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Fire Protection Engineers (FPE) are specially trained through their education and experience to deal with fire and life safety problems in a holistic manner. We focus on our clients’ fire safety objectives and we develop solutions to achieve these objectives, which are often characterized in terms of life safety, property protection, and continuity of operations.
FPEs do more than merely design sprinkler and fire alarm systems. We are trained to assess fire hazards and risks, develop solutions that employ the entire building fire safety system, and focus on the integration of systems with the building architecture.
We understand, interpret, and apply building and life safety codes, but we also know that code requirements are minimum standards that often are insufficient in mitigating a building owner’s unique risks. When a design challenges the strict requirements of the code we can develop creative performance-based solutions that meet code requirements in a cost-effective manner.
The FP/LS team at TLC is led by Jeff LaSalle and Jim Peterkin, each with over 30 years of experience in engineering and code consulting. Our collective experience in the daily activities of building design and construction has given us an intimate understanding of the need for coordination and detailed integration of building fire safety systems into the total building design.
Through our long-term relationships with clients, we also understand the need for attention to detail in design and how systems maintenance affects reliability in fire protection. It’s easy to specify a system to meet a code obligation, but it requires another level of focus to make sure that the solution is appropriate for the hazard, meets the owner’s objectives, and can be built and maintained so that the systems’ reliability remains high.
A key part of our daily practice is the dissemination of code requirements to architects, other engineers, and building owners. The ability to communicate effectively and to transfer technical concepts into readily understandable terms is essential to our success as consultants and advisors.
While cultural, health care, historic, and entertainment facilities often present the greatest challenges and opportunities for application of a holistic approach to building fire safety, these principles can be applied on any project.
Do you have a need for a consultation or an interest in learning more? Contact Jeff or Jim!
