Building construction

Building Construction for the Fire Service- FFP2120
Assignment and Update- Building’s Construction and Fire Protection:
​The total assignment is worth 7% of your grade
Objective:
​The purpose of this assignment is to choose a building and report on the construction aspects as they relate to fire protection and life safety. You may or may not be familiar with the building, but you must choose one and report on how its construction will affect fire protection of the occupants, the potential risk to firefighters and the building’s stability/construction under fire conditions.
​The building you choose must be a commercial/mercantile structure. You can choose a residential structure, but it must be a multi-family structure (hotel/motel, apartment, dormitory, etc.). You may not choose your residence.
Instructions:
The assignment will:
1. include a cover page with the following:
a. the course title
b. your name
c. the building you are writing the assignment on
d. the due date and time
2. be between four to six pages in length, which includes the cover page
3. be doubled spaced with 1” margins
4. be typed with a 12 font character (Times New Roman)
5. have the pages numbered
6. have at least one and no more than two pages that show photos, graphics, drawings and schematics of the building.
7. be submitted as a word document
Content:
The assignment will have the following in its content:
1. Description and information about the building and its fire protection/life safety features which must include the following:
a. Location/name of the building.
b. Type of construction as per NFPA 5000.
c. Descriptions and types of materials used.
d. Fire protection features of the building (systems, materials, design, etc.)
e. Fire loading and contents of the building
f. Building design and layout as it relates to life safety and fire protection
2. Expected fire behavior in the building and expected safety (or lack of ) of the occupants
a. That is, based on the information that you have discovered, how you would expect a fire in this building to behave. (Grow or not; create a great deal of heat, be a slow-building fire, etc.)
b. Anticipated occupant safety or a lack of safety if the building is involved in fire
3. Expected fire operations strategy (or strategies) if the building is involved in fire
a. Consider occupant rescue, fire suppression/control, exposures, firefighter safety, etc.
b. Offensive mode, defensive mode, offensive/defensive, defensive/offensive
c. Explain, based on the information you have discovered, what strategies you would implement if this building were involved in fire

What this assignment is NOT:
This assignment is not a pre-fire plan of a building. For example, you do not need to tell the location of the water and electricity shut-offs of the building. You do not need to calculate fire flows to suppress a fire in the building. You can use information from a pre-fire plan, but it is not a fire prevention inspection of a building or a fire safety plan of a building.

The intent of the assignment:
The intent of the assignment is for you to define, analyze, and report the building’s construction, layout, fire protection features and the design related to fire protection and life safety. Using this information, you will determine how you think a fire will behave in the building and how you will react. You must also develop a strategy or strategies as if you were the Incident Commander and the building was involved in fire.
Submitting the update and the assignment:
The assignment will be submitted via the course on Canvas. Please follow the instructions under Assignment Update and Assignment.