The Life Safety Code of the National fire Protection Association (NFPA) is one of the most widely used fire safety standards in the US. NFPA's Technical Committee on Life Safety Fundamentals has undertaken a significant effort to develop a performance-based alternative for the Code. the year 2000 edition of the Life Safety Code will have a "two-track" approach, allowing a choice of design options. Both tracks will be responsive to explicitly stated fire safety goals and objectives. The performance-based design option consists of nine new sections as follows: (1) General requirements that cover application overview and definitions specific to the performance-based approach, (2) Performance Criteria using incapacitation of occupants, (3) Retained Prescriptive Requirements to assist in the transition from prescriptive to performance regulation, (4) Design Specifications and Other conditions to cover assumptions and design data requirements, (5) Design Fire Scenarios, both required and suggested, (6) Evaluation of Proposed Design that details appropriate characteristics of models and methods selected to evaluate performance, (7) Safety Factors necessary to reflect uncertainties in our level of knowledge, and (8) Documentation Requirements to be included with a performance-based design submittal for approval.
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