Performance Based Fire Engineering in the UK

This paper reviews the recent developments in fire engineering and the design approaches which are being used in the UK, compared with traditional prescriptive solutions. The research background which has underpinned this is briefly summarised, and the benefits of these more advanced methods are discussed. The focus is on structural fire engineering, but some consideration of modelling fires is also included. Some of the more commonly used design tools are discussed, together with the relative benefits they offer. The use of these more advanced approaches is then outlined in the context of which building types might be most suitable, and a number of case studies are included to illustrate this. Likely future developments are also discussed.