Applying the Concept of Verification in Fire Engineering to the Wildland–Urban Interface †

Abstract

Despite increased focus on resilient planning and construction design in areas prone to wildfire impacts, recent research has found inconsistent approaches, a lack of evidence-based performance criteria, and limited suitable code-based verification methods for use in wildfire contexts. These limitations serve to reduce the potential effectiveness of measures intended to improve wildfire community and build resilience. The lack of suitable verification methods is particularly problematic in Australia, where complex building code requirements associated with enhanced wildfire resilience have been extended to hospitals, child care facilities, schools, and other assembly buildings. To address this issue, this paper proposes the Wildfire Expected Risk to Life and Property (WERLP) verification method. As a holistic absolute probabilistic verification method, WERLP can be applied to both building and urban design contexts within the Australian jurisdiction. The application of WERLP is demonstrated using the case study of a new hospital development.