Construction

Sorry Excuse For A Fire Evacuation Staircase In The Grenfell Tower – Supported By Shoddy ‘Expert’ Evidence !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2024-10-06:  After reading the  Grenfell Tower Inquiry  Phase 1 Recommendations (Chapter 33) … I was naturally curious about what would be happening during the next phase.  Paragraph 34.14 in Chapter 34, however, struck me as strange, even unbelievable … the single narrow #Stairs in the Tower would NOT be the subject of further investigation in Phase 2..

This is the Ridiculous Single Narrow Fire Evacuation Staircase in the High-Rise Residential Grenfell Tower …

Click to enlarge.

Although the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Recommendations (Chapter 113) concluded by looking back to Phase 1, and specifically mentioning Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (#PEEP) … nothing was said about the Fire Evacuation Staircase.  Case closed.  And there is only one word to describe this outcome: ‘FUBAR’ !

Struggling to understand that highly questionable decision … a deep dive into the Phase 1 ‘Expert’ Technical Evidence led me to this Page from Report BLAS0000019, dated 2018-10-24 …

Click to enlarge.

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Three Important Documents Relevant To Competent Fire Evacuation Staircase Design :

  1. Orientation Manual for First Responders on the Evacuation of People with Disabilities, Document FA-235 / August 2002, published by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (#FEMA) in the #USA.  Yes indeed, this document was published way back in 2002, and is still freely available on the Internet.

A vital piece of information with regard to the Firefighter’s Lift, and the serious harm which can be inflicted on People with Disabilities by its use …

Click to enlarge.

In the absence of an operable Lift/Elevator Fire Evacuation Assembly in a building … which is still usually the norm … this photograph provides vital information with regard to the Correct, Best and Least Hazardous Method of assisting the evacuation of a person using a Manual Wheelchair.  Electric wheelchairs are too heavy, and too awkward in shape, to be lifted down/up a Fire Evacuation Staircase, even with three sturdy individuals assisting.  Note that some elaborate, highly-adapted and very expensive manual wheelchairs cannot facilitate being lifted.  In all cases, however, Vulnerable People requiring Mobility Aids will be most reluctant to leave them behind in an emergency … and they MUST be allowed to keep their personal aid.

Click to enlarge.

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  1. Final Report on the Collapse of the World Trade Centre Towers 1 & 2 (on 2001-09-11), Document NIST NCSTAR 1 / September 2005, published by the National Institute of Standards & Technology (#NIST) in the USA.  Refer to Recommendation 17 on pages 215 and 216.

[ Contraflow Circulation, in a Fire Building:  Emergency access by firefighters or rescue teams into a building and towards a real fire, while building users are still moving away from the fire and evacuating the building. ]

Contraflow Circulation during a Fire Emergency is essential.  This facilitates rapid and safe movement of firefighters towards Fire Protected Lift/Elevator Lobbies and Areas of Rescue Assistance in order to check on the presence, or otherwise, of Vulnerable People who may be waiting for rescue.

Once Firefighters enter a Fire Building … and without provision for #Contraflow Circulation … the ordering of a ‘Stay Put’ Policy for building occupants is the only difficult option … but this is NO LONGER ACCEPTABLE.

Carefully examine the photograph below.  Firefighters wearing heavy protective clothing and also carrying firefighting equipment require far, far more circulation width than 510 mm !!   However, this staircase is still not wide enough to facilitate unhampered building user evacuation.  Notice how people have to twist sideways in order to allow firefighters to pass … and this inevitability slows down evacuation progress in the ‘real’ world.

Click to enlarge.

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  1. International Standard ISO 21542: Building Construction – Accessibility & Usability of the Built Environment, published in 2011 and revised in 2021.  Standardizes good design for accessibility and the safe usability of buildings, which has been common practice for many decades.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Going, Rise, and Height of Handrails … ON BOTH SIDES of every flight of stairs …

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Clear Unobstructed Width – Between 2 Continuous Handrails.  ALL Fire Services MUST adopt this single understanding of ‘clear unobstructed width’ of a staircase !

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Staircases pose a serious hazard, especially during the stressful process of Emergency Evacuation … HAZARD Tactile Walking Surface Indicators (stippled, for hazard) at the TOP and BOTTOM of every flight of stairs.  Concerning this particular design issue, British Standards and English Building Regulations MUST be ignored !

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Staircase Design … Handrail Tactile Plates, essential for the evacuation information to be used by people with a visual impairment in an emergency.  Refer to Figure 38 in ISO 21542.  However, this is a much more informative photograph … from one of my previous visits to Japan.  Notice the high colour contrasting …

Click to enlarge.

Basics Of Fire Evacuation Staircase Design … The Clear Unobstructed Width of 1.50 metres between Continuous Handrails on a Fire Evacuation Staircase facilitates Contraflow Circulation, the Safe Assisted Evacuation of People in Manual Wheelchairs, and Stretcher Evacuation of Building User and/or Firefighter Victims during an emergency.

Click to enlarge.

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CONCLUSIONS

Having been directly involved in the drafting of national and international Accessibility Standards and Technical Guidance since the 1980’s … I am really, really annoyed by the inept and incompetent misuse of raw anthropometric data to try to justify the width of this sorry excuse for a Fire Evacuation Staircase in the Grenfell Tower … and inflicting the Firefighter’s Lift/Carry on People with Disabilities is NOT ACCEPTABLE.  This shoddy ‘expert’ evidence clearly demonstrates a profound ignorance of Building Design, and about how ‘real’ people use ‘real’ buildings.

My great fear is that the technical justification for this shambolic fire evacuation staircase will become a benchmark for similar shambolic staircases in other buildings … not just in England, but in other jurisdictions who are dim-witted enough to copy England’s bad example … whatever it does.

