This document provides general principles and requirements for FSE, and is intended to be used by professionals involved in


1) performance-based fire safety design (of both new and existing built environments),


2) implementation for fire safety design plans, and


3) fire safety management.


This document is not intended as a detailed technical design guide, but does provide the key elements necessary for addressing the different steps and their linkages in the fire safety design process. This document also provides key elements linked to the implementation of fire safety design plans and fire safety management. This document is intended not only to be used on its own, but also in conjunction with a consistent set of FSE documents covering methods in performance-based fire safety design, implementation and management.


FSOs covered by this document include:


— safety of life;


— property protection;


— continuity of operations;


— protection of the environment;


— preservation of heritage.


The general principles and requirements of FSE can be applied to all configurations of the built environment, i.e. buildings or other structures (e.g. off-shore platforms; civil engineering works, such as tunnels, bridges and mines; and means of transportation, such as motor vehicles and marine vessels), but may not be applicable for construction sites.


Because prescriptive regulations covering fire safety design commonly co-exist with performance-based design, this document acknowledges that fire safety designs conforming to prescriptive regulations can become the basis for comparison of engineered designs of built environments.