Fire safety in multi-storey mass timber structures

For those experienced with timber and fire safety concepts.

Sarah Carne National Library Auditorium 17

Fire safety design resources available here:

Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings – Global Design Guide

Mass Timber Guidance Supplement

International fire safety resources

Background

Fire Safe Use of Wood – Global Design Guide was published in 2022; however, detailed commentary guidance is needed to remove uncertainty in the design and consenting of timber buildings in New Zealand.

Timber Unlimited Advanced Fire Safety Guidelines will enable fire engineering designers and approval authorities to more easily understand and follow compliance pathways within the NZ Building Code, justified by international trends and recent research results.

Stage 1 - Supplement

As an interim output from the project, Timber Unlimited has consulted mass timber suppliers, industry organisations, fire engineers, FENZ, MBIE, TDS, SESOC and structural engineers through the development of the “Mass Timber Guidance Document – Recommended Supplement to C/AS2 and C/VM2”.

This will provide much-needed clarity and recommendations for designers who are designing timber and hybrid buildings. 

Presented by Dr Andy Buchanan, this TDS Series webinar describes the supplement.

Stage 2 - Final Commentary

The interim Supplement will form an Appendix in the final “NZ Commentary to the Fire Safe Use of Wood in Buildings – Global Design Guide”, due for completion mid-2024.

Useful international 
fire safety resources

Selected papers from the World Conference on Timber Engineering 2023, 
and the Fire Safety Journal.