Performance-Based Design and the Codes

This seminar is intended for engineers who apply performance-based codes and enforcement officials who review performance-based design or engineered alternatives to prescriptive codes.

This one-day seminar will review in detail the performance-based design process and its application with the ICC Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities and the performance options in the NFPA Life Safety Code and the NFPA Building Code.

This seminar is divided into three sections. The first section will provide an overview of the performance-based design process contained in the SFPE Engineering Guide to Performance-Based Fire Protection Analysis and Design of Buildings. This process identifies methods of defining a project scope, developing goals, objectives and performance criteria, selecting design fire scenarios, developing and evaluating trial designs, and preparing design documentation.

The second section will provide an overview of the ICC Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities, including a detailed synopsis of the fire protection requirements contained in the code. The use of the ICC Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities will be illustrated using a simple case study.

The third section will outline the use of the NFPA Building Code and the NFPA Life Safety Code for performance-based fire protection design. The fire protection performance-based requirements of both codes will be identified and illustrated using an example application to a building.