Building officials perception on the use of performance-based fire engineering approach in building design - a second stage study

Abstract

With the increasing demand on multi-function and appearance of the buildings, a conventional prescriptive approach would impede the development of innovative and cost-effective designs. It has been accepted worldwide that the fire engineering approach would be a suitable alternative to satisfy the demand. In the context of the building control system in Hong Kong, whether a fire engineering design can be put into practice is subject to the approval of building officials. The acceptance from the building officials is decisive in promoting the application of the fire engineering approach. This paper aims at investigating whether the building officials’ perception on the fire engineering approach has changed since the last study in 1999. A questionnaire has been conducted, and the findings are compared with those obtained from the previous survey. The results revealed that more building officials have agreed to the use of the fire engineering approach. However, they are still unfamiliar with the techniques and models required for design evaluation.