NFPA 101A, Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety

NFPA^® 101A Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, 2022 Edition

Chapter 1 Administration

1.1 Scope. (Reserved)
1.2 Purpose. (Reserved)
1.3 Application.

Chapter 2 Referenced Publications

2.1 General.
2.2 NFPA Publications.
2.3 Other Publications.
2.4 References for Extracts in Advisory Sections.

Chapter 3 Definitions

3.1 General.
3.2 NFPA Official Definitions.
3.3 General Definitions.

Chapter 4 Fire Safety Evaluation System for Health Care Occupancies

4.1 General.
4.2 Procedure for Determining Equivalency.
4.3 Fire/Smoke Zone.
4.4 Maintenance.
4.5 Occupancy Risk (Worksheet 4.7.2).
4.6 Safety Parameters (Worksheet 4.7.6).
4.7 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire/Smoke Zones.

Chapter 5 Fire Safety Evaluation System for Detention and Correctional Occupancies

5.1 General.
5.2 Procedure for Determining Equivalency.
5.3 Maintenance.
5.4 Safety Parameters (Worksheet 5.5.3).
5.5 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire Safety.

Chapter 6 Evacuation Capability Determination for Board and Care Occupancies

6.1 General.
6.2 Procedure for Determining Evacuation Capability.
6.3 Rating Residents.
6.4 Rating Residents Using Worksheets 6.8.1 through 6.8.4.
6.5 Rating the Staff Shift (Worksheets 6.8.5 through 6.8.11).
6.6 Rating the Facility (Worksheet 6.8.9).
6.7 Determining Evacuation Capability (Worksheet 6.8.10).
6.8 Worksheets for Rating Residents.

Chapter 7 Fire Safety Evaluation System for Board and Care Occupancies

7.1 General.
7.2 Glossary for Fire Safety Evaluation Worksheet for a Small Facility.
7.3 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire Safety for a Small Facility.
7.4 Glossary for Fire Safety Evaluation Worksheet for a Large Facility.
7.5 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire Safety in a Large Facility.
7.6 Glossary for Fire Safety Evaluation Worksheet for an Apartment Building with Board and Care Occupancies.
7.7 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire Safety in an Apartment Building with Board and Care Occupancies.

Chapter 8 Fire Safety Evaluation System for Business Occupancies

8.1 General.
8.2 Procedure for Determining Equivalency.
8.3 Glossary for Fire Safety Evaluation Worksheet for Business Occupancies.
8.4 Maintenance.
8.5 Safety Parameters (Worksheet 8.6.2).
8.6 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire Safety in Business Occupancies.

Chapter 9 Fire Safety Evaluation System for Educational Occupancies

9.1 General.
9.2 Procedure for Determining Equivalency.
9.3 Glossary for Fire Safety Evaluation Worksheet for Educational Occupancies.
9.4 Maintenance.
9.5 Safety Parameters (Worksheet 9.6.2).
9.6 Worksheets for Evaluating Fire Safety in Educational Occupancies.

Annex A Explanatory Material
Annex B Informational References

THE NFPA HANDBOOKS DIFFER FROM CODES AND STANDARDS

Ever wonder what the difference is between an NFPA^® handbook and a code or standard? We’re glad you asked.

NFPA codes and standards both provide requirements for achieving outcomes. Handbooks take a deeper dive, providing the full text of a code or standard as well as expert commentary and features such as graphics, decision trees, testing procedures, case studies, sample forms and checklists, and other helpful aids to give a better understanding of the reasoning behind the requirements and how to apply them.

JUST REMEMBER:

• A code or standard is a framework—a set of rules to follow with a goal to achieve a certain result
• A handbook is a connector—linking requirements to application by helping you understand the reasoning behind a code or standard

The simplest way to think about it is that codes and standards list the technical requirements while handbooks explain those requirements to clarify how to apply them.

2019 Edition

Apply the updated edition of NFPA 101A, Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety, to correctly determine an equivalency and avoid dangerous and costly errors.

Be prepared to confidently determine an equivalency -- or evaluate that it has an adequate level of life safety -- with the latest edition of NFPA 101A, Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety. Essential for facility managers, inspectors, and Code enforcers, NFPA 101A is used alongside NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, to facilitate an equivalency request using numerically-based fire safety evaluation systems (FSESs). Mandatory values in each FSES reflect the requirements in the 2018 edition of NFPA 101.

NFPA 101A provides FSESs for a wide range of occupancy types. Each chapter presents a different system independent of the others. Coverage includes the following occupancies:

• Health care
• Residential board and care
• Detention and correctional
• Business
• Educational

NFPA 101A also contains:

• Timesaving forms for recording building and life safety features
• Related worksheets
• Tools involved in a formalized method for presenting an equivalency request to the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ)

Use the 2019 edition of NFPA 101A to help ensure that equivalency is measured accurately against the requirements of the 2018 edition of NFPA 101. (Print, 96 pp., 2019)

2016 Edition

Correctly determine an equivalency using the 2016 edition of NFPA 101A, Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety.

As a facility manager, inspector, or Code enforcer, having the latest edition of NFPA 101A keeps you in-the-know about how to determine an equivalency -- or to evaluate that it has an adequate level of life safety. An essential companion to the 2015 NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, the 2016 edition of NFPA 101A, Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety facilitates an equivalency request using the numerically based fire safety evaluation systems (FSESs).

Mandatory values in each FSES reflect the requirements in the 2015 NFPA 101. NFPA 101A provides Code compliant FSESs for a wide range of occupancy types, including:

• Health care
• Residential board and care
• Detention and correctional
• Business
• Educational

Each chapter presents a different system independent of the others. NFPA 101A also contains timesaving forms for recording building and life safety features, related worksheets, and other tools involved in a formalized method for presenting an equivalency request to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). (Softbound, 88 pp., 2016)

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