Prescriptive, performance-based, and analytical fire design routes — Ch. 37 orientation.

Scope

CivilTech notes on structural fire behaviour and design. Not a substitute for project codes, approvals, or peer review.

Regulatory context. South African projects follow National Building Regulations, SANS 10400, and cited material standards; use this material as orientation only.

Using this page

  1. Context — Cross-check these notes with your project fire strategy and the code edition on the job.
  2. Tools — The Fire Engineering page has ISO 834 and steel-retention calculators for quick checks.
  3. Approval — Fire resistance and structural fire design remain subject to the local authority and appointed engineers.

Fire engineering — Design methods

Section 7 — From prescriptive tables to performance-based thermal–structural analysis.

Prescriptive

Specified minimum sizes, covers, and ratings for assemblies; fast to apply where the building fits standard assumptions.

Performance-based

Explicit fire scenarios, acceptance criteria, and often natural-fire or parametric inputs; requires qualified fire engineering and documentation.

Analytical

Simplified member models or advanced nonlinear FEA link temperature fields to resistance and deformation limits over time.

Diagram sources

This page has no diagram assets. Text is CivilTech orientation on design routes—prescriptive and performance-based submissions must match regulator and project requirements.