“View of the Colosseum” 1747 Giovanni Paolo Panini
Special event safety and sustainability — keeping large groups of people safe and engaged in the event itself — cuts across many disciplines. Educational settlements are ideal settings and the raison d’être for these communities everywhere.
Today we charge through the best practice catalogs of the following standards setting organizations:
At the moment we cover outdoor and indoor events because, conceptually, there is substantial overlap. It is likely, however, that in the fullness of time we will have to break down the coverage between exterior and interior events.
There are a number of titles from the foregoing short list of SDO’s that are open for consultation during the next 30 to 90 days so it is not likely we will have time to examine other niche SDO’s in the special event domain. For example:
Action on open global and government consultations, and examination of developments in the research bibliography will have to wait for another day also. We cover them fairly well in the breakout meetings shown on our CALENDAR.
As always, today’s colloquium in open to everyone with the login credentials available on the upper right of our home page.
The Life Safety Code addresses those construction, protection, and occupancy features necessary to minimize danger to life from the effects of fire, including smoke, heat, and toxic gases created during a fire. It is widely incorporated by reference into public safety statutes; typically coupled with the consensus products of the International Code Council. It is a mighty document — one of the NFPA’s leading titles — so we deal with it in pieces; consulting it for decisions to be made for the following:
(1) Determination of the occupancy classification in Chapters 12 through 42.
(2) Determination of whether a building or structure is new or existing.
(3) Determination of the occupant load.
(4) Determination of the hazard of contents.
There are emergent issues — such as active shooter response, integration of life and fire safety systems on the internet of small things — and recurrent issues such as excessive rehabilitation and conformity criteria and the ever-expanding requirements for sprinklers and portable fire extinguishers with which to reckon. It is never easy telling a safety professional paid to make a market for his product or service that it is impossible to be alive and safe. It is even harder telling the dean of a department how much it will cost to bring the square-footage under his stewardship up to the current code.
The 2021 edition is the current edition and is accessible below:
Public input on the 2027 Revision will be received until June 4, 2024. Public comment on the First Draft of the 2027 Revision will be received until June 3, 2025.
Since the Life Safety Code is one of the most “living” of living documents — the International Building Code and the National Electric Code also move continuously — we can start anywhere and anytime and still make meaningful contributions to it. We have been advocating in this document since the 2003 edition in which we submitted proposals for changes such as:
• A student residence facility life safety crosswalk between NFPA 101 and the International Building Code
• Refinements to Chapters 14 and 15 covering education facilities (with particular attention to door technologies)
• Identification of an ingress path for rescue and recovery personnel toward electric service equipment installations.
• Risk-informed requirement for installation of grab bars in bathing areas
• Modification of the 90-minute emergency lighting requirements rule for small buildings and for fixed interval testing
• Modification of emergency illumination fixed interval testing
• Table 7.3.1 Occupant Load revisions
• Harmonization of egress path width with European building codes
There are others. It is typically difficult to make changes to stabilized standard though some of the concepts were integrated by the committee into other parts of the NFPA 101 in unexpected, though productive, ways. Example transcripts of proposed 2023 revisions to the education facility chapter is linked below:
Since NFPA 101 is so vast in its implications we list a few of the sections we track, and can drill into further, according to client interest:
Chapter 3: Definitions
Chapter 7: Means of Egress
Chapter 12: New Assembly Occupancies
Chapter 13: Existing Assembly Occupancies
Chapter 16 Public Input Report: New Day-Care Facilities
Chapter 17 Public Input Report: Existing Day Care Facilities
Chapter 18 Public Input Report: New Health Care Facilities
Chapter 19 Public Input Report: Existing Health Care Facilities
Chapter 28: Public Input Report: New Hotels and Dormitories
Chapter 29: Public Input Report: Existing Hotels and Dormitories
Chapter 43: Building Rehabilitation
Annex A: Explanatory Material
As always we encourage front-line staff, facility managers, subject matter experts and trade associations to participate directly in the NFPA code development process (CLICK HERE to get started)
NFPA 101 is a cross-cutting title so we maintain it on the agenda of our several colloquia —Housing, Prometheus, Security and Pathways colloquia. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting; open to everyone.
Issue: [18-90]
Category: Fire Safety, Public Safety
Colleagues: Mike Anthony, Josh Elvove, Joe DeRosier, Marcelo Hirschler
The development of this standard is coordinated with the ICC Group A Codes. We have tracked concepts in it previous revisions; available in the link below.
As always, we encourage our colleagues with workpoint experience to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process. CLICK HERE to get started.
