Our Building Code and Fire Safety Engineering Services
BUILDING CODE CONSULTING & FIRE STRATEGY
To provide an adequate level of fire and life safety in the design of any building or structure, an optimum approach to compliance with the building code is crucial.
PERFORMANCE-BASED DESIGN
Performance-based design approach provides an alternative means to design buildings and structures to allow for more practical solutions.
Building cladding fire audit & risk assessment
Audit of existing building cladding, laboratory screening fire tests and risk assessment to determine fire risk levels and mitigations measures.
Facade assessments & inspections
Façade fire assessments to verify compliance and progressive inspections of façade to verify installation to meet latest code requirements.
Third party peer review
Third party peer reviews are often required in complex projects where the approval authority requires an independent fire consultant to confirm compliance with the requirements of applicable codes and standards.
Third party active & passive fire inspections
Vortex Fire has extensive experience in providing third party (IIA – Independent Inspection Agency) fire safety inspections and witnessing of testing and commissioning on projects under construction.
CFD fire & smoke modelling
Fire and smoke modelling provides a means to validate and test the performance of smoke control and management systems in atriums and smoke spread in a building.
Egress modelling
Challenging designs such as extended travel distances in large industrial and warehouse buildings and high occupant load in assembly spaces such as malls, stadiums, transit stations, airports often benefit from data obtained during egress analyses.
Stack effect & exit pressurisation analysis
Stack effect is the vertical airflow within buildings caused by the temperature-created density differences between the building interior and exterior or between two interior spaces.
Fire safety plans
Most buildings are required to have an approved fire safety plan. This document needs to include procedures for reporting emergencies, evacuation procedures, requirement for fire drills, etc.
Emergency response & evacuation plans
Most complex buildings require emergency response and evacuation plans to be developed.
Partial occupancy plans
The Ontario Building Code permits staged building occupancy in large buildings provided the implementation of sufficient fire safety measures.
Mass timber buildings
The use of wood, as a construction material, is becoming more prevalent in larger and higher buildings. The Ontario Building Code, National Building Code of Canada, and British Columbia Building Code permit the construction of wood building up to six storeys in building height.
Fire safety training
We offer a range of training courses to companies and individuals looking to improve their knowledge and understanding of fire safety engineering.