ISO/TR 16576:2017

TECHNICAL ISO/TR
REPORT 16576
First edition
2017-06
Fire safety engineering — Examples
of fire safety objectives, functional
requirements and safety criteria
Ingénierie de la sécurité incendie — Exemples d’objectifs de sécurité
incendie, d’exigences fonctionnelles et de critères de sécurité
Reference number
©
ISO 2017
© ISO 2017, Published in Switzerland
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ii © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Examples from France, New Zealand and Japan . 2
Annex A (informative) Example of fire safety design objectives and functional requirements
in France . 3
Annex B (informative) Example of fire safety design objectives and functional requirements
in New Zealand .11
Annex C (informative) Example of fire safety design objectives and functional requirements
in Japan .23
Annex D (informative) Examples of performance safety criteria for verification of
compliance with functional requirements for individual buildings in Japan .42
Bibliography .86
Foreword
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This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 92, Fire safety, Subcommittee SC 4, Fire
safety engineering.
iv © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

Introduction
The vast majority of fire safety designs rely on prescriptive specifications written into regional,
national, or local regulations. Currently, various engineering approaches are also allowed by these
regulations, although information needed for an engineering approach is still generally obtained
from conventional test methods. Fire safety engineering (FSE) is a discipline increasingly being used
throughout the world in support of performance-based design, i.e. the reliance on engineering methods
to determine whether a given design meets stated performance objectives. ISO 23932 provides general
principles for a performance-based methodology for engineers to assess the level of fire safety for new
or existing built environments. Fire safety is evaluated through an engineered approach based on the
quantification of the behaviour of fire and people and based on knowledge of the consequences of such
behaviour on life safety, property and the environment.
The difference between prescriptive and performance-based approaches to fire safety design is
highlighted in ISO 23932 by emphasizing the development of quantifiable fire safety design objectives
and related functional requirements as the first step in a performance-based analysis. According
to ISO 23932, the fire safety objectives include, for example, safety of life, conservation of property,
continuity of operations, protection of the environment and preservation of heritage.
In ISO 23932, it is also mentioned that explicit performance criteria should be developed for
each functional requirement. Performance criteria are engineering metrics that are expressed
in deterministic or probabilistic (e.g. measures of fire risk) form to determine if each functional
requirement has been satisfied by the fire safety design.
As a preliminary work prior to producing ISO standardized documents for fire safety objectives,
functional requirements and safety criteria, ISO/TC 92/SC 4 decides to collect the examples of those
from the existing documents that have been developed in different countries in the course of moving
towards performance-based fire safety design. So far, three countries have responded to the solicitation
for such documents, i.e. Japan, France and New Zealand. The development of these documents, as
summarized below, was motivated by the attempts to rationalize the existing fire safety design
practices based on prescriptive building by making use of fire safety engineering methods.
Japan: First developed by the Building Research Institute during the Ministry of Construction’s project
for developing a performance-based fire safety design method, 1981 to 1986, and subsequently
improved by the committee on fire safety design in Architectural Institute of Japan, of which the report
was published in 2000.
France: Developed in the collaborative research project to establish the bases to introduce fire safety
engineering into fire safety design, which was conducted with the sponsorship of French ministry
for construction and home office from 2005 to 2011, involving research institutes, fire brigades,
practitioners, designers and owners.
New Zealand: Developed by a working group made up of external fire experts and staff from the
regulatory agency. The group was set up to research and develop a suitable fire safety design framework,
in the course of amending the New Zealand Building Codes corresponding to the introduction of the
Building Act 2004.
TECHNICAL REPORT ISO/TR 16576:2017(E)
Fire safety engineering — Examples of fire safety
objectives, functional requirements and safety criteria
1 Scope
This document compiles examples of fire safety design objectives, functional requirements and safety
criteria from Japan, France and New Zealand.
2 Normative references
There are no normative references in this document.
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http:// www .iso .org/ obp
3.1
functional requirements
statement of the means to achieve specified fire safety objectives, taking into account the features of a
built environment
Note 1 to entry: Mandatory functional requirements are required by building codes or national regulations;
voluntary functional requirements are expressed by other interested/affected parties.
