The Status of Fire Safety Engineering in Europe
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SFPE European Chapters Coordination Group (ECCG) May 3, 2014 SFPE ECCG: White Paper for Professional Recognition for Fire Safety Engineering Editors: Robert Jönsson and Michael Strömgren Contributors: SFPE European Chapters Coordination Group (ECCG) SFPE Board of Directors SFPE ECCG White Paper for Professional Recognition for Fire Safety Engineering Page 1 FOREWORD This paper has been produced by the SFPE European Chapters Coordination Group (ECCG). The SFPE ECCG is a body comprised of presidents of the European Chapters of SFPE and the elected ECCG president, which has been formed to facilitate collaboration on issues which are common to the chapters. The aims of this document are to present a current snapshot of the state of recognition of fire safety engineering professionals in Europe, and to articulate a set of initiatives intended to help gain a common understanding of qualifications, educational requirements and further advance recognition of fire safety engineering professions within Europe. It is noted that the situation will change with time, and that this White Paper may not completely address the wide breadth of issues which currently exist. The ECCG would like to thank Woodrow, Bisby and Torero who have made a significant contribution to the contents of this white paper [1], particularly in the area of educational needs. The ECCG also recognizes the efforts of Jonsson and Stromgren for their efforts on data collection on the status of fire safety engineering in Europe. The directions outlined in this report align with the strategic directions of the SFPE Board of Directors, which endorses the initiatives outlined in this report. OBJECTIVE This White Paper highlights the need for appropriate qualification of fire safety engineering practitioners in Europe, and identifies initiatives for proceeding toward this objective. The paper primarily focuses on competency requirements for fire safety engineering in developing performance based fire solutions, i.e., the front end of the design and construction solutions. Prescriptive or code-based design is not included. The focus has been put on performance based design as it is considered to be the main basis to be able to develop and achieve professional recognition for the profession. In this paper, fire safety engineering and fire protection engineering is considered to be basically identical. The main target group is the consultancy sector, but the conclusions are also transferrable and valid for a broader range of sectors. It is vital to examine what constitutes a qualified fire safety engineer, including what sort of background, qualifications and training they should have to ensure fire safety strategies and that their developed solutions are robust. It should be mentioned that the situation in Europe will inevitably be changing. It is not realistic to expect that this White Paper can fulfill every national objective for each member state. The document should be looked upon as a guidance document that SFPE ECCG White Paper for Professional Recognition for Fire Safety Engineering Page 2 forms the basis for a discussion. The ECCG should also consider periodic revisions of this paper to ensure that it is up to date. The idea is also that this White Paper may be inspirational for other White Papers on specific topics, such as minimum education requirements, accreditation schemes/procedures, best practice, etc. for which all the details cannot and should not be in this White Paper. INTRODUCTION The need for fire safety engineers in Europe is obvious. In a small country like Sweden there’s still more than 300 university educated fire safety engineers work as consultants so our belief is that similar conditions could be valid in every country. It is considered that there is a need for European recognized diplomas and a European approach to accreditation and to establishing registration or certification of fire safety engineers and other fire safety practitioners in Europe. The approach needs to be based on established levels of competency appropriate to their roles. Qualification of practitioners has been identified by SFPE1 as an important part of the professional recognition of fire safety engineers worldwide. If fire safety engineering design can find ways to synergize with other disciplines that drive the construction industry, fire safety engineering) could experience a rapid and positive evolution consistent with other engineering disciplines. This will lead to tremendous opportunities. For this to occur it is essential for fire safety engineering as a profession to evolve towards true performance- based design. While it must be recognized that the many sectors involved in fire safety engineering need to evolve in a consistent manner, this will never happen if the evolution does not start within the educational systems charged with delivering the next generation of fire safety engineers. There is a clear need for educational ‘programs’ which are capable of pushing forward the boundaries of fire safety engineering, rather than simply perpetuating the status quo. The growing need for fire safety engineering design around the world has led to a growing number of short courses and higher education degrees based mostly on technology rather than design. It is our belief that some of those programs are able to exist because they are delivering professionals into an industry that has not (yet) adequately defined competence. At a seminar held by Lloyd’s Register Educational Trust (LRET), attendees pointed to programs and courses internationally where graduates were not targeted by top firms. The global seminar was held at Edinburgh University 2011 and is accounted for in Fire Safety Journal [1]. 1 On the 17th of April 2013 Society of Fire Protection Engineers, Board of Directors, Endorsed a Strategy to Increasing Professional Recognition of Fire Protection Engineering Internationally. SFPE ECCG White Paper for Professional Recognition for Fire Safety Engineering Page 3 Furthermore, this lack of a competence definition is confusing other professionals with who fire safety engineers must collaborate: this isolates the fire safety engineering profession. The transformation of fire safety engineering is therefore slow, mistakes are sometimes made, and hidden, poorly quantified risks are taken. There is confusion about the requisite training and experience needed to perform adequate performance- based design for fire. Indeed, in some jurisdictions regulators are turning their backs on performance-based design and retreating into prescriptive design, citing the fact that the engineers are not capable, their regulatory process is not good enough, and performance-based design does not work in practice. Similar moves are underway in New Zealand, which has historically been at the forefront of promoting performance- based building codes but is now seeking to prescribe performance [2]. Whilst building failures, large fires and litigation may highlight some of the weaknesses in the performance based building code system and in some aspect of fire safety design, it must be said that there are many very sound fire safety engineers operating in Europe who: • demonstrate competence • have professional registration, i.e. certification or similar • maintain their continuous education • understand and operate within the engineering code of ethics • produce fire safety designs for some great buildings around Europe While the building codes and regulations may affect this, it is possible to judge from the experience in many countries that this is not the sole issue. Other factors probably have a bigger impact. Better education and a certification system for fire safety engineering could clearly help fire safety engineering to move forward into innovation and be beneficial for the construction industry. FIRE SAFETY ENGINEERING STATUS IN EUROPE In 2013, a survey was completed concerning the status of fire safety engineering in Europe and is published in an article. The survey was conducted on behalf of the ECCG. The report highlights areas such as qualification of practitioners, education, and legal framework and builds regulations concerning fire safety engineering. In the following sub-chapters a summary of the survey findings is presented [3]. Qualification of practitioners Only a few countries have requirements, for example a university degree or a diploma in Fire Protection Engineering, for qualification of practitioners (Figure 1). However, while fire safety engineering is allowed in all countries there are limitations in many countries i.e. fire safety engineering is very seldom accepted and a pure prescriptive approach is SFPE ECCG White Paper for Professional Recognition for Fire Safety Engineering Page 4 necessary. In some countries prescriptive design deviations (for example extended travel distances or reduced structural fire protection, etc.) must be accepted by authorities on national, regional or local level. In other countries, only certain organizations may perform fire safety engineering. A minority of countries has some form of certification program, and not all of these are mandatory. Figure 1 Qualification of practitioners by education, certification or other means. Educational levels In Figure 2 three levels of education have been investigated in the survey. The classification of educational levels is made according to the SFPE2 and a list of universities and other schools can be found at http://careers.sfpe.org/colleges/. The first group “Fire Safety Engineering” consists