| Abstract | This report provides a summary of a targeted consultation organized by the National Research Council (NRC) on the topic of single egress construction in residential occupancies. The consultation was conducted with a consultation group (CG) formed from stakeholders, representing the fire safety value-chain, through a series of meetings. The CG was divided into two subgroups with provincial and territorial (P/T) representatives in one subgroup and design professionals, industry and the fire services in the other. In addition, observers were permitted to attend the meetings and to also provide input.
The CG shared their knowledge and experience on the topic of single egress in residential occupancies, provided feedback, guidance and validation on the following issues:
1. Scope for a subsequent research work and case studies (P/Ts subgroup members only);
2. Potential building designs (“archetypes”) for the research work;
3. Approach and methods to guide the research;
4. Strategies to evaluate hazards and associated risks for single egress in residential occupancies.
A total of five meetings were facilitated for the consultation. Two meetings were organized for each subgroup separately, followed by a concluding meeting with the two subgroups combined. Each meeting had a similar structure, starting with a short presentation given by the NRC, followed by a facilitated discussion in which CG members were asked to provide their input.
Throughout the consultation, the CG members touched on these commonly raised topics: accessibility, firefighting operations, training and education of emergency responders and occupants, human factors, safety of occupants and emergency responders, economic viability, risk assessment, as well as challenges associated with emerging technologies.
This report describes the consultation approach and a summary of what the NRC heard during the meetings. As such, the report presents the collected information and comprises primarily a summary of comments received during the meetings without further detailed analysis. Further, this report captures additional comments and materials received after the meetings, so that other future efforts may also benefit from the comments shared by attendees.
The insights shared by the CG and reported here will serve to inform the development of the scope and methodology for follow-up foundational research work. That work will examine the equivalence of single-egress solutions to existing fire safety requirements in current codes and provide information for the consideration of potential code changes in the National Model Codes through the Harmonized Code Development System. |
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