ABSTRACT
A fire may spread beyond the room of origin if and when a structural member of the room – wall, floor or ceiling – reaches a limit state (condition) and experiences ‘thermal failure’ or ‘collapse’ in the extreme case. These two modes of structural failure can normally occur if and when ‘flashover’ occurs and the fire produces intense heat during the post-flashover stage. Due to uncertainties caused by several factors, a probability is attached to the occurrence of flashover in a real fire starting in a room. Evaluation of this probability has been discussed in detail in Section 5.3. A probability is also attached to the thermal failure of a structural member of a room if flashover occurs. Evaluation of this probability is discussed in Section 7.2.
