Assessment Item 1-Briefing Document

ARBE3306 Assessment Item 1 - Briefing Document

Building Fire Safety and Compliance
School of Architecture and the Built Environment

ARBE3306 Building Fire Safety and Compliance

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Assessment Item 1-Briefing Document

1

Background

1.1

Assignment 1 Assessment 1: Written Professional Report

1.1.1

The assignment aim is:

(a)

1.1.2

To introduce and reinforce the concepts of Fire Safety engineering and compliance
through assessment of a proposed building, and preparation of a professional report.

On completion of this assignment the student should be able to:

(a)

Understand building regulations, fire dynamics, building response to fires.

(b)

Understand human behaviour and risk assessment.

(c)

Present written and visual concepts and ideas.

Assessment item-briefing document

2.1.1

This assessment item-briefing document provides the information necessary to complete the
assignment. You may be required to make assumptions or educated guesses on any
information/material that you believe to be missing. If this is the case you are to
explain/justify these assumptions.

The building

3.1

Description

3.1.1

The proposed building is a single storey mixed use centre located in the Eastern suburbs
of Newcastle. The internal height from floor to ceiling is approximately 5 metres. The
building will accommodate two majors, a food court, specialty shops and small kiosks.

3.1.2

The building has a floor area of more than 20,000 m and has multiple access and egress
points around its perimeter. The site is served by two public roads and has an at grade
carpark. The proposed site and floor plan is provided on page 3 in 3.4.

3.1.3

The proposed construction comprises a reinforced concrete ground floor slab, a steel portal
frame (loadbearing columns incorporated into the external wall, loadbearing internal
columns, roof beams and bracing), lightweight metal cladding to the external walls and roof,
and glazed infill panels as required. None of the proposed building elements will achieve a
fire resistance level.

3.2

Exit system

3.2.1

Each exit as shown on the floor plan has a clear, unobstructed width of 1.1 metres.

3.2.2

The openings through internal walls and external walls nominated as flow paths, comprise
sliding and other doors that do not form part of the exit system, as they do not comply
with the deemed to satisfy (DTS) provisions, and are considered unsuitable.

3.2.3

The openings through internal walls generally comprise roller shutters that will be in
the open position when the building is legally occupied, and locked at all other times.

3.3

Fire services

3.3.1

The building will be served by a sprinkler system complying with AS 2118.1, external
hydrants located adjacent to the external walls at 30 metre intervals around the perimeter of
the building, an automatic fire detection and alarm system complying with Specification
E2.2b of BCA2015, portable fire extinguishers complying with AS 2444 and emergency
lighting and exit signs complying with AS2293

ARBE3306 Building Fire Safety and Compliance

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Assessment Item 1-Briefing Document

Site and floor plans

Lot 2

Offices

Lot 2

Major

At grade carparking

Back of house

Lot 1

loading dock

8m

Food court

Amenities

Major

At grade carparking

Public Road

Legend: 1.5 m wide exit -

Kiosk -

Specialty -

Flow Path
Scale: 1-1000 @A4

ARBE3306 Building Fire Safety and Compliance

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Assessment Item 1-Briefing Document

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Other information

4.1

The assignment

4.1.1

The assignment requires the following:

(a)

Assess the plans and specification for the proposed building

(b)

Identify non-compliances with certain DTS provisions in BCA2015

(c)

Nominate relevant performance requirements subject to the alternative solution

(d)

Develop a framework for the alternative solution that would involve using fire safety
engineering

4.2

Notes

4.2.1

The following are reasonable assumptions for this assignment:

The non-compliances with certain DTS provisions in BCA2015 referred to in

4.1.1(b) above are those main non-compliances with Section C, Part D1 and D2,
and Section E, of BCA2015
The owner would like an Alternative solution as recognised by the BCA to be
developed to address all of the non-compliances resulting from your assessment
of the plans and specification
The reporting of each non-compliance will nominate the relevant clause, provide
a brief reason as to why it is a non- compliance, and will include any assumptions
The nomination of relevant performance requirements as referred to in 4.1.1(c)
above will be based on the method in A0.10 of BCA2015
The development of a framework for the Alternative Solution as referred to in
4.1.1(d) above would mention the DTS non-compliances, the relevant performance
requirements, the need for a fire engineering brief, the members of the design team
who may be involved, the fire safety engineering sub systems that may be
involved, and any areas where the plans may need to be amended to facilitate an
acceptable, workable solution.

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