Fire Protection Research Foundation report: "
Validation of the Fire Safety Evaluation System (FSES in the 2013 Edition of the NFPA 101A"
(PDF, 885 KB)
Author: Michael Crowley and Dick Bukowski, Rolf Jensen & Associates; Carl Baldasarra, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
Date of issue: August 2014
Introduction
NFPA 101A, Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, Section 4.1.2 describes the fire safety evaluation system as follows: “The fire safety evaluation system (FSES) is a measuring system. It compares the level of safety provided by an arrangement of safeguards that differ from those specified in NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, to the level of safety provided in a building that conforms exactly with the details of the Code.”
There have been many significant changes in the Life Safety Code since 1981. A validation is needed to ensure the values stated in the FSES still provide a valid correlation to the requirements contained in the Life Safety Code. The FSES for health care (Chapter 4 in NFPA 101A) is the oldest and most widely used FSES, so this project was undertaken to determine if the healthcare FSES accurately measures equivalency with NFPA 101.