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Fire Safety Code for Historic Structures

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Abstract

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) periodically updates each fire safety code and standard that it develops. Acknowledging the need for a document to prescribe fire safety for historic buildings, a complete and thorough rewrite of NFPA 914 was undertaken. The former recommended practice has now been issued as the Code for Fire Protection in Historic Structures. The 2001 edition identifies a process for analyzing fire safety needs in historic buildings, outlines generic approaches to dealing with specific provisions of other codes that may endanger historic integrity, and includes a performance-based approach to fire safety in historic buildings. This paper describes the background, revision process, and current proposed content NFPA 914.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fire Safety Institute, Middlebury, Vermont

    John M. Watts

  2. NFPA, Quincy, Massachusetts

    Robert E. Solomon

Authors
  1. John M. Watts
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  2. Robert E. Solomon
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Watts, J.M., Solomon, R.E. Fire Safety Code for Historic Structures. Fire Technology 38, 301–310 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020110214065

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