scope:

PREFACE

system performance or explicit performance objectives, there is no practical method for a designer to quantitatively compare the level of safety provided by a structural fire engineering design to that provided by a standard fire resistance design. Furthermore, it is not reasonable to require that a structural fire engineering design be "equivalent" to a standard fire resistance design, which does not provide any affirmative quantification of structural system performance under fire exposure. Hence, the best practices described in this manual for successful implementation of a structural fire engineering design are intended to stand independently from acceptance criteria in standard fire resistance design. Although the manual was written with the aim of providing best practices for engineers, it is hoped that it will also be useful to architects, building officials, and academics concerned with performance-based design for structural fire safety. Also, the combination of ASCE/SEI 7 Appendix E, this manual, and other related standards should advance structural fire engineering design as a distinct discipline within structural engineering.