Professional building design, construction and technical control disciplines, who practice in England, MUST carefully read … and keep re-reading, as necessary … Paragraph 113.12 in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report … which is expressed in too mild a form for my liking …

Our investigations have shown that levels of competence in the construction industry are generally low and that by the time of the Grenfell Tower fire many contractors, designers and building control officers treated the Statutory Guidance as containing a definitive statement of the legal requirements.  It is understandable that those who turn to the Guidance for advice about how to comply with the Building Regulations should be tempted to treat it as if it were definitive … We therefore recommend that a revised version of the guidance contain a clear warning in each section that the legal requirements are contained in the Building Regulations and that compliance with the Guidance will not necessarily result in compliance with them.

I must go further … where the Technical Guidance in any of the English Approved Documents is known to be inadequate, or even suspect, it is the ethical duty and responsibility of a true professional to find a better way of complying with the relevant Functional Requirements in Building/Fire Regulations.

In addition, and specifically in relation to Building Fire Safety … it is necessary, at the same time, to comply with ALL of the relevant Functional Requirements in England’s Building Regulations … that means NOT ONLY WITH REQUIREMENT B … BUT ALSO WITH REQUIREMENTS A, K & M (for a start) !   The recent publication of a single document which merges ALL of the Approved Documents is a small step in the right direction of improving a deeply flawed body of building legislation.

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Competent Building Design / Ethical Building Design … Lies Beyond Codes !!

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END

#FireSafety4ALL #NobodyLeftBehind #NeverStayPut #VulnerablePeople #SustainableFireEngineering #SFE #GrenfellTowerFire #GrenfellTowerInquiry #ShoddyTechnicalEvidence #FireEvacuationStaircase #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #PeopleWithActivityLimitations #PwAL #WHO #ICF #PeopleWithDisabilities #PwD #Accessibility4ALL #InclusiveAccessibility #FUBAR

Sustainable Fire Engineering Design & Process – Using No Way, As Way

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-10-11:  Theory is one thing, but the practical working out and implementation of Sustainable Fire Engineering Design is something else …

The (Sustainable) Fire Engineer will already be an active, contributing member of a collaborative Project Design Team.  So, very early on in the Design Process for a Simple Building / Complex Building / Innovative Building / High-Rise Building / Tall Building or Group of Buildings (whatever) … he or she has a relatively mature sketch design on which to work, and major elements of the design can still be modified, without cost implications, based on her or his Creative Solutions which positively support and aid – not hinder, weaken or dilute – the Project Team’s Design Intent.

The Sustainable Fire Engineer should always / must, therefore, have a minimum competence with regard to Building Design and Construction in order to effectively communicate and creatively collaborate in these Design Teams.

[ Recommendation:  Instead of looking down on, or discriminating against, Architects … they should be warmly welcomed into the International Community of Fire Engineering … where their particular expertise is badly needed.]

A blank sheet of paper, pencil in hand … or, if you prefer, an empty monitor screen, with mouse poised to move … and how to proceed … should it be this fire safety strategy (?) … or a different, more appropriate fire safety strategy (?)

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives …

[ Reality – Reliability – Redundancy – Resilience ]

Achieve a Reliable Level of ‘Fire Safety for All’ ;

Facilitate Resilience: Protect Property & Assure Firefighter Safety ;

Minimize Environmental Impact & Mitigate Climate Disruption ;

Adapt to Climate Disruption ;

Nurture Sustainability ;

Incorporate Ease & Reasonable Cost of Post-Fire Reconstruction.

At this early stage in the Design Process … treat Conventional Fire Codes as an irrelevancy in the context of the above Design Objectives … question the adequacy of out-dated, simple prescriptive solutions … and forget about European and North American biases with regard to Passive and Active Fire Protection Measures.  Investigate new Sustainable Building Materials & Smart Technologies.  Incorporate Factors of Safety throughout the Fire Engineering Design Process.  Always remember Defence in Depth and Redundancy.  Prioritize Construction Reliability.

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Sustainable Design: Green Walls & Fire ?

‘Green Walls’ (also known as Planted Facades, Living Walls, Vertical Gardens, and Vertical Landscapes) is a general term which covers the architectural use of natural vegetation as a vertical element in buildings, both externally and/or internally ; intrinsically, each ‘Wall’ is different.  To be absolutely clear from a fire engineering viewpoint, there is no such thing as a ‘standard’ green wall which can be fire tested in a laboratory.  There are many benefits and advantages to these Walls … but, in future, they will play an important role in dealing with Climate Disruption, particularly the Urban Heat Island Effect in cities and large towns.

If properly installed and maintained … properly nourished and watered depending on local environmental conditions … Green Walls will not pose a fire hazard.  But those are a lot of ‘ifs’ !

Remembering Defence in Depth … the installed ‘sub-soil’ watering system for a Green Wall may be interrupted or break down, so a Smart Water Mist System will help with hydration of the vegetation, and cooling for building occupants/users, as Climate Disruption intensifies.  Some of the trees, shrubs or plants may wither and die, so a Water Sprinkler/Deluge (as appropriate) Fire Suppression System will deal with any accidental or intentional outbreaks of fire.

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Photograph, in colour, showing a street view at the rear of the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy.  In the view shown, ‘Green Wall’ covers a wide range, from a simple planted façade on the left to a vertical forest (Italian: bosco verticale) on the right.  With natural vegetation, similar types of ‘Wall’ can be very different.  Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07.  Click to enlarge.

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An Introduction to Green Walls … https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_wall

Explore the International Work of Patrick Blanc, French Botanist and Artist, at: https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com … and his collaboration with Ar.Jean Nouvel on One Central Park, Sydney, a Tall Building Project completed in 2014 … https://www.verticalgardenpatrickblanc.com/realisations/sydney/one-central-park-sydney

Also of Interest … 14 Patterns of Biophilic Design – Improving Health & Wellbeing in the Built Environment … https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/reports/14-patterns

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Colour Photograph showing the Twin Tower, Multi-Storey Bosco Verticale Project in Milan, Italy.  Designed by Ar.Stefano Boeri, it was completed in late 2014.  Early research based on an examination of the 900 trees (23 species) in the Project revealed that some adapted better to a challenging high-level environment than others, and trees on the upper floors were more stressed, requiring 20 percent more water.  Photograph by CJ Walsh 2023-06-07.  Click to enlarge.