3.2
mandatory objectives
fire safety objectives, such as life safety and protection of the environment, which are required by
building codes or national regulations
3.3
performance criteria
quantitative engineering specifications, which form an agreed basis for assessing the safety of a built
environment design
3.4
safety factor
multiplicative adjustment applied to calculated values to compensate for uncertainty in methods,
calculations, input data and assumptions
3.5
verification
process of determining that a fire safety design complies with the fire safety requirements by examining
the design in the light of safety criteria
3.6
voluntary objectives
fire safety objectives, which are requirements expressed by interested/affected parties, beyond
mandatory objectives
4 Examples from France, New Zealand and Japan
Annexes A to D contain examples of fire safety objectives, functional requirements and safety criteria
from France, New Zealand and Japan.
2 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

Annex A
(informative)
Example of fire safety design objectives and functional
requirements in France
A.1 Introduction
Fire safety design in France for life safety and property protection is mainly prescriptive and managed
by regulation. Even if there are already partial openings to fire safety engineering, since only some
years ago it has become increasingly obvious that more involvement in fire safety engineering need to
be made in French fire safety regulations.
In mid-2005, a collaborative research project was set up, with the sponsorship of French ministry for
construction and home office, involving different partners including research institutes, fire brigades,
practitioners, designers and owners. The research project, which ended by mid-2011, was divided into
18 main items, clustered in three main parts:
— Development of general principles for FSE assessment:
— FSE methodology;
— objectives and performance criteria;
— fire risk assessment;
— design fire and behavioural scenarios;
— verification of the methodology by examples;
— validation by reconstructions of fire incidents.
— State-of-the-art and research projects regarding:
— statistical analysis of fuel load density;
— characterization of burning items;
— fire development and spread;
— structural behaviour calculations;
— fire containment;
— behaviour at elevated temperature of regular glazing;
— fire protection;
— human behaviour.
— Communication and dissemination:
— teaching of FSE in universities or high schools for engineers;
— information and awareness of actors involved in FSE;
— publication of outcomes;
— proposals for regulation improvements.
A translation of the general principles developed within the scope of this collaborative research is given
in this document. The performance-based structure consists of the three following levels:
— fire safety objectives;
— functional requirements;
— performance criteria.
Fire safety objectives which are explicitly or implicitly mentioned in French regulations (for public
buildings, tall buildings, work places, warehouses, industrial plants, etc.) were identified. Functional
requirements were selected mainly by brain storming among the members who joined this research
project.
A few examples of vulnerability criteria have been given, involving life safety objectives and
requirements, and focusing on what should be “adequate tenability conditions”. Performance criteria
proposed were derived from some national or international research works or standards.
A.2 General
A.2.1 Purpose
This document provides examples of fire safety objectives, functional requirements and performance
criteria for interested parties involved in a performance-based approach to assess the level of fire
safety of a built environment. The development of quantifiable fire safety objectives is the first step in a
performance-based analysis. This is an alternative to prescribed regulatory requirements, giving more
freedom in the design of built environments, a better cost/benefit within sustainability development,
while retaining equal or higher level of safety performance compared with the prescribed approach.
A.2.2 Scope
The examples developed in this document can apply when performing the fire safety engineering
process for a whole built environment or part of it, and for new or existing buildings. They can be used
when the performance-based approach is considered as an alternative to a prescriptive acceptable
solution (in this case, performance criteria are not defined but relative to the performance reached
by the acceptable solution when considering the selected fire safety objectives and functional
requirements).
These objectives can be used as either mandatory or voluntary fire design objectives, depending on the
regulatory requirements which need to be fulfilled.
It is necessary to have an agreement on any assumptions taken for objectives, functional requirements
and performance criteria (when they are not explicitly given in the regulation) from authorities having
jurisdiction, prior to performing the assessment work as such.
A.2.3 Terms and definitions
A.2.3.1
compartment
enclosed space, which may be subdivided, separated from adjoining spaces by fire barriers
A.2.3.2
media impact
qualitative value of exposure through a given medium
4 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

A.2.3.3
safe refuge
temporary location that is free from immediate danger from effects of fire
A.2.3.4
strategic function
capacity or resource of an entity or an organization that maintains its ability to achieve future
outcomes and determines its long-term performance
A.2.3.5
sudden change
transition within a few seconds
A.2.3.6
untenable condition
condition such that people are unable to take effective action to accomplish their own escape to a place
of safe refuge
A.2.4 Symbols and abbreviated terms
Shown below are the abbreviated terms that are used in this document.
