Life safety and property protection are the two major reasons to provide fire protection features in any building. Depending on the construction type or contents of the building and the occupancy type and number of occupants, fire protection features should provide life safety and property protection or a combination of both.
Put yourself in the role of the fire protection designer. The building plans sitting on your desk show one of several different building types: a large convention facility, a small office building, a chemical manufacturing plant, or maybe a high-piled storage warehouse. Your job is to decide the best approach to provide fire protection in this building. As you begin your task, one major question comes to mind: What steps can you take to evaluate the building for the fire protection needed?