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END

#SFE #SustainableFireEngineering #SustainableDesign #GreenWalls #ProjectSpecific #CreativeSolutions #SustainableFireEngineeringDesignObjectives #Architects #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #Resilience #DefenceInDepth #FactorsOfSafety #ClimateDisruption #ClimateSynergies #ClimateTippingPoints #PlantedFacades #LivingWalls #VerticalGardens #VerticalLandscapes #BoscoVerticale #Milano #Italia #StefanoBoeri #JeanNouvel #Sydney #SustainableBuildingMaterials #SmartTechnologies #UrbanHeatIslandEffect #FireSafety4ALL #Firefighters #FFsafety #PropertyProtection #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #Sustainability #SIA #SustainabilityImpactAssessment #BiophilicDesign #SmartWaterMistSystem #WaterFireSuppressionSystem

Sustainable Buildings – An Immediate & Unprecedented Challenge Demanding Genuine Collaboration !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-09-26:  At the time of writing, the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly is taking place in New York City.  Midway through the U.N. Sustainable Development Framework Agenda 2015-2030 … News about its failing progress is very discouraging …

>  Amid growing geo-political crises and war, Multi-Lateralism has little chance to operate successfully and there is a growing stalemate within the Security Council ;

>  Extreme Weather Events (e.g. heatwaves, droughts, severe storms and rainfall, flooding) are becoming a regular occurrence across the Globe, and their impacts are already devastating ;

>  Only 15% of the Sustainable Development Goals are barely on track, while development gains in other SDG’s have reversed ;

>  Not only are Climate Disruption Targets not being met, but global greenhouse gas emissions are actually increasing.

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[ U.N. 2023 Sustainable Goals Report – Special Edition … https://sdgs.un.org/documents/sustainable-development-goals-report-2023-53220 ]

[ An Outside View: How much Progress is being Made on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals ? … https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/un-sustainable-development-goals-progress-report ]

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Earlier this month (September 2023), the #UN published a Report: United in Science 2023 – Sustainable Development Edition … https://library.wmo.int/idurl/4/68235

Compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (#WMO) under the direction of the U.N. Secretary-General, it brings together the latest updates from key U.N. Partner Organizations with a focus on weather-, climate-, and water-related sciences, research and services in support of realizing Sustainable Human & Social Development:

Climate Disruption …

  1. Total Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Emissions from fossil fuels and land use change remained high in 2022 and the first half of 2023.  Fossil fuel CO2 emissions increased 1% globally in 2022 compared to 2021, and global average concentrations continued rising through 2022 and the first half of 2023.
  2. The years from 2015 to 2022 were the eight warmest on record, and the chance of at least one year exceeding the warmest year on record in the next five years is 98%.
  3. It is estimated that current mitigation policies will lead to global warming of around 2.8 °C over the course of this century compared to pre-industrial levels.  Immediate and unprecedented reductions in Greenhouse Gas Emissions are needed to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, i.e. 1.5 °C.

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Graphic Image, Figure 6 in colour, from the InterGovernmental Panel on Climate Change (#IPCC) 6th Assessment Report’s 2023 Summary for Policy-Makers.  It shows that there is a rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to realize climate resilient development, and how multiple interacting choices and actions can shift development pathways towards Sustainability.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Cities & Communities …

  1. Cities are responsible for a high proportion of global GHG Emissions and are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate disruption and extreme weather events, which threaten the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 11.
  2. Integrated urban weather, climate, water and environmental services, grounded in best-available science and research, are helping Cities to achieve SDG 11.
  3. Observations, high-resolution forecasting models and multi-hazard early warning systems are the fundamental basis for integrated urban services.

Good Human Health & Social Wellbeing …

  1. Trans-Disciplinary Research is fundamental to analysing, monitoring and addressing climate-sensitive health risks and climate impacts on the health sector.
  2. Climate disruption and extreme events are projected to significantly increase ill-health and premature deaths, as well as population exposure to heatwaves and heat-related morbidity and mortality.
  3. Scaling up investments in climate-resilient and low-carbon health systems, and progress towards universal health coverage (#UHC) are critical for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3.

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Graphic Image, Figure 1 in colour, from the recently published UN WMO Report: ‘United in Science 2023 – Sustainable Development Edition’.  It shows how genuinely collaborative weather-, climate-, and water-related sciences, research and services – together – support the achievement of the United Nations (#UN) Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG).  Click to enlarge.

[ The 2030 UN Sustainable Development Framework Agenda is Unequivocally Anchored in Human Rights … Leave No One Behind … https://www.ohchr.org/en/sdgs/about-2030-agenda-sustainable-development ]

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Deep & Genuine Construction Sector Collaboration …

[ Institutional Transformation ]

It is inevitable, therefore, that enormous pressures – social, economic, political, legal, and institutional – are being brought to bear on Building Design Professions, Engineers (all disciplines) and Construction Organizations to rapidly, reliably and creatively transform our existing Built Environment ; new buildings, which constitute just a small part of that workload, will be required to carry the heaviest burden.  To properly realize a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for ALL, however, Genuine Collaboration must be fostered … between each actor in the construction sector … between practitioners and scientists/researchers … and between different industrial sectors … silos broken apart and traditional barriers transcended.

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Sustainable Buildings – Reality vs. Superficial Impressions …

The minimum Life Cycle for a Sustainable Building is 100 years.