FNR functional requirement
FSE fire safety engineering
OBJ objective
A.3 Fire safety objectives
The fire safety objectives which need to be addressed in design of a building can be related to the safety
of life, property, environment, continuity of operations, or cultural heritage. The different categories of
objectives are summarized below.
OBJ 1: Health and life safety
Life safety is often the most important objective of fire safety design. It first involves occupants of the
building and may extend to firefighters who are expected to assist in evacuation or prevent extensive
uncontrolled spread of fire, and finally to third parties. Thus, three sub-objectives are defined.
OBJ 1-1: Health and life safety of occupants
OBJ 1-2: Health and life safety of firefighters
OBJ 1-3: Health and life safety of third parties
OBJ 2: Environment protection
Avoiding long-term consequences of the environmental impact of fires is becoming a more apparent
goal. The objectives of environmental protection in case of fire may be divided into two main groups as
follows:
OBJ 2-1: Ground and water
OBJ 2-2: Atmosphere
OBJ 3: Property protection
Protection of property from fire damage aims generally at limiting any damage to the contents of the
building, to the building itself, or to the vicinity of the building.
In the modern world, the cost of business interruption is also of interest because it may be much higher
than the cost of direct damage to the contents and the building itself. In the same way, preservation of
the strategic functions may be essential, especially when involving, for example, transportation, power,
and other infrastructures necessary to the functioning of a community.
Besides, some buildings with architectural, historical or cultural importance may have values which
cannot be measured on a monetary scale. Their protection against the damage caused by fire is
considered to be one of the basic moral duties of the society.
Finally, in many fields of industry, a good public image is essential to success in business. A fire loss may
damage public image and lead to detrimental long-term consequences.
As a result, the property protection objectives may be divided into the following sub-objectives:
OBJ 3-1: Moveable properties and real estate within the premises
OBJ 3-2: Moveable properties and real estate of third parties
OBJ 3-3: Continuity of operations
OBJ 3-4: Strategic matters
OBJ 3-5: Preservation of heritage
OBJ 3-6: Media impact
A.4 Functional requirements
Functional requirements are necessary to take into account specific conditions related to the built
environment to enable the link between fire safety objectives and performance criteria.
OBJ 1-1: Health and life safety of occupants
FNR 1-1-1: No sudden change in the tenability conditions before every occupant left the room of origin
In the room of fire origin, the different factors influencing fire development and spread of fire effluents
shall be such that sudden changes in the exposure conditions, which can catch the occupants before
they have become aware of the hazard and have left the room, should be prevented. The underlying
idea is to delay the occurrence of a flashover in this room, for example, by distancing the different
combustible materials present in the room, or by using safety systems such as automatic detection or
sprinkler system.
FNR 1-1-2: Adequate tenability conditions in the egress route up to any occupant left
The occupants must be able to totally evacuate the building without being subject to untenable
conditions.
FNR 1-1-3: Adequate tenability conditions in space within the building, outside the room of origin,
where people are waiting for rescue
The occupants must be able to remain in a safe refuge, waiting to get rescued, without being subject to
untenable conditions.
6 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

FNR 1-1-4: Adequate tenability conditions for the whole duration of the fire, in space within the building
where people have found refuge
The occupants must be able to remain in a safe refuge for the whole duration of the fire without being
subjected to untenable conditions. This is the same as the previous functional requirement, except that
the possibility to get rescued is not considered. It could lead, for example, to a fire resistance rating for
the walls of the refuge more important that in the previous case.
OBJ 1-2: Health and life safety of firefighters
FNR 1-2-1: Adequate tenability conditions during the necessary time for the reconnaissance of the
fire area
This mainly concerns the access paths for firefighting vehicles and the egress routes to search for the
origin of the fire or to identify specific risks such as storage of gas cylinders.
FNR 1-2-2: Adequate tenability conditions during the necessary time for evacuating people
The firefighters must be able to evacuate people without being subjected to untenable conditions.
FNR 1-2-3: No sudden change in the tenability conditions when fighting the fire
Sufficient time must be available for the firefighters to get out from the room, the floor or the building
before conditions have become untenable. They should not be trapped by an extremely rapid fire progress
or other flashover-related phenomena that may happen in a room with combustible partition walls.
OBJ 1-3: Health and life safety of third parties
FNR 1-3-1: Adequate tenability conditions within a neighbouring built environment during the whole
duration of the fire
The health and life safety of third parties must be ensured during the whole duration of the fire without
forcing them to leave the premises.
