ASTM_E_1546_-_15.pdf

Designation:E154615An American National StandardStandard Guide forDevelopment of Fire-Hazard-Assessment Standards1This standard is issued under the fixed designation E1546;the number immediately following the designation indicates the year oforiginal adoption or,in the case of revision,the year of last revision.A number in parentheses indicates the year of last reapproval.Asuperscript epsilon()indicates an editorial change since the last revision or reapproval.1.Scope1.1 This guide covers the development of fire-hazard-assessment standards.1.2 This guide is directed toward development of standardsthat will provide procedures for assessing fire hazards harmfulto people,animals,or property.1.3 Fire-hazard assessment and fire-risk assessment are bothprocedures for assessing the potential for harm caused bysomethingthe subject of the assessmentwhen it is involved infire,where the involvement in fire is assessed relative to anumber of defined fire scenarios.1.4 Both fire-hazard assessment and fire-risk assessmentprovide information that can be used to address a larger groupof fire scenarios.Fire-hazard assessment provides informationon the maximum potential for harm that can be caused by thefire scenarios that are analyzed or by any less severe firescenarios.Fire-risk assessment uses information on the relativelikelihood of the fire scenarios that are analyzed and theadditional fire scenarios that each analyzed scenario represents.In these two ways,fire-hazard assessment and fire-risk assess-ment allow the user to support certain statements about thepotential for harm caused by something when it is involved infire,generally.1.5 Fire-hazard assessment is appropriate when the goal isto characterize maximum potential for harm under worst-caseconditions.Fire-risk assessment is appropriate when the goal isto characterize overall risk(average severity)or to characterizethe likelihood of worst-case outcomes.It is important that theuser select the appropriate type of assessment procedure for thestatements the user wants to support.1.6 Fire-hazard assessment is addressed in this guide andfire-risk assessment is addressed in Guide E1776.1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of thesafety concerns,if any,associated with its use.It is theresponsibility of the user of this standard to establish appro-priate safety and health practices and determine the applica-bility of regulatory limitations prior to use.1.8 This fire standard cannot be used to provide quantitativemeasures.1.9 This standard is used to predict or provide a quantitativemeasure of the fire hazard from a specified set of fire conditionsinvolving specific materials,products,or assemblies.Thisassessment does not necessarily predict the hazard of actualfires which involve conditions other than those assumed in theanalysis.2.Referenced Documents2.1 ASTM Standards:2D2859 Test Method for Ignition Characteristics of FinishedTextile Floor Covering MaterialsE176 Terminology of Fire StandardsE603 Guide for Room Fire ExperimentsE648 Test Method for Critical Radiant Flux of Floor-Covering Systems Using a Radiant Heat Energy SourceE1354 Test Method for Heat and Visible Smoke ReleaseRates for Materials and Products Using an Oxygen Con-sumption CalorimeterE1678 Test Method for Measuring Smoke Toxicity for Usein Fire Hazard AnalysisE1776 Guide for Development of Fire-Risk-AssessmentStandards2.2 ISO Standards:3ISO 13943 Fire Safety Vocabulary2.3 NFPA Standards:4NFPA 101 Code for Safety to Life from Fire in Buildingsand StructuresNFPA 901 Uniform Coding for Fire Protection2.4 SFPE Standards:5SFPE Engineering Guide to Performance-Based Fire Protec-tion1This guide is under the jurisdiction ofASTM Committee E05 on Fire Standardsand is the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E05.33 on Fire Safety Engineering.Current edition approved June 15,2015.Published August 2015.Originallyapproved in 1993.Last previous edition approved in 2009 as E154609a.DOI:10.1520/E1546-15.2For referenced ASTM standards,visit the ASTM website,www.astm.org,orcontact ASTM Customer Service at serviceastm.org.For Annual Book of ASTMStandards volume information,refer to the standards Document Summary page onthe ASTM website.3Available from American National Standards Institute(ANSI),25 W.43rd St.,4th Floor,New York,NY 10036,http:/www.ansi.org.4Available from National Fire Protection Association(NFPA),1 BatterymarchPark,Quincy,MA 02169-7471,http:/www.nfpa.org.5Available from Society of Fire Protection Engineers(SFPE),7315 WisconsinAve.,Suite 620E,Bethesda,MD 20814,http:/www.sfpe.org.Copyright ASTM International,100 Barr Harbor Drive,PO Box C700,West Conshohocken,PA 19428-2959.United States1 3.Terminology3.1 Definitions of TermsSee Terminology E176 and ISO13943.In case of conflict the definitions in Terminology E176shall prevail.3.2 Definitions:3.2.1 environment,nas related to fire,the conditions andsurroundings that may influence the behavior of a material,product,or assembly when it is exposed to ign