Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 2: Concept Design 2 - 68  Size of compartment  Access and facilities for the Fire Service  Limiting the spread of fire  Smoke control and evacuation  Adoption of sprinklers. Generally, the above issues are addressed by the scheme architect. In addition to the above, structural performance in the event of a fire must meet prescribed s tandards, expressed as a peri od of fi re resistance of the structural components. As an alternative, a ‘fire engineering’ approach may be followed which acco unts for th e fire s afety of the wh ole building , considerin g the structure use, the hazards, the risks and how these are addressed. In general, the structural engineer and architect should consider:  Schemes which have fewer beams to fire protect  The opportunity to use unprotected steelwork  The influence of service integ ration on the fire protection system , a nd appropriate solutions such as intumescent coatings on cellular beams  The influence that site applied prot ection m ay have on the construction programme, particularly if the protection is a spray  Requirements for the final appearance of exposed steelwork when choosing a fire protection system. Guidance on the fire engineering of multi-storey steel structures is given in Multi-storey steel buildings. Part 6: Fire engineering [10] . 6.6 Acoustic performance Limits on r esidual noise, after accounting for attenuation by the building façade, are usually specified in National regulations for open plan offices and conference rooms. Criteria are also usually given for the acceptable no ise from building services in the same categories. Maximum and minimum ambient noise leve l targets are generally defined for spaces within buildings. These are appropriate for comfort in both commercial premises and residential accommodation. To meet acoustic p erformance standards, the construction de tails may require special attention. In Figure 6.2 precast concrete units have an isolated screed (a screed separated from the precas t unit by a prop rietary resilient laye r, or by a waterproof membrane and dense m ineral wool). In addition, the ceiling is no t in direct contact with the steel beam, and is at least 8 kg/m 2 . Particular attention must also be paid to th e junction where walls m eet floors and cei lings (known as “flanking” details). An exa mple of a typical flanking detail is shown in Figure 6.3, where there is dense m ineral wool around the st eel beam, sealant