Cliff Barnett Obituary
10 June 1929 to 21 June 2008
It was with great sadness that we learned of the recent passing of Cliff Barnett. Cliff made an important contribution to fire engineering, the development of requirements for the New Zealand performance-based Building Code and the development of fire Compliance Documents.
His work has benefited the lives of all New Zealanders. Cliff believed that applying engineering thinking could help develop methods of building design that would protect people and property from the effects of fire. Cliff's work helped to change the perception that the primary danger to people was from flame contact rather than smoke.
Cliff had a passion for learning and produced over 50 research and academic papers advancing the body of knowledge in fire engineering. He won the IPENZ Structural Award in 1992 with a paper entitled 'Fire Safety Design - the Coming Engineering Discipline'. Cliff organised the first formal fire engineering training course in New Zealand, the 'five day fire engineering course'.
Cliff contributed to many committees and was keen to work on any committee concerned with how fire could affect people or buildings or a committee involving new knowledge.This was all achieved while he ran a successful consulting practice and was active in many community activities such as Search and Rescue.
As a result of Cliff's participation in international conferences and seminars, in 1997 he was awarded the Fellowship of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (USA). To date he has been the only New Zealand fire engineer to be awarded this accolade.
In recognition of his lifetime contribution to fire engineering, Cliff was made a Distinguished Fellow of IPENZ in 2002.
In 2005, Cliff was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for his service to fire safety engineering in New Zealand.
Cliff was an inspiration to the profession and was passionate in his advocacy of a scientific rather than empirical or arbitrary basis for fire engineering. He wanted New Zealand to lead the way in fire engineering design. His inspiration, determination, humour, persistence and dedication entitle him to be regarded as the founding father of fire engineering in New Zealand and a great contributor to our society.
(Based on eulogy by Tony Gibson, Chair of the Department of Building and Housing's Fire Advisory Panel, 27 June 2008, St David's Presbyterian Church, Grafton).