To be capable of later #Adaptation, a Sustainable Building must possess a sufficient/appropriate, level of #Redundancy.  Lean construction ignores this issue.

Far too many people appear to be still ‘wrestling’ with an obsolete understanding of #Sustainability.  It has many more than just 3 Aspects (social, environmental, economic).  Time for everyone to cop on and catch up !

[ Legal Aspects of Sustainable Human & Social Development: If the World is Serious about Sustainability, it must Embark on a New Era of Global Law … https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/global-governance-sustainability ]

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The International Fire Engineering Community, in particular, has a fixation with low-hanging fruit … ‘PV Panels’, ‘Timber Buildings’ … and ‘Performance-Based Fire Codes’, which are a hybrid of prescription (rather than Functional Fire Codes, which offer a more free, more open, and flexible option for designers).

So … before moving on in my next Post to look at the potential for Green Walls being a fire hazard, and comparing a top-down Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Approach with a bottom-up Conventional Fire Safety Approach … here is an interesting graphic image, developed by an architectural colleague in Berlin, Ar.Stefanie Blank, showing the difference between all-too-common superficial impressions and the reality of Sustainable Buildings …

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Graphic Image, in colour, which compares ‘What people think Sustainable Building is’ with ‘What Sustainable Building actually is’.  There is a world of difference between ‘reality’ and ‘superficial impressions’.  The immediate and unprecedented challenge is the poor performance of existing buildings.  Click to enlarge.

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map …

An earlier Post … https://www.cjwalsh.ie/2022/12/sustainable-fire-engineering-road-map-to-a-safe-resilient-sustainable-built-environment-for-all … presents the complete Road Map for reading and/or download.

As I have written many times before, the concept of Sustainable Human & Social Development is intricate, open, and dynamic … and it is also continuously evolving.  So too, the #SFE #RoadMap must continuously evolve.

Fully reflecting the content and views expressed above, it is necessary to further expand the Sustainable Fire Engineering Design Objectives on Page 10 of the Road Map … in order to clearly and directly integrate the issue of Climate Disruption …

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Graphic Image, in colour, which lists SFE’s revised Project-Specific Fire Engineering Design Objectives … which cover the safety of building users and firefighters, protection of property and the environment, mitigation/adaptation to climate disruption, and finally, sustainability.  This revision is dated May 2023.  Click to enlarge.

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END

#Twitter (#X) … @sfe2016dublin …

#SustainableDevelopment #UNGA #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #SDG #ClimateDisruption #ExtremeWeatherEvents #GenuineCollaboration #ConstructionSector #SustainableBuildings #GHGemissions #UnitedInScience #SustainableCities #HumanHealth #SocialWellbeing #ArStefanieBlank #Berlin #NewYorkCity #PVpanels #TimberBuildings #BuiltEnvironment #PerformanceBasedCodes #FireCodes #FunctionalFireCodes #FireSafety #Resilience #Reality #Reliability #Redundancy #HumanEnvironment #InstitutionalEnvironment #Transformation #Creativity #BuildingDesign #FireEngineering #IPCC #FireEngineeringDesignObjectives #ClimateSynergies #ClimateTippingPoints

Urgent Need For Harmonized European Fire Statistics & The ‘FIRESTAT’ White Elephant !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2023-08-21:  In an earlier Post here, dated 2022-12-19, I presented a Road Map for Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) … which finished on an Urgent Call to Action targeting three specific, fundamental aspects of a Creative Fire Engineering which is capable of answering the challenges of our Complex Built Environment in the 21st Century … under severe threats from Global Climate Disruption, Climate Synergies leading to near-term Climate Tipping Points … and a startling lack of Global Resilience, refer to the CoVID-19 Pandemic, and Supply Chain Chaos initiated by an old-fashioned Cold War I Warrior in Washington’s White House.

      1. Mainstreaming a Transformed Fire Engineering
      2. Ethical Practice of Fire Research and Science
      3. Reliability of Fire Statistics …
Colour Image showing the #SFE Road Map’s Conclusion, Page 31 in a series of 36, from the updated (June 2022) Presentation on Sustainable Fire Engineering ~ its essential and critical role in realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment For ALL.  Click to enlarge.

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From Any Point Of View … the Final Report of ‘EU FIRESTAT’, a project financed by the European Parliament and commissioned by European Commission Directorate-General DG GROW, is a white elephant … a plodding hippopotamus … a retrograde step … a bitter disappointment !!!  Completed in July 2022, it comes nowhere near outlining a viable system for the development of urgently needed Harmonized European Fire Statistics … which must be managed and co-ordinated by #Eurostat, in Luxembourg.

The #FIRESTAT Objectives were extremely limited …

‘ The review proceeds from the assumption that fire incident data can serve a number of important purposes – helping to reduce fires and losses, identifying opportunities for safety interventions and education programs, guiding the allocation of public resources to areas of greatest need and impact, and monitoring progress of safety initiatives.’

Nowhere, in this Report, is there any reference to Sustainable Human and Social Development.  Where there are references to ‘sustainability’, these are specifically concerning the long-term financial resourcing of statistical systems.

And nowhere is there even the faintest understanding that Fire Engineering has an essential and critical role in the realization of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALL.  Fire Engineering Performance Indicators, Targets and Benchmarks must be developed to facilitate that realization ; and Reliable Fire Statistics are their starting point and basic ingredient.

[ The European Standards Organization (#CEN) has a Webpage dedicated to its part in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (#SDG’s) at … https://www.cencenelec.eu/european-standardization/sustainable-development-goals-sdgs/ ]

The Report’s Executive Summary (in English, French, and German) covers the limited range of the Project pretty well … and it is almost easy to read.  The ‘great and the good’ of Conventional Fire Engineering, both organizations and individuals, were involved in this Project …

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Colour Image showing the cover of the EU Project ‘FIRESTAT’ Final Report, completed in July 2022, with the full title of the Project: ‘EU FIRESTAT – Closing Data Gaps & Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts’ in the middle of the Page ; the European Commission Logo at the top of the Page ; and against a background of an EU Flag in the lower half of the Page, the list of 9 International Fire Safety Organizations in the Consortium which carried out the Project.  Click to enlarge.

