Course detail

Fire Safety

FAST-BHA110-AAcad. year: 2026/2027

Main principles of fire safety in buildings.

Fire safety in non-industrial and in industrial buildings, including special focus on residential buildings.

The meaning of dividing buildings into smaller units, into fire compartments. The amount of fire risk depending on the purpose of the room, operation. Fire risk of fire compartment, sources of fire load. Fire safety assessment of building structures. Class of reaction to fire of building materials. Fire resistance of building structures. Increase of fire resistance of building structures. Escape options for occupants of a building at risk of fire. Fire dangerous area around burning building. Fire-fighting equipment.

Language of instruction

English

Number of ECTS credits

5

Mode of study

Not applicable.

Guarantor

Ing. Marie Rusinová, Ph.D.

Department

Institute of Building Structures (PST)

Entry knowledge

Basic knowledge of urban planning, architectural layout, materials, and structural design of buildings, particularly civic buildings (office buildings, scholls, kindergarten, garages) and residential buildings (houses and apartment houses). The ability to design these buildings from a structural engineering perspective in a way that allows for a seamless transition to the course on fire safety assessment of buildings.

Rules for evaluation and completion of the course

The requirements for completing the course will be specified each academic year. Generally, to earn credits, students must submit a semester project and individual assignments. The exam is in written form and assesses both the student’s practical and theoretical knowledge of the subject.

Aims

Students will become familiar with the following topics and learn how to assess a building from the perspective of fire safety.
Students will be introduced to fire safety regulations and requirements and aslo basic principles of fire safety in buildings.
The fire safety requirements will be explained for non-industrial and industrial buildings, including specific requirements for residential, healthcare, agricultural, and storage buildings, as well as for buildings intended for public gatherings and building renovations.
Students will gain the ability to develop fire safety solutions for non-industrial buildings; they will master the process of designing and evaluating buildings from a fire safety perspective, dividing buildings into fire compartments, the methodology for determining fire risk within a fire compartment, determining fire resistance requirements for building structures, methods for improving the properties of structures and materials, the design of escape routes, the identification of fire dangerous areas, and the design of fire suppression equipment.

Study aids

HARLEY, Morgan, J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 3, 5th edition. London: Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4939-2564-3. 1142 s. (EN)
HARLEY, Morgan, J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 1, 5th edition. London: Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4939-2564-0. 1142 s. (EN)
HARLEY, Morgan, J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 2, 5th edition. London: Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4939-2564-3. 2307 s. (EN)
NYYSSONEN, Tata, On the reliability of fire detection and alarm systems, Helsinki: VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland 2005 ISBN 951-38-6569-X (EN)

BENEŠ, Petr, Markéta SEDLÁKOVÁ, Marie RUSINOVÁ, Romana BENEŠOVÁ a Táňa ŠVECOVÁ, Požární bezpečnost staveb, Studijní opora FAST VUT, 2020, ISBN 978-80-7204-943-1 (CS) - a summary in English is available on the course's Moodle page

Prerequisites and corequisites

Not applicable.

Basic literature

BUCHANAN, Andrew, H., ANTHONY, Abu, K.: Structural Design for Fire Safety, 2nd edition. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2017. ISBN 9781118700396. 415 s. (EN)
EN 1363-1:2020. Fire resistance tests – Part 1 – General requirement (EN)
HARLEY, Morgan, J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 1, 5th edition. London: Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4939-2564-0. 1142 s. (EN)
HARLEY, Morgan, J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 2, 5th edition. London: Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4939-2564-3. 2307 s. (EN)
HARLEY, Morgan, J.: SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering, Vol. 3, 5th edition. London: Society of Fire Protection Engineers, 2016. ISBN 978-1-4939-2564-3. 1142 s. (EN)
ISO 834-1:1999/Amd 2:2021. Fire resistance test – Elements of building construction – Part 1: General requirements. (EN)

Recommended reading

Not applicable.

Classification of course in study plans

  • Programme BPA-SIS Bachelor's 3 year of study, summer semester, compulsory, profile core courses

Type of course unit

 

Lecture

26 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Marie Rusinová, Ph.D.

Syllabus

  1. Introduction to fire safety of buildings, importance of the subject in terms of protection of persons and property. Risk to persons in case of fire, health aspects.
  2. Theory of fire, behaviour of the most important materials in fire.
  3. Basic tasks in solving fire safety of a specific building.
  4. Fire compartments. Principles of dividing buildings into fire compartments, fire separating structures.
  5. Fire load of a specific room depending on its purpose, fire risk of the whole fire compartment.
  6. Fire compartments without fire risk, fire compartment with high fire risk. Occurrence, measures.
  7. Class of reaction to fire of building materials – Euroclass. Method of determination. Importance of Euroclass determination for the use of a building element in a structure.
  8. Fire resistance of structures. Limited states.
  9. Assessment of building structures from the point of view of fire safety. Load-bearing structures, fire separating structures.
  10. Escape roads from the burning building. Level of escape from the building, equipment of escape routes.
  11. Stand-off distances, fire dangerous area around a burning building.
  12. Fire-fighting intervention, fire water supply, fire extinguishers, other technical and technological equipment.
  13. Buildings for dwelling and lodging – specific issues. Practical examples of fire safety equipment in buildings.

Exercise

26 hours, compulsory

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Marie Rusinová, Ph.D.

Syllabus

  1. Structural, material and layout design of the building, the basis for ensuring the fire safety of the building. Practical examples of designs.
  2. Principles for dividing the building into fire compartments. Application to a specific building.
  3. Fire load in different rooms according their purpose.
  4. Fire risk in fire compartment.
  5. Determination of requirements for fire resistance of structures.
  6. Determination of the actual fire resistance of building structures
  7. Escape roads, assessment in a specific building.
  8. Stand-off distances and fire dangerous area – influence of radiation, falling of burning parts.
  9. Fire water supply, fire extinguishers.
  10. Assessment of the technical equipment of the building in regard to fire safety.
  11. Options for providing fire intervention, building-specific applications.
  12. Building for dwelling, practical approach for solving.
  13. Credits.

Individual preparation for an ending of the course

52 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Marie Rusinová, Ph.D.

Self-study

26 hours, optionally

Teacher / Lecturer

Ing. Marie Rusinová, Ph.D.