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Life Safety Code 101

Course Overview

The Life Safety Code (LSC) is a compilation of fire safety requirements for new and existing buildings, and is updated and published every 3 years by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). This course helps you understand the goals of life safety, know the key concepts within life safety, understand the requirements of fire separation, and learn both basic and general life safety requirements such as means of egress, fire resistance rating, and fire protection features.

This course includes a multiple choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of the course, you will be able to:

Intended Audience

This course is designed for engineers, land surveyors, architects, contractors, safety and health professionals, or anyone who would like to learn more about life safety codes and standards.

Course Content

This course covers only Chapters 1 through 14 of the Life Safety Code. Besides the Code provisions in these chapters, you need to study the materials contained in the following weblinks:

Weblink #1: Understanding the Life Safety Code (PDF)
Weblink #2: NFPA 101 Introduction (YouTube Video 0:39:23)
Weblink #3: NFPA 101, The Life Safety Code, A Roadmap (YouTube Video 0:22:28)
Weblink #4: Emergency Egress Standards (YouTube Video 0:52:24)
Weblink #5: NFPA 101 - 2012 (PDF, you need to browse through Chapters 1 through 14 only. It may take a while to load the document into the browser due to its large size.)

 Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study.

If you would like to access the latest edition of NFPA 101, please visit the website of the National Fire Protect Association. It is highly recommended to purchase a hard copy of this code through NFPA's web store. NFPA also provides a free online access (viewing only) of their codes and standards through the following link as part of its commitment to enhancing public safety and to serving the public's increasing interest in technical information:

Free online access to NFPA codes and standards

Course Summary

Life safety is the most important consideration in all engineering designs. This course covers a host of topics related to reducing the spread of fire in buildings and providing adequate means of egress from buildings when necessary. By becoming familiar with the layout and content of the Life Safety Code and understanding how to navigate through the LSC, you will have a thorough understanding of how proper application of the LSC can minimize the effects of a devastating fire or other emergency.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites or web pages:

Wikipedia - Life Safety Code
Life Safety Code - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - CMS.gov

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.