EU ‘FIRESTAT’ – Closing Data Gaps & Paving The Way For Pan-European Fire Safety Efforts

(Download PDF File, 128 Pages, 2.56 MB)

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The Final Report’s Boxed Recommendation 3, on Page 8, lists 8 Variables / Statistics to be collected as a Tier 1 / 1st Priority across Europe, from Ireland all the way down to Türkiye :

  •  Number of Fatalities ;
  •  Number of Injuries ;
  •  Age of Fatalities ;
  •  Primary Causal Factor ;
  •  Type of Building ;
  •  Incident Location ;
  •  Incident Date ;
  •  Incident Time.

So, for instance … the only Fire Statistic related to the Human Condition of Fatalities and Injured which would have been gathered after the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in #London was … Age of Fatalities … which, in the context of what actually happened on that tragic night and knowing the very large numbers of People with Activity Limitations (2001 WHO ICF) and other Vulnerable Building Users who died, or were injured, in the fire … is a very serious error, and entirely ridiculous !!??!!   FUBAR !!

Essential Variable / Statistic Correction: Age, Gender and Vulnerability of Victims (whether Fatality or Injured).  This is critical information and, whatever the resource implications, must be collected.

And if that wasn’t bad enough … this cack-handed approach to the development of Harmonized European Fire Statistics opens up the probability of another Morán with a computer, after a similar fire incident, again showing that a similar High-Rise Residential Tower could be evacuated down a single, narrow, badly designed staircase in 7 minutes.  Say no more !!!

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J’Accuse / I Accuse the International Fire Engineering Community of being intentionally and maliciously Deaf, Dumb and Blind to the desperate Fire Safety Needs of People with Activity Limitations, including People with Disabilities, and other Vulnerable Building Users !

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Concerning Incident Date … the Consortium appears to be completely unaware that the European Standard Short Format Date is … Year-Month-Day (YYYY-MM-DD) !!   See 4.2.2. in the Final Report.  Sloppy, Sloppy, Sloppy.

Generally concerning Tier 1 Statistics … where is there any serious consideration of the deep and substantial Green / Environmental / Climate Disruption Mitigation and Adaptation Measures being imposed on the Design and Operation of New and Existing Buildings … which are already causing serious fire safety problems ???   See many previous Posts on this Technical Blog.

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Colour Image showing #IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report Figure 5a: ‘Limiting warming to 1.5 C and 2 C involves rapid, deep and in most cases immediate greenhouse gas emission reductions’ … from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 6th Assessment Report.  Current emission reduction policies will result in global warming of approximately 3.2 C, which is far off target.  Click to enlarge.

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The Final Report’s Boxed Recommendation 3, on Pages 8 & 9, goes on to list 6 Extra Variables / Statistics to be collected as a Tier 2 / 2nd Priority across Europe, from Portugal all the way up to Finland :

  •  Number of Floors ;
  •  Area of Origin ;
  •  Heat Source ;
  •  Item First Ignited ;
  •  Articles Contributing to Fire Development ;
  •  Fire Safety Measures Present.

Concerning Fire Safety Measures Present … my patience is at an end !  I am heartily sick and tired of pointing out that there is no such thing as a ‘Fire Door’ ; it does not exist !!   It is ALWAYS a Fire Resisting Doorset !!!   See 4.4.3.

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This EU ‘FIRESTAT’ Report properly belongs to the Twilight Zone of the last Century … and in today’s Recycling Bin !

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And Even More Worrying …

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Concerted Resistance to answering the Fire Safety Needs of Vulnerable Building Users ;

The mistaken view that ‘Sustainability’ is merely a graft-on / optional extra to Conventional Fire Engineering ;

Constraining Building Fire Safety Performance within the boundaries of Current Fire Codes ;

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Is the EU ‘FIRESTAT’ Final Report another disturbing sign of the growing Trend towards #GREENWASHING in International Fire Engineering ?

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#Twitter … @sfe2016dublin …

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Sustainable Fire Engineering – Road Map To A Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment For ALL

Posted by CJ Walsh

2022-12-19:  Following on, directly, from the 2016 Dublin Code of Ethics …

[ A personal Code of Ethics – is / must be – the basis for Effective Sustainability Implementation ]

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Multi-Disciplinary Input  > Trans-Disciplinary Output

Sustainable Fire Engineering (SFE) is a Facilitator – no more than Architecture, Structural Engineering, or Spatial Planning – in the task of realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All.  However, SFE has an essential role to fill throughout the difficult journey towards that target.  In close collaboration with other design disciplines, many iterations … twists and turns along the road … will be necessary.

Beware Greenwashing !

Sustainability is NOT a graft-on, or an optional extra, to Conventional Fire Engineering.  This intricate, open, dynamic and continuously evolving Concept must cut right to the core of everyday design practice, and must positively impact all areas of that practice.

Ethical Transformation

In this third decade of the 21st Century … the Safety Objectives in current Fire Codes / Regulations are limited, inadequate, and lagging far behind today’s creative moulding and re-shaping of the Built Environment ;  they are almost, but not entirely, irrelevant in the context of the urgently required transformation of conventional fire engineering.  For anybody who cannot see the broad, beautiful landscape beyond codes and regulations … this SFE Road Map is definitely not for you.  For those who can see, your constant companion … your compass … will be a Personal Code of Ethics.

