One recommendation from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Sept. 11 study called for tall buildings to be designed to accommodate timely full-build- ing evacuation. The codes currently permit total, phased, and partial evacuation, as well as defend-in-place methods: For protecting occupants from a fire event, owners and officials most likely will continue to use current code requirements. ''The 2006 International BuiWing Code specifically requires that you evacuate the floor of origin, the floor above, and the floor below the event," said Doug Evans, PE, fire protection engineer with Clark County, Nev. "And that's been standard for years. Since the stairs aren't designed to accommodate the entire occupant load, you cant really do anything more than that anyway."
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