FNR 1-3-2: Adequate tenability conditions in the surrounding spaces, during the necessary time, as a
function of the mobility conditions of the third parties (including traffic roads)
Third parties in surrounding spaces must be able to move away from the fire zone without being
subjected to the effects of the fire. Surrounding spaces include sidewalks, public or private areas, and
roads for which visibility conditions may be essential.
OBJ 2-1: Ground and water protection
FNR 2-1-1: Reduction of hazardous solid or liquid fire residues
When fighting and extinguishing the fire, there are often serious releases of hazardous solid or liquid
fire residues to the ground or to the waste water system, which may consequently damage the ground
water or nearby lakes or rivers. Necessary measures such as containment basins must be in place to
limit or contain these combustion residues.
FNR 2-1-2: Control of hazardous fire effluent released
Necessary measures must be in place to contain the hazardous, polluting or toxic products released
during the fire. Highly hazardous products could be, for example, placed in specifically designated
areas with a particular protection and sectioned off from other areas.
OBJ 2-2: Atmosphere protection
FNR 2-2-1: Fire effluent containment
Necessary measures must be in place to contain the smoke and combustion products released during
the fire, in order to limit emissions into the atmosphere.
FNR 2-2-2: Control of hazardous fire effluent released and dispersed into the atmosphere
Necessary measures must be in place to limit the hazardous, polluting or toxic products released during
the fire and dispersed into the atmosphere.
OBJ 3-1: Moveable properties and real estate within the premises
FNR 3-1-1: Preservation of a specific component within the room of origin
A specific content of the building can be considered of great interest, like a safety-deposit box or a work
of art, and specific protection (automatic detection, sprinkler system, etc.) should be used to prevent
any degradation.
FNR 3-1-2: Fire restricted to the room of origin
Necessary measures must be in place to avoid the spread of fire outside the room of origin.
FNR 3-1-3: Damages restricted to the room of origin
Even if the fire is restricted to the room of fire origin, the effects of the fire may cause damages to
adjacent rooms. It may be necessary to avoid damages outside the room of origin.
FNR 3-1-4: Damages restricted to the compartment of origin/to the floor of origin
It is the same approach as the previous requirement, except that damages are accepted to all the rooms
of the compartment or floor of origin.
OBJ 3-2: Moveable properties and real estate of third parties
FNR 3-2-1: No spread of fire to neighbouring constructions
Necessary measures must be taken to avoid the spread of fire to neighbouring constructions. For
example, to avoid the spread of fire between adjacent multi-storey buildings, a classical approach is to
limit the use of combustible materials in facades.
FNR 3-2-2: No damages to neighbouring constructions
Necessary measures must be in place to avoid damages to neighbouring constructions. It could be by
imposing distance between buildings.
OBJ 3-3: Continuity of operations
FNR 3-3-1: Preservation of a given activity
In a company, an organization, or an association, an activity of critical importance might be subjected
to specific provisions in case of fire.
FNR 3-3-2: Protection of the production capability
Necessary measures must be in place to maintain the production capability intact in case of fire.
FNR 3-3-3: Preservation of a specific device (and its supplying fittings)
Within a building, a specific device can be deemed to be essential for the good functioning of the building.
Necessary measures must be in place to protect the device and its supplying fittings in case of fire.
OBJ 3-4: Strategic matters
FNR 3-4-1: Preservation of the strategic functions
Necessary measures must be in place to ensure the continuity of the strategic functions in case of fire.
8 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

FNR 3-4-2: Protection of any devices involved in strategic functions
Necessary measures must be in place to protect from the effects of the fire any devices involved in
strategic functions.
OBJ 3-5: Preservation of heritage
FNR 3-5: Protection from attack to any object or construction which could not be replaced
Necessary measures must be in place to protect from the effects of the fire any objects or buildings
with architectural, historical or cultural importance. Any alterations which are unavoidable should
be reversible, allowing the objects or building affected to be returned to its original condition.
Consequently, in some cases, fire detection would be more appropriate than fire suppression.
OBJ 3-6: Media impact
FNR 3-6: Preservation of the image from any media action
This is a global rather than an individual protection, and necessary measures must be in place to
minimize the visible consequences that may damage public image and lead to detrimental long-term
consequences.
A.5 Performance criteria
A few examples of criteria are proposed in this clause, focusing on what should be “adequate tenability
conditions”. These criteria, based on both discrete values (which are sometimes associated with a
discrete time period) and dose methods (which consider time-dependent exposures and thresholds),
are not exhaustive.