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Essential Considerations Before Starting Out On The Road …

1.  World Trade Centre Attacks in New York City, on 11 September 2001.  Two sets of important Recommendations were issued by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2005 and 2008.  Not only is the implementation of these still incomplete, but the solid progress which has been made e.g. on Firefighter Safety, is continuously under threat from vested interests.  Other jurisdictions have tended to ignore the Recommendations.  SFE takes full account of this Extreme Man-Made Event.

2.  Grenfell Tower Fire in London, on 14 June 2017.  Evidence at the Official Inquiry continues to shock and horrify ;  the entire fire safety regulatory edifice in England is dysfunctional, and it poses a real and serious danger to Public Health and Safety.  Inquiry Phase 1 Recommendations were issued in 2019.  Already, the Recommendation concerning Evacuation for Vulnerable Building Users & PEEP’s (#33.22 e and f) has been discarded by AHJ’s … and it has also been stated (#34.14) that as everything about the single narrow staircase in the Tower appeared to be OK, it will not be investigated in Inquiry Phase 2 … a sure sign of dysfunctional dysfunction !  SFE sees beyond these major flaws.

3.  Sustainable Buildings   Il Bosco Verticale Towers in Milano … this exciting Project, designed by Stefano Boeri and completed in October 2014, has become the International Icon for innovative / environment-friendly construction.  These new approaches to building design are posing enormous fire safety challenges.   [ Remember back … was it 15 years before fire codes were able to ‘solve’ the Atrium in buildings ? ]   SFE, however, must cope with this extraordinary level of architectural creativity ;  and Fire Engineering Practitioners must be capable of active participation, collaboratively, within Project Design/Construction Teams.

Looking past the Milan Project … it is important for the reader to experience a more rounded flavour of where the exciting synergy between Creative Design and the Inclusive Language of Sustainability is at present, and where it is tending to go …

UN HABITAT ~ World Cities Report 2022 ~ ‘Envisaging the Future of Cities’ … https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2022/06/wcr_2022.pdf

Ar. Vincent Callebaut, France … https://www.vincent.callebaut.org/

Ar. Stefano Boeri, Italy … https://www.stefanoboeriarchitetti.net/en/

Ar. Olando DeUrrutia, Spain … https://deurrutia.com/

4.  Building Energy Performance Rating Schemes   Under enormous environmental and political pressures, the headlong rush to conserve energy in buildings, and to make them more energy efficient … especially after the 2022 Russian Invasion of Ukraine … is proceeding in blissful ignorance of fire safety and necessary independent technical controls.  Measurement of real building performance, after energy refurbishment has been completed, is generally avoided.

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The Road Ahead … From Gro Harlem Brundtland To Reliable Fire Statistics …

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Sustainable Fire Engineering Road Map

Realizing a Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Built Environment for All

(Download PDF File, 36 Overheads, 2.94 Mb)

This SFE Road Map takes account of feedback received after it was first presented on the LinkedIn Group … Sustainable Fire Engineering (#SFE) Network ~ #EthicalDesign #BeyondCodes #DefenceInDepth #SIA … from July to October 2022.  Further updated and revised in May 2023.

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2016 Dublin Code of Ethics – Design, Engineering, Construction & Operation of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL

Posted by CJ Walsh

2020-09-22:  Adopted at the International Fire Conference: SFE 2016 DUBLIN (www.sfe-fire.eu) …

Many years have passed since the 1972 UN Stockholm Declaration on the Human Environment and the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.  In 2016, Sustainable Development remains an intricate, open, dynamic and continually evolving concept.  The guide and driver for frontline practitioners, policy and decision makers must be a personal Code of Ethics … an integrated and inter-related whole which cannot be reduced to fixed rules inviting game playing and ‘trade-offs’.  After working with this Code, it may be necessary to expand on and discuss its principles and/or some of the issues raised … not to narrow its focus, but to broaden interpretation.

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2016 Dublin Code of Ethics – Design, Engineering, Construction & Operation of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for All   (Download PDF File, 91 Kb)

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CODE APPLICATION & PURPOSE

The realization of a Safe, Inclusive, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment demands a concerted, collaborative, very creative and widely trans-disciplinary effort at national, local, regional and international levels across the whole planet – Our Common Home.  The informed operation of appropriate legislation, administrative procedures, performance monitoring and targeting, and incentives/disincentives, at all of these levels, will facilitate initial progress towards this objective … but not the quantity, quality or speed of progress necessary.  Our time is running out !

This Code of Ethics applies … for those who subscribe to its values … to policy and decision makers, and the many different individuals and organizations directly and indirectly involved in the design, engineering, construction, and operation (management and maintenance) of a Safe, Resilient & Sustainable Built Environment for ALL.

The Purpose of this Code of Ethics is to guide the work of competent individuals and organizations in a context where incomplete or inadequate legislation, administrative procedures and incentives/disincentives exist … but, more importantly, where they do not exist at all … and, amid much confusion and obfuscation of the terms, to ensure that implementation is authentically ‘sustainable’, and reliably ‘safe’ and ‘resilient’ for every person in the receiving community, society or culture … before it is too late !

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BREXIT & EU Construction Products Regulation 305/2011 ~ Woeful Implications for Britain’s Fire Industry

Posted by CJ Walsh

2020-09-08:  Ignoring Britain’s silly sabre-rattling, toothless threats and boorish blackmail attempts reported in the Media during this past weekend, yesterday and today … the actual state of play in the tortuous Brexit Negotiations can best be judged from the following sources …

Michel Barnier’s Presentation to the Institute for International and European Affairs (IIEA), on 2 September 2020 … View it Here on YouTube

Britain’s National Audit Office Report: ‘Learning for Government from EU Exit Preparations’, dated 4 September 2020   (Download PDF File, 197 Kb)

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Map of Europe, in colour, showing the current extent of the European Union.  Points to Note:  a) Europe, as a continent, extends as far as the Ural Mountains in Russia;  b) From 1 January 2021, after an implementation period of one year, Great Britain will be entirely outside the EU and the Single Market;  c) The EU is not a Christian organization and as soon the political classes in certain countries (e.g. France and The Netherlands) get over their hysterical hatreds, Turkey will enter the EU as a full Member State;  d) furthermore and eventually, an Independent Scotland will re-join the EU.  Click map to enlarge.

