Benefits and Costs of Research: A Case Study of the Fire Safety Evaluation System

摘要

This report focuses on a critical analysis of the economic impacts from past BFRLresearch efforts leading to the development and introduction of the performance-based Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES) for hospital and nursing home occupancies. The FSES was developed as an alternative to prescriptive compliance to the Life Safety Code for hospitals and nursing homes participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The case study estimates the cost saving from using FSES-based modifications to promote fire safety in existing hospitals and nursing homes over the period from 1975 through 1995.