Fire resistance and progressive collapse analysis

The fire resistance of the structures is one of the fire protection measures to be pursued to ensure an adequate level of safety of a construction work in fire conditions. It relates to the load-bearing capacity in the event of a fire, for a structure, part of the structure or a structural element, as well as the compartmentalization capacity in the event of a fire for structural and non-structural separation elements. It can be treated:

• with compliant solution without using FSE (Fire Safety Engineering);
• with an alternative solution through the adoption of the modern approach of fire safety engineering (performance method, Fire Safety Engineering - FSE) to optimize passive protection interventions and reduce their economic impact. 

The adoption of the alternative solution with the FSE approach allows huge economic savings because it is possible to guarantee the same level of performance by reducing or eliminating passive protection interventions. 

Finally, in some cases, it is necessary for the building to collapse without causing damage to other construction works. A correct structural design allows to achieve this goal through a careful selection of the elements most vulnerable to fire which, yielding first, can direct the direction of the collapse of the entire work.