This is the European Union (EU), a Single Market of approximately 450 Million consumers.  The EU operates under the freedoms and protections of Codified / Written Law, i.e. EU Treaties ratified by all of the EU Member States, EU Secondary Legislation (Regulations and Directives), and EU Administrative Provisions.

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A suite of EU Regulations and Directives covers Industrial Products.  While there is some flexibility with regard to how Directives are implemented at national level in the Member States, no such flexibility exists with Regulations.  Construction Products can only be placed on the EU Single Market if they can be shown to comply with the requirements of the EU’s Construction Products Regulation (CPR) Framework, or in other words, be shown to be ‘fit for their intended use’ in the European Union …

REGULATION (EU) No 305/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council, dated 9 March 2011, laying down harmonised conditions for the marketing of construction products and repealing Council Directive 89/106/EEC   (Download PDF File, 998 Kb)

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EU Regulation 305/2011.  Article 13(2) Before placing a Construction Product on the market, Importers shall ensure that the assessment and the verification of constancy of performance has been carried out by the Manufacturer.  They shall ensure that the Manufacturer has drawn up the Technical Documentation referred to in the second sub-paragraph of Article 11(1) and the Declaration of Performance in accordance with Articles 4 and 6.  They shall also ensure that the Product, where required, bears the CE Marking, that the Product is accompanied by the required documents and that the Manufacturer has complied with the requirements set out in Article 11(4) and (5).

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BREXIT ~ IMPLICATIONS FOR THE BRITISH FIRE INDUSTRY

Trade ‘No Deal’ or ‘Minimal Deal’ … from 1 January 2021, Great Britain will be completely outside the European Single Market, and the EU’s Construction Products Regulation Framework.  The designation ‘Notified Body’ under that Framework will fall away from British Organizations.  Construction Products/Systems manufactured in, or supplied from, Britain will then have to undergo an entirely new EU Testing and Approvals Programme in order to access the European Single Market.  Fire Safety related Construction Products will have to be tested, and assessed or appraised, against all 7 Basic Requirements for Buildings together, during the same period of time (see Annex I, EU Regulation 305/2011) …

      1.  Mechanical Resistance and Stability
      2.  Safety in Case of Fire
      3.  Hygiene, Health and the Environment
      4.  Safety and Accessibility in Use
      5.  Protection against Noise
      6.  Energy Economy and Heat Retention
      7.  Sustainable Use of Natural Resources

… a process which will be very interesting to observe, since the Fire Industry (particularly England’s Fire Establishment, AHJ’s, etc) dislikes, with intensity, the whole idea of ‘environmental impact’ … the concept of ‘sustainable development’ is hardly understood … and no consideration is given to the reasonable fire safety and accessibility needs of ‘vulnerable building users’ (including people with activity limitations, refugees, migrants, etc).

The tragic 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire, and its sad aftermath, have demonstrated how dysfunctional, and rotten to the core, is the whole national system of Building Fire Safety in England.  More than 3 years later … on the evidence to date of an ongoing, incompetent Inquiry and a series of shoddy responses from Government … will survivors and the victims’ families ever receive Justice, and find Peace ?   cf. The 1981 Stardust Discotheque Fire in Dublin.  Survivors and victims’ families are still waiting for the truth to be revealed.

In parallel, mutual recognition of British Professional Building Designers, e.g. Architects, Structural Engineers, Fire Engineers, etc., within the European Union will cease.

In parallel, British Fire Research involvement in EU Research Networks will also cease … unless a heavy price is paid to be involved as a 3rd Country.  British Institutions should forget any notions they might have about Network Leadership.

In parallel, Information and Data Flows between Britain and the EU will be disrupted or cease altogether … unless Britain complies fully with the requirements of EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679.  As a vassal state of the USA, this compliance may prove difficult for Britain !

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EU Fire Safety Related Product/System Manufacturers ~ A Word of Caution !

Many EU Construction Product/System Manufacturers continue to use the services provided by British Fire Test Laboratories and/or Fire Consultancy Organizations located in Great Britain … some of which have already established EU-based dummy companies and letterheads.  These British organizations must be avoided altogether.  For example, the practice of fire testing in England and later adding a title page of a Full Test Report with an EU location address is entirely unacceptable !

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SDI’s 2020 Unified Terminology – Concepts, Terms & Definitions

Posted by CJ Walsh

Update 2020-09-01:  Although the term ‘Vulnerable People’ remains unaltered, I considered it wise, and very necessary bearing in mind the obvious myopia in the mainstream health, safety and design worlds … clearly demonstrated by the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in England, and this current CoronaVirus / CoVID-19 Global Pandemic … to include references to specific social groups …

Vulnerable People:  Those people – in a community, society or culture – who are most at risk of being physically, psychologically or sociologically wounded, hurt, damaged, injured, or killed … and include, for example, people with disabilities, young children, people with health conditions, frail older people, women in late pregnancy, refugees, migrants, prisoners, the poor, and homeless.

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2020-07-20:  So many diverse design disciplines and interested groups are involved in the realization, operation and maintenance of a Safe, Inclusive, Resilient and Sustainable Human Environment (built, social, economic, virtual, and institutional) … that the use of simple, easily assimilated language and precise, harmonized technical terminology must be widely exercised.  For the effective application of Building Information Modelling (BIM), this is particularly important.

And concerning Fire Engineering, it is not clear when the practice began, but defining a concept simply in terms of performance in a ‘standard test fire’ is entirely inadequate, and fails to explain the actual meaning of the concept.

