendations, Fire-Induced Progressive Collapse or Disproportionate Damage … and, in fact, directly conflicts with aspects of the Building Regulations for England & Wales …

.

In order to take a close look at Approved Document B … I used the vehicle of a Notional Hotel Project in Cardiff, Wales … similar to the Early 1990′s Dublin Hotel Project shown above …

.

With regard to properly showing Fitness for Intended Use of Fire Protection related Products and Building Systems … instead of referring to Regulation 7 … the reader is again referred to Appendices at the back of Approved Document B … which explains why we have such serious problems, i.e. lack of Durability and very low Resistance to Mechanical Damage, with the Thermal Insulation Products used for the Fire Protection of Structural Steelwork …

I also had to quote from Part D of the Irish Building Regulations to fill a gap in the British Regulation 7 …

.

.

END

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National or European !, The 2 Final Reports can be downloaded from this Page on Sustainable Design International's Corporate WebSite, The Building Regulations for England & Wales were used as the model for the Irish Building Regulations, The Critical Public Safety Statement above is fully consistent with ... and meets ... the 'Basic Requirements for Construction Works' in Annex I of EU Regulation 305/2011, the enormous quantity of 9-11 WTC Incident Documentation issued by NIST(USA), The Irish Times, the mode of failure of the towers, the reader is referred to Appendices at the back of Approved Document B, there are two reasons for taking a closer look at England & Wales (Britain), Thermal Insulation Products used for the Fire Protection of Structural Steelwork, These were flimsy structures, They were struck high up on their structures and failed via progressive collapse, they would not have collapsed, they would still collapse if a similar event were to occur next year, threw up some interesting 'notions' for consideration by a diverse range of participants, United States of America, What we witnessed on Tuesday 11 September 2001 was a Collapse Level Event (CLE), where any National Building Codes have been revised and updated to solve this Fundamental Flaw, Whether he/she lives in Manhattan or Chicago in the USA, which exposed very harshly and cruelly a catastrophic failure in all of our common Design and Construction Practices and Procedures, which only reinforce the erroneous concept of Single Structural Element Fire Protection, without meaningful consultation and the full understanding of the Public