Fire prevention objectives
The goals principals of fire protection design for nurseries focus on life safety, protection of people’s safety and protection of property and the environment. In particular, the legislation aims to:
- minimize the causes of fire;
- guarantee the stability of the load-bearing structures;
- limit the spread of fire within and towards adjacent activities;
- ensure rapid rescue and the possibility of evacuation.
These objectives are achieved through careful risk assessment, followed by the design of appropriate measures.
Differences between prescriptive and performance approaches
Fire safety design can be approached with two main methodologies: the prescriptive and performance approaches.
THE’prescriptive approachof a deterministic nature, requires the application of rigid rules, without the possibility of adapting to the specificities of the building.
On the contrary, theperformance approachtypical of fire engineering, allows greater flexibility, since the designer can use calculation models to simulate specific fire scenarios, adapting safety measures to the building context.
For nursery schools, two design alternatives are foreseen:
- Traditional RT of ministerial decree 16 July 2014;
- Fire Prevention Code with RTV V.9.
Case study: construction of a nursery
To better understand the practical application of RTV V.9, the publication presents a case study of a newly built nursery with a capacity of over 30 people (maximum foreseeable crowding of 144 occupants).
The building, developed on two floors, includes classrooms for children, catering areas, offices and common spaces, such as a room for play activities.
The entire structure is designed to meet the fire requirements of both ministerial decree 16 July 2014 and RTV V.9, with particular attention to escape routes and compliant solutions regarding compartmentation.
The results emerged from the study
In the publication it is noted that the Code has proven to be more flexibleallowing solutions tailored to the specific task, including the use of a fire elevator as an alternative solution to manage risk in a compliant and safe manner.
The Code has facilitated a more in-depth and adaptable analysis of risks, differentiating itself from the prescriptive method, which requires interventions based on rigid rules and often on expert judgment for non-compliant situations. In this project, considering the vulnerability of the occupants, have been foreseen elevators and stairs in smoke-proof rooms to offer maximum protection during an evacuation.
The results also revealed that the Code places fire risk assessment at the center of planning in order to correctly identify the consequent strategy, in order to achieve the fire safety objectives set at the beginning of the design process.
