Welcome to the Web page for the British Columbia Chapter of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. This webpage is for members of the chapter and for those interested in fire protection engineering in British Columbia.
Compliance with CAN/ULC-S1001 is now required for projects designed to meet the 2015 NBC ; 2018 BCBC and 2019 VBBL. Do your clients and building owners understand the formalized testing requirements to provide this deliverable for occupancy and have a procedure in place for periodic testing through the life cycle of the building?
How do you design a building with no Building Code? This was the question asked at the 13th International Conference on Performance Based Codes and Fire Safety Design Methods conference held in March 11 – 13 2020, Auckland, New Zealand. The conference presented the various SFPE Chapters with a case study that the Chapters could research and present on based on a fundamentals approach addressing the intents of fire protection and life safety codes of Modern Commercial Buildings.
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.
Day-to-day monitoring and mitigation of the fire risk during construction is a responsibility of the owner, and typically carried out by the contractor. However it is becoming more common for local authorities to require a Fire Protection Engineer or other professionals to assess the risk of fire exposure onto adjacent buildings, and propose additional methods for protection when a building under construction is not sufficiently separated from adjacent property.
Brian Meacham (Current President of the SFPE) will address the chapter on the newest initiatives of the Society. Vancouver has been selected as the host city of the 2021 SFPE International Conference. Brian will be able to provide some further insights in what benefits this meeting will bring to our local chapter.
