Properties of building materials

Abstract

Building components are to be designed to satisfy the requirements of serviceability and safety limit states. One of the major safety requirements in building design is the provision of appropriate fire resistance to various building components. The basis for this requirement can be attributed to the fact that, when other measures of containing the fire fail, structural integrity is the last line of defense. In this chapter, the term structural member is used to refer to both load-bearing (e.g., columns, beams, slabs) and non-load-bearing (e.g., partition walls, floors) building components