Issue: [15-283]
Category: Athletics & Recreation, Architectural, Public Safety
Contact: Mike Anthony, Jack Janveja, Richard Robben
“View from the Ancient Theater in Taormina to Mount Etna” c. 1880 Carl Wuttke
Safety and sustainability for any facility begins with an understanding of who shall occupy it. University settings, with mixed-use phenomenon arising spontaneously and temporarily, present challenges and no less so in square-footage identified as performing arts facilities. Education communities present the largest installed base of mixed use and performing arts facilities. A distinction is made between supervised occupants that are in secondary schools (generally under age 18) and unsupervised occupants that are in university facilities (generally above age 18).
First principles regarding occupancy classifications for performing arts facilities appear in Section 303 of the International Building Code Assembly Group A-1. The public edition of the 2021 IBC is linked below:
Each of the International Code Council code development groups A, B and C; fetch back to these classifications. You can sample the safety concepts in play with an examination of the document linked below:
Each of the foregoing documents are lengthy so we recommend using search terms such as “school”, “college”, ‘”university”, “auditorium”, “theater”, “children”, “student” to hasten your cut through it.
We find continuation of lowering of the lighting power densities as noteworthy. Technical committees assembled and managed by the International Code Council, the American Society of Heating & Refrigeration Engineers and the Illumination Engineering Society are leaders in developing consensus products that drive the LED illumination transformation.
The revision schedule for the next tranche of ICC titles that are built upon the foundation of the IBC is linked below:
We encourage experts in education communities — facility managers, research and teaching staff, architectural and engineering students — to participate directly in the ICC Code Development process at the link below:
Note in the transcript above that the four proposals submitted by Standards Michigan relate to healthcare facilities. Code Panel 15 receives proposals for healthcare and assembly occupancy wiring safety concepts.
Marcel Jambon for an 1895 Paris production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello.
The standard of care for electrical system safety in dramatic art facilities in the education, and other industries, is largely established in Articles 518 through Article 540 of the National Electrical Code (NEC). In some instances, dramatic art activity takes place in athletic arenas so we are mindful of parent standards for assembly occupancies generally; found in Chapter 3 of the International Building Code.
Free public access to the current 2023edition of the NEC is linked below:
Note the imperfect correlation between the NFPA and ICC occupancy definitions. This never happens by design but is sometimes necessary. Some risk aggregations have to be understood as terms of art; to be understood by seasoned experts in context. Also, keep in mind that the NEC is a wiring installation safety code.
Proposals for revisions to assembly-related installations in the for 2023 is linked below:
The so called “song and dance” sections of the NEC have been fairly “stable” in recent cycles. Changes to these articles in the NEC 2020 revision are incremental — i.e clarifications on grounding, wiring methods, cord wiring, illumination — and helpful for designers and inspectors. Nothing budget busting. Convergence of fire safety, mass notification, environmental air and visual experiences continues as once-independent technologies continue integration.
We collaborate with the IEEE Education & Healthcare Facilities Committee which meets 4 times monthly in Europe and the Americas. See our CALENDAR for the next online teleconferences; open to everyone.
Issue: [Various]
Category: Sport, Electrical, Telecommunications, Fire Protection, Arts & Entertainment Facilities, Lively Art
“Panoramic View of the Greek Amphitheatre at Syracuse” 18th Century Abraham Louis Rodolphe Ducros
From from time to time — particularly in the months of fairer weather, when many events are hosted outdoors — we break form from the grind of responding to c0nsultations to simply enjoy these spaces See our CALENDAR for our periodic Lively c0lloquia when we drill down into technical specifics.
서울대학교
University of Melbourne (Architect rendering of project in process)
Furman University
High Point University
George Fox University Oregon
Globe Theater / Southern Utah University
Point Loma Nazarene University
Augusta University / Georgia
Singapore Management University
Swarthmore College
Silliman University Amphitheater / The Phillippines
University of Colorado
South Dakota State University
University of Mary Washington / Virginia
California State University San Marcos
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Clemson University
University of Virginia
College of Idaho Centennial Amphitheater
Texas Woman’s University
Swarthmore College
Pomona College
Oakland University Meadowbrook Theater / Rochester, Michigan
The Haystack Observatory is a research facility primarily focused on radio astronomy, geodesy, and atmospheric science research. Although WMBR and the Haystack Observatory are both associated with MIT, they serve distinct purposes; with WMBR focuses on providing a platform for student radio programming and community engagement in the Cambridge region.
The transmitter for student-run radio station, WMBR 88.1 FM, is located in the town of Belmont about 3 miles from campus; situated on a tower at 150 Pleasant Street in Belmont. This location allows WMBR’s signal to cover a significant portion of the greater Boston area, reaching listeners in Cambridge, Boston, and surrounding communities.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
