BC Update: No.17 - Release of the International Fire Engineering Guidelines

26 May 2005: The Department of Building and Housing has released a new guidance document for the development of fire designs.

The International Fire Engineering Guidelines have been developed by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), the Canadian Codes Centre of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the United States International Codes Council (ICC) and the Department of Building and Housing.

They provide a process for developing fire-engineering solutions using international best practice and have been endorsed by the Department, the New Zealand Fire Service, and the Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand.

The Guidelines have been released as a guidance document under section 175 of the Building Act 2004. They do not prescribe particular solutions, nor are they a Compliance Document as defined in section 7 of the Building Act 2004.

The Guidelines are divided into four parts. Three parts (process, methodology and data) are internationally applicable. A separate section (Part 0) links the international sections to the regulatory framework of the particular country where the Guidelines may be used.

The Guidelines provide fire engineers with a design tool to improve the quality and consistency of fire designs in New Zealand. The Department encourages fire engineers to use these Guidelines both in the development of fire designs and the subsequent assessment of them by building consent authorities.

Copies of the International Fire Engineering Guidelines may be purchased from Victoria University Book Centre, PO Box 12-337, Wellington. Email: sam.stanley@bookcentre.co.nz. Phone 0800 370 370.