International fire engineering guidelines
The International Fire Engineering Guidelines were developed by the Australian Building Codes Board (ABCB), the Canadian Codes Centre of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the United States International Codes Council (ICC) and MBIE (in its former capacity as the Department of Building and Housing).
They provide a process for developing fire-engineering solutions using international best practice and have been endorsed by MBIE, the New Zealand Fire Service and the Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand.
The guidelines are a guidance document, under section 175 of the Building Act 2004. They do not prescribe particular solutions, nor are they an Acceptable Solution as defined in section 7 of the Building Act 2004.
The guidelines are divided into four parts. Three parts (process, methodology and data) are internationally applicable. A separate section (Part 0) links the international sections to the regulatory framework of the particular country where the guidelines may be used.
The guidelines provide fire engineers with a design tool to improve the quality and consistency of fire designs in New Zealand. We encourage fire engineers to use these Guidelines both in the development of fire designs and the subsequent assessment of them by building consent authorities.
A free copy of the International Fire Engineering Guidelines is available from the Australian Building Codes Board website.