Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 7: Fire Engineering 7 - 57 APPENDIX A German fire safety procedure for single-storey industrial and commercial buildings In Germany, buildings for commercial and industrial use must conform to the “Musterbauordnung” (MBO) and to all federal state building regulations “Bauliche Anlagen und Räume besonderer Art und Nutzung” (“Structural facilities and spaces with special requirements and uses”). In such cases, and in order to meet essential requirements (concerning human safety, public security, and protection of the natural environment), it is possible to adopt alternative solutions to the prescriptive federal state building regulations. This general statement has to be considered in the context of physical and technical fire protection requirements for a building with reference to of “Wohngebäude und vergleichbare Nutzungen” (“residential and similar uses”) according to the federal state building regulations. For commercial and industrial uses, it is neither necessary nor appropriate to apply the requirements of the federal state building regulations. When it comes to meeting general structural fire protection objectives, it is more important to consider each building on an individual basis. A standard procedure for assessing requirements, using scientifically based methods, is recommended. Since industrial buildings are considered “Sonderbauten” (“special buildings”) within the definition of §51 Abs.1 MBO and cannot usually be exempt from the applicable regulations, the goal of MIndBauRl (the technical construction regulation) is to determine the minimum requirements for structural fire prevention. The MIndBauRl also uses design procedures according DIN 18230-1: Structural fire protection in industrial buildings –fire resistance design. Regarding §3 Abs. 3, Satz 3 MBO, which permits variations from technical construction standards, the procedure limits this to accepted methods for fire protection engineering and requires that these are listed in accordance with Annex 1. The aim of the procedure is to regulate the minimum requirements for fire protection of industrial buildings, in particular regarding:  the fire resistance of components and the flammability of building materials  the size of fire compartments and fire-fighting areas  the availability, location and length of emergency escape routes. The procedure will facilitate design for building owners, designers, draftsmen and specialists; for the authorities it will provide justification for relaxation or deviation from the alternatively applicable rules of the MBO. It offers building control and approval bodies a benchmark for equivalent risks. A design method that requires no detailed engineering analyses and no particular calculation has been established. This responds to legal responsibilities and offers a straightforward form of approval.