The evolution of HAZARD, the fire hazard assessment methodology

The United States alone spends $700 billion a year on new and renovated construction. About 20% of this money assures safety from unwanted fires, and this portion includes the cost of insurance to families and businesses. This enormous cost could be reduced by introducing fire safe products to the building and transportation industries, both in the United States and abroad, and by introducing advanced detectors, suppression systems, and firefighting equipment to the fire protection industry. In order to show that these products and mechanisms are safe to use, industries need performance measures. Performance-based fire standards are currently being developed to augment prescriptive standards around the world. Performance-based standards are intended to provide flexibility in maintaining accepted fire safety levels among competitive products, while ensuring life safety and reducing property loss. At the same time, performance-based requirements should reduce design and construction costs, as well as the cost of maintenance and liability coverage. In order to derive these benefits, evaluation tools are needed. One such tool, HAZARD I, helps users understand the consequences of unwanted fires by making the results of recent fire research available to them. Improvements to the program will include increased applicability, improved usability, the ability to address additional building features, and more accurate treatment of fire behavior and its effects on people and their actions. Many of the improvements made already in the software documentation are based on the experience of fire protection engineers and others who have used the program. User input, combined with other planned program improvements, constitute the first step in the overall goal of a complete Fire Hazard assessment methodology.