Steel Buildings in Europe

Part 7: Fire Engineering 7 - 58 MIndBauRl applies to all industrial buildings regardless of their size. It does not apply to:  industrial buildings which are only used for storing technical equipment or facilities and where only access is temporarily needed for maintenance and inspection purposes  industrial buildings that are mostly open, such as covered outdoor areas or open warehouses  buildings which can be assimilated due to their behaviour in fire. In addition, the procedure does not apply to storage shelves more than 9.0 m high (to the top of stored material). This procedure may also be used for allowing and justifying relaxation of the regulations according to §51 MBO for buildings and structural facilities, which are not directly covered by the scope of MIndBauRl, although they are comparable to industrial structures in respect to fire risk. Justification for relaxation of conditions under §51 Abs. 1 MBO may be provided with one of the following procedures.  Simplified procedure In the procedure according to Abs. 6, the maximum fire compartment surface for a fire section area will depend on the fire-resistance classification of the supporting and stiffening components as well as the structure’s fire technical protection infrastructure.  Complete verification procedure In the procedure according to Abs. 7, the maximum surface area and the requirements for the components in accordance with the fire safety classes for a fire compartment will be based on the calculation procedure according to DIN 18230-1.  Engineering methods Instead of proceeding according to Abs. 6 and 7, standard fire protection engineering design methods may also be used. The initiator of a fire protection concept has the choice which method (Abs. 6 or 7) will be implemented when using the MIndBauRl. However it is not permissible to combine procedures. Concerning the fire engineering methods, the MIndBauRl identifies the principles and conditions for the hypotheses of such designs. It regulates the verification and checking as well as documentation. The MIndBauRl, which has been introduced as a standard in the Building Regulations in all German states, is legally applicable. As part of the application of IndBauRl, there are several procedural methods. The same general requirements apply for all verifications; these are identical for all procedures and must be respected. These include fire-fighting water requirements, smoke evacuation, location and accessibility, emergency exits and fire spread.