OBJ 1-1 and 1-3: Health and life safety of occupants and third parties
FNR 1-1-2, 1-1-3, 1-1-4, 1-3-1 and 1-3-2
[1][2]
Criteria 1: Maximum gas temperature of 60 °C
2 2
Criteria 2: Maximum incident heat flux of 2 kW/m (for an exposure time >10 s) or 2,5 kW/m (for an
[2]
exposure time <10 s)
4/3 −8/3 [3]
Criteria 3: Maximum radiative dose of 300 kW m s (for an exposure time <2 min)
[4]
Criteria 4: Maximum fractional effective dose (FED) of 0,3
[4]
Criteria 5: Minimum visibility of 10 m (as calculated in ISO 13571)
OBJ 1-2: Health and life safety of firefighters
FNR 1-2-1 and 1-2-2
2[5]
Criteria 6: Maximum incident heat flux of 5 kW/m
A.6 Bibliography
[1] Purser, D.A. Toxic product yields and hazard assessment for fully enclosed design fires. Polymer
International. 2000, 49, pp. 1323–1255
[2] Purser, D.A. Assessment of hazards to occupants from smoke, toxic gases, and heat. In: The
SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering – 4th Ed. NFPA, 2008
[3] Ministry of Environment. “Guide technique relatif aux valeurs de références de seuils d’effets
des phénomènes accidentels des installations classées” (October 2004)
[4] ISO 13571, Life-threatening components of fire — Guidelines for the estimation of time to
compromised tenability in fires
[5] Braun E., Cobb D., Cobble V.B., Krasny J.F., Peacock, R.D. Measurement of the protective value
of apparel fabrics in a fire environment. Journal of Consumer Product Flammability. 1980, 7, No.1, p. 15–25
10 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

Annex B
(informative)
Example of fire safety design objectives and functional
requirements in New Zealand
B.1 Introduction
In New Zealand, building regulations have traditionally been prescriptive. They did not cover emerging
technologies and every combination of circumstances. Thus, prescriptive regulations have provided
constraints to design that are not always appropriate to the specific building being considered.
In order to free design from such constraints, increase innovation and facilitate trade, New Zealand
developed a building code to be performance based. New Zealand first introduced performance-based
code in 1992 with the introduction of the Building Regulations 1992. After this time, fire engineering
emerged as a specialized field, requiring university-based education and training. New Zealand’s first
group of locally-trained fire engineers graduated from the University of Canterbury in 1995. Over the
years, fire engineering has continued to develop as a recognized, specialist field within New Zealand,
playing a critical role in building design.
A review of the Building Code in 2007 recommended reform to improve and streamline the Code and its
supporting documents. This review highlighted that performance requirements for fire design are non-
specific and insufficiently quantified.
The review found that fire engineers were using a wide diversity of guidance and methods resulting
in wide variance in fire safety reports. There was no defined approval process with inconsistent views
of each local authority. Assumptions in the calculation input by fire engineers were often different
for similar buildings. This was leading to an inefficient consenting process, with costly delays for
developers, especially in the construction of large buildings.
In 2012, there were changes made to Building Code Clause C (protection from fire) and the supporting
documents. The changes were significant in nature with quantification of performance criteria in the
Building Code, new Verification Method and seven Acceptable Solutions.
The new Building Code provides a clear set of performance criteria together with Verification Method
to provide a systematic approach to fire engineering design within a legislative compliance document.
The Verification Method standardizes fire engineering practice and provides a consistent measure of
performance in fire engineering projects across New Zealand to comply with the Building Code.
The fire design scenarios and associated design parameters are set out in Verification Method C/VM2,
which applies to complex buildings. Simple buildings are covered by a suite of Acceptable Solutions
C/AS1 to C/AS7.
When developing the fire safety design framework, the working group’s approach was as follows.
— When there was obvious analysis available to support the chosen values in the existing Compliance
Documents, it would first consider those existing Compliance Documents.
— In other cases, it would investigate the approach of overseas building codes.
There was no deliberate intention to significantly change the level of safety that previously existed and
implicitly contained within the previous compliance documents. This was a factor that influenced some
of the performance criteria adopted.