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SDI’s 2020 Unified Terminology – Concepts, Terms & Definitions   (Download PDF File, 156 Kb)

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This Terminology … a body of particular terms, each explaining and defining a single concept, covering inter-related building requirements, e.g. human health, accessibility and fire safety for all, firefighting, social rights, design, performance monitoring, and facility management … takes account of:

  1. Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)
  2. WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)
  3. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)
  4. U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
  5. Environmental Impact.

Fire Engineering Terms … take account of the ‘realistic’ end condition, i.e. a real fire in a real building which is occupied or used by real people with varying behaviour and abilities in relation to self-protection, independent evacuation to an external place of safety remote from a fire building, and active participation in a building’s Fire Emergency Management Plan.

General Terms … are also included in order to facilitate a better understanding of:

  • the complexity of human behaviour and perception (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile and proprioceptive) ;
  • the wide range of health conditions ;   and, more specifically
  • mental, cognitive and psychological impairments.

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2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in Buildings – A Call to Action and Successful Implementation !

Posted by CJ Walsh

2020-07-15 …

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2015 Dublin Declaration on ‘Fire Safety for All’ in Buildings – A Call to Action and Successful Implementation !   (Download PDF File, 106 Kb)

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Within the professional discipline of Fire Engineering … either a building is Fire Safe, or it is not ;  the design philosophy of the Fire Engineer is irrelevant.  Similarly, building designers must now begin to think and act in the simple terms of a building being either Accessible, or not.  Too many pointless discussions, and too much petty squabbling, about constrained and constraining accessibility philosophies have wasted valuable time, energy and resources.

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Colour photograph showing a typical, everyday scene in countries all over the world … a young person in a manual wheelchair, independently attempting to mount an external flight of steps in front of a building entrance.
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Reality Check: A Universal, Dismally Inaccessible Built Environment !
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Click image to enlarge.

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Building Accessibility encompasses the complete cycle of Independent Use, in a dignified manner and on an equal basis with others … and includes the approach, entry and use of a building, its facilities and information systems … Egress during normal / ambient conditions and removal from the vicinity of the building … and most importantly, safe Evacuation during a fire emergency to a Place of Safety which is remote from the building and reached by way of an accessible route.

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Colour image illustrating the difference between Equality and Equity.  Everybody is equal, and must be treated equally … but the measures necessary to achieve this in real life must, in many cases, be equitable.
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Human Ability and Behaviour is a continuum … a gentle gradient on which every person functions and acts at different levels due to Environmental and Personal Factors.
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Click image to enlarge.

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To be Accessible, a building must meet a long and complex list of inter-related Accessibility & Usability Design Criteria sufficiently well, i.e. the building must work properly for building occupants and users.  The design target is Effective Accessibility … not half-baked accessibility, partial accessibility, the minimal accessibility required by building codes, or token accessibility.

On the other hand, and taking additional account of the current CoronaVirus / CoVID-19 Pandemic … the construction and operation target must be Successful Implementation, i.e. the finished building design, as constructed and operated, must provide a consistently high degree of safety, convenience and comfort for potential occupants and users during the lifetime of the building.

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Colour photograph showing the post-fire scene of a devastated Lift Lobby with an abandoned Manual Wheelchair.  25 people died and 123 were injured in a Jazan Hospital Fire, Saudi Arabia, which occurred on 24 December 2015.  The fire broke out in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit and Maternity Ward.  Click photograph to enlarge.

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People with Activity Limitations … those people, of all ages, who are unable to perform, independently and without assistance, basic human activities or tasks – because of a health condition or physical / mental / cognitive / psychological impairment of a permanent or temporary nature … are a significant vulnerable group in every community, in every society, and include people with disabilities, children under the age of 5 years, frail older people, women in the later stages of pregnancy, and people with health conditions, etc.

Fire Safety Codes and Standards for healthy, able-bodied, agile adults using buildings exist in almost every country ;  these people can take for granted that buildings are fire safe for them !

However, guidelines concerning Fire Safety for People with Activity Limitations / Fire Safety for ALL (if those guidelines exist at all) are usually technically inadequate, entirely tokenistic and/or blatantly discriminatory ;  these people must assume that there is a serious risk to their safety every time they enter a building.  For them, this is a very significant barrier to their personal development, participation and social inclusion ;  it is a clear and present violation of their human rights !

Forcefully mandated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, adopted on 13 December 2006 … the UN CRPD’s Principal Aim is to ensure that the Human Environment (social, built, economic, virtual, and institutional) is sufficiently accessible to facilitate the safe exercise and enjoyment of those rights, protections and freedoms set down in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), and subsequent International Rights Instruments, by a vulnerable and major section of the population in all of our communities.

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Colour photograph showing the scene of a raging fire in London, on 14 June 2017.  72 people died and many more were injured in this 24 Storey, 120 Apartment Residential Building.  Vulnerable People, including people with activity limitations, refugees, and immigrants with a poor grasp of the English language lived at various heights throughout the Tower.
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A serious design flaw in this building (among many, many others), i.e. a lack of Effective Accessibility … only one narrow, atrociously detailed staircase serving the entire building, lifts/elevators which were useless in a fire emergency, and no areas of rescue assistance adjoining the staircase … had a profoundly negative impact on Firefighter Operations and Safety on the night of 14 June and the following day.
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Click photograph to enlarge.

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It is time to Entirely Eradicate current obsolete, professionally negligent, incompetent and ridiculous approaches to Building Design which result in …

Fire Safety for SOME but not for ALL

Accessibility for SOME but not for ALL

Intricately inter-related … ‘Fire Safety for All’ is a vital component of ‘Accessibility for All’.

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Colour image / Presentation overhead showing how building designers face a critical choice in everyday practice … Legal or Ethical … Beyond Codes ?!?!?
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Legal Compliance is Never Enough.
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Click image to enlarge.

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Fire Safety for All – Nobody Left Behind !

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