Basic Life Safety Design Concepts

The capacity of the means of egress - the important thing is to make sure the supply is greater or equal to the demand.

The National Fire Protection Association has almost 100 years of records of major fire investigations that they have worked on. In a review of the records they have found in the past that as long as the egress capacity meets the requirements of the code, the egress capacity has not been a factor in the fatalities that may have occurred in the building. However, a lack of sufficient egress capacity can be a significant contributing factor to fatalities.

In this 67–minute video our speaker, Jim Lathrop, reviews how egress capacity is determined. He discusses travel distance and the importance of protection of the means of egress. Mr. Lathrop talks about construction compartmentation and the differences between a fire resistance rating and a fire protection rating. He wraps up with a discussion of interior finishes and furnishings and contents provisions.

Jim Lathrop is the vice president of Koffel Associates, Inc. Mr. Lathrop has served as a Life Safety Code instructor for NFPA, Chief Life Safety Engineer at NFPA, and was previously Chief Editor of the Life Safety Code Handbook.