Development of objective-criteria-scenario triplets and design fires for performance-based Fire Safety Design

•A method for forming 'objective-criteria-scenario' triplets for fire design analysis.•Identifying fire safety objectives and criteria.•Developing detailed fire scenarios and design fire curves.•Overview for using historical and experimental data to generate design fire curves.

Detailed guidance for conducting performance-based fire engineering analyses for the built environment is lacking, in particular for how to identify and specify performance-criteria, fire scenarios and design fires. To help fill this gap, a method is proposed for establishing sets of 'objective-criteria-scenario' triplets and design-basis fires for different building-occupant systems, which can be used in regulation or directly by engineers. Application of the method forces the user to identify fire safety objectives for specific targets within a building, measurable performance criteria related to the targets and the objectives, detailed fire scenarios, and representative design fire curves, which are used to assess the building fire safety systems performance in meeting fire safety objectives. The method is briefly overviewed and particular emphasis is given to how historical data and experimental fire test data can be used to develop scenarios and associated design fire curves.