B.2 General
B.2.1 Purpose
All building work in New Zealand must comply with the Building Code. It is a performance-based code,
which means it states how a building must perform in its intended use rather than describing how
the building must be designed and constructed. This document describes the fire safety objectives,
functional requirements and performance criteria from the New Zealand Building Code.
B.2.2 Scope
The Building Code contains compulsory rules for all new building work. The Building Act 2004 applies to:
— building construction, alteration, demolition or removal;
— maintenance of a building’s specified systems, such as lifts and fire protection installations.
It does not cover planning and resource management, occupational safety and health.
B.2.3 Terms and definitions
B.2.3.1
available safe egress time
ASET
time available for escape for an individual occupant
Note 1 to entry: This is the calculated time interval between the time of ignition of a fire and the time
at which conditions become such that the occupant is estimated to be incapacitated (i.e. unable to take
effective action to escape to a place of safety).
B.2.3.2
burnout
exposure to fire for a time that includes fire growth, full development, and decay in the absence of
intervention or automatic suppression, beyond which the fire is no longer a threat to building elements
intended to perform loadbearing or fire separation functions, or both
B.2.3.3
evacuation time
time interval between the time of warning of a fire being transmitted to the occupants and the time
at which the occupants of a specified part of a building or all of the building are able to enter a place
of safety
B.2.3.4
fire load
quantity of heat which can be released by the complete combustion of all the combustible materials in
a volume, including the facings of all bounding surfaces
Note 1 to entry: It is expressed in joules (J).
12 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

B.2.3.5
fire load energy density
FLED
fire load (B.2.3.4) per unit floor area
Note 1 to entry: It is expressed in megajoules per square meter (MJ/m ).
B.2.3.6
fractional effective dose
FED
fraction of the dose [of carbon monoxide (CO) or thermal effects] that would render a person of average
susceptibility incapable of escape
B.2.3.7
importance level
each of the five levels of importance of buildings, as set out in Clause A.3 of the New Zealand Building
Code, that can be assigned to a building
Note 1 to entry: See Reference [1].
B.2.3.8
incapacitated
state of physical inability to accomplish a specific task
B.2.3.9.1
place of safety
safe place
B.2.3.9.2
place of safety
place inside a building meeting the following requirements:
a) the place is constructed with fire separations that have fire resistance sufficient to withstand
burnout at the point of the fire source;
b) the place is in a building that is protected by an automatic fire sprinkler system that complies
with NZS 4541 or NZS 4515 as appropriate to the building’s use;
c) the place is designed to accommodate the intended number of persons;
d) the place is provided with sufficient means of escape to enable the intended number of persons
to escape to a safe place that is outside a building
B.2.3.10
safe place
place, outside of and in the vicinity of a single building unit, from which people may safely disperse
after escaping the effects of a fire
Note 1 to entry: It may be a place such as a street, open space, public space or an adjacent building unit.
B.2.3.11
separating element
barrier that exhibits fire integrity, structural adequacy, thermal insulation, or a combination of these
for a period of time under specified conditions (in a fire resistance test)
B.2.3.12
structural adequacy
time in minutes for which a prototype specimen has continued to carry its applied load within defined
deflection limits, in the context of the standard test for fire resistance
B.2.3.13
visibility
maximum distance at which an object of defined size, brightness and contrast can be seen and
recognized
B.2.4 Regulatory framework
The regulation and performance of buildings sit under the following three-part framework.
— The Building Act, which contains the provisions for regulating building work.
— The various Building Regulations, which contain prescribed forms, list specified systems, define
“change the use” and “moderate earthquake”, and set out the rate of levy and fees for determinations.
— The Building Code, contained in Schedule 1 of the Building Regulations 1992, which sets
performance standards all new building work must meet and covers aspects such as stability, fire
safety, access, moisture, safety of users, services and facilities, and energy efficiency.
Figure B.1 illustrates the legislation that forms the building control framework governed by the
Building Act.
Figure B.1 — New Zealand building control framework
The Building Code sets out performance criteria that building work must meet. It covers aspects such
as structural stability, fire safety, access, moisture control, durability, services and facilities, and energy
efficiency. The Building Code does not prescribe how work should be done, but states how completed
building work and its parts must perform.
14 © ISO 2017 – All rights reserved

An advantage of a performance-based Building Code is flexibility. It contains no prescriptive
requirements stipulating that certain products or designs must be used. This flexibility allows
developments and innovation in building design, technology and systems.
The Building Code consists of two preliminary clauses and 35 technical clauses. Each technical clause
has three levels that describe the requirements for the clause and are listed below.
