Structural Fire Engineering

Noven Consulting provides structural fire engineering to assess how building materials, members and assemblies respond to fire exposure. The work supports project teams considering fire resistance and structural performance as part of a coordinated fire safety strategy.

Fire exposure and structural response

A structural fire assessment brings together the fire scenario, heat transfer and the response of the structure. The assessment question may concern an individual member, an assembly or a broader design approach. The required performance and the limits of the analysis must be established at the start.

Depending on the engagement, the work can address:

• The fire exposure assumptions relevant to the design question.
• Material behaviour and heat transfer under elevated temperatures.
• Fire resistance and the role of proposed protection measures.
• Findings and design implications for coordination with the structural engineer and other consultants.

Coordination with the structural engineer

Structural fire engineering focuses on performance under fire exposure. The assessment is coordinated with the structural design team, whose overall design responsibilities remain identified in the professional appointments.

Where an assessment supports a departure from a prescribed approach, the applicable requirements and review pathway should be agreed with the project team and authority. See alternative solutions to building code and by-law requirements and performance based design and fire modelling.

Information for an assessment

Provide the project location, drawings, structural system and materials, the proposed protection, design criteria, relevant calculations and the question requiring evaluation. Identify existing authority comments and the stage at which decisions are needed. Request a structural fire engineering proposal.