An International Perspective to Fire Safety in Interconnected Floor Spaces

Interconnected floor spaces are incorporated into many commercial and institutional buildings worldwide, yet they pose a unique challenge to the primary objectives of the Building Code to mitigate fire spread and safeguard occupant egress. The hazards presented by interconnection of floors within a building is recognised by building codes across the world; however, the accepted approach to mitigate these hazards differs across jurisdictions. This presentation provides background on the hazards of interconnected floor spaces, and provides a comparison of the design methods in other countries in order to give additional context to the acceptable solutions in the Canadian codes.

Patrick Mulherin is project engineer with Jensen Hughes with experience in code consulting and confirmation of atrium design through fire and egress modelling within the Canadian code framework. Mark Fenton provides an international perspective with 5 years of experience with ARUP in the UK and recently as a project consultant with Jensen Hughes. Mark has designed atrium spaces within buildings both in the UK and Canada with different design approaches.

Date: February 25, 2020
Time: Registration and Reception 5:30pm
Location: False Creek Yacht Club (1661 Granville Street)
Cost: $40. Please bring cash or a cheque payable to BC Society of Fire Protection Engineers to cover the cost of dinner.
Registration Deadline: February 21, 2020