— Objective: Social objectives the building must achieve.
— Functional requirement: Functions the building must perform to meet the objective.
— Performance: The performance criteria the building must achieve. By meeting the performance
criteria, the objective and functional requirement can be achieved.
B.2.5 Symbols and abbreviated terms
NZBC New Zealand Building Code
FSD fire safety design
FNR functional requirement
OBJ objective
PR performance requirement
B.3 Fire safety objectives, functional requirements and performance
requirements
This clause describes the fire safety objectives (OBJ), functional requirements (FNR) and performance
requirements (PR) that were identified from the fire safety provisions of the NZBC.
B.3.1 Fire safety objectives
B.3.1.1 Clause C1 Objectives of Clause C2 to C6 (Protection from Fire)
The objectives of Clause C2 to C6 are to
a) safeguard people from an unacceptable risk of injury or illness caused by fire,
b) protect other property from damage caused by fire, and
c) facilitate firefighting and rescue operations.
B.3.2 Functional and performance requirements
B.3.2.1 Clause C2 Prevention of Fire Occurring
C2.1 Fixed appliances using controlled combustion and other fixed equipment must be designed,
constructed, and installed in buildings in a way that reduces the likelihood of illness or injury due to
fire occurring (FNR).
C2.2 The maximum surface temperature of combustible building materials close to fixed appliances
using controlled combustion and other fixed equipment when operating at their design level must not
exceed 90 °C (PR).
C2.3 Fixed appliances using controlled combustion and other fixed equipment must be designed,
constructed and installed so that there is a low probability of explosive or hazardous conditions
occurring within any spaces in or around the building that contains the appliances (PR).
Subclause C2.2 defines the maximum surface temperature that a combustible surface shall not exceed,
based on long-term exposure to elevated temperatures and surface radiation from a heating appliance.
The intention of declaring a specific value as opposed to a temperature rise is to reduce any dispute
about the appropriate ambient temperature to assume in the application of this clause.
At first, the value of 90 °C may appear to be significantly lower than typical piloted ignition temperatures
of around 200 °C. However, a review of the literature shows that wood exposed to constant heating
for long periods of time may change chemically and this can result in significantly lower ignition
temperatures. The recommended limiting surface temperature for long exposure times accordingly
varies from 66 °C to 110 °C.
Subclause C2.3 is intended to ensure that all fixed appliances using controlled combustion and other
fixed equipment are constructed and installed according to an appropriate standard. If a designer is
not referring to a New Zealand Standard, it is his or her responsibility to demonstrate that the standard
used is equivalent to the appropriate New Zealand Standard.
B.3.2.2 Clause C3 Fire Affecting Areas Beyond the Fire Source
C3.1 Buildings must be designed and constructed so that there is a low probability of injury or illness to
persons not in close proximity to a fire source (PR).
C3.2 Buildings with a building height greater than 10 m where upper floors contain sleeping uses or
other property must be designed and constructed so that there is a low probability of external vertical
fire spread to upper floors in the building (PR).
Subclause C3.2 does not apply to importance level 1 buildings.
C3.3 Buildings must be designed and constructed so that there is a low probability of fire spread to
other property vertically or horizontally across a relevant boundary (PR).
C3.4(a) Materials used as internal surface linings in the following areas of buildings must meet the
performance criteria specified in Table B.1 (PR):
Table B.1
Performance determined under conditions
described in ISO 9705
Area of building
Buildings not protected with an Buildings protected with an auto-
automatic fire sprinkler system matic fire sprinkler system
Wall/ceiling materials in sleeping Material Group Number 1-S Material Group Number 1 or 2
areas where care or detention is
provided
Wall/ceiling materials in exitways Material Group Number 1-S Material Group Number 1 or 2
Wall/ceiling materials in occu- Material Group Number 1-S Material Group Number 1 or 2
pied spaces in importance level 4
buildings
Internal surfaces of ducts for Material Group Number 1-S Material Group Number 1 or 2
HVAC systems
Ceiling materials in crowd and Material Group Number 1-S or 2-S Material Group Number 1, 2 or 3
sleeping uses except household
units and where care or detention is
provided
Wall materials in crowd and sleep- Material Group Number 1-S or 2-S Material Group Number 1, 2 or 3
ing uses except household units and
where care or detention is provided
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Table B.1 (continued)
Performance determined under conditio
...