Forbig construction projects with difficulties complying with the prescriptive codes in the Far East, fire safety provisions [1,2] can be determined by performance-based design [3-7]. Thermal engineering tools are therefore required while carrying out the hazard assessment. Two types of thermal fire models [8, 9], zone models [9, 10] and field models [11-13] (i.e., the application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD)), are commonly used [14]. The principal area of application for performance-based projects is for designing smoke management systems [15]. There are problems encountered in using the models due to hardware limitations and software development. Examples are transforming the architectural features into an input data file through the preprocessor, the possibility of getting converged results, and the compilation and presentation of the results in applying CFD. The heat release rate curve [16, 17] of burning combustible items has to be specified as the input parameter. Symbolic mathematics [18] is recommended so that the models will be more transparent to the users concerned. Further development in the heat and mass transfer process, particularly in modeling the combustion process, is expected.
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