Overview
ISO/TR 16730-5:2013 is a Technical Report from ISO’s fire safety engineering committee that presents a worked example of applying ISO 16730‑1 (general guidance on assessment, verification and validation of calculation methods) to an egress / evacuation model. The report uses the evacuation model EXIT89 to demonstrate how to document technical details and user information so a calculation method can be assessed for verification and validation in performance-based fire safety studies.
Key topics
- Purpose and scope: Shows how to apply ISO 16730‑1 for a specific evacuation calculation method (EXIT89) for high‑rise buildings with large occupant populations.
- Model features: handling disabled occupants, random occupant delay times, options for shortest path vs directed routes, counterflows, travel-speed options, and movement up/down stairs.
- Outputs: total evacuation time, floor/stairwell clearing times, exit usage, and time‑history of each occupant’s location.
- Theory and implementation: walking speed based on Predtechenskii and Milinskii relationships (density-dependent), delay time distributions (uniform or lognormal), node‑and‑network representation, and interaction with smoke models (e.g., using CFAST output to block nodes).
- Assumptions & limitations: node size and time step affect precision; defaults include 5 s time intervals, limits such as up to 10 stairwells and 89 nodes per floor, and capacity for up to 26,000 occupants. Simplifying assumptions include no resting on stairs, limited counterflow interactions, and predefined routing until blockage.
- Methodology for V&V: report structure includes informative annexes covering calculation method description (Annex A), complete assessment/verification and validation (Annex B), a worked counterflow example (Annex C), and a user’s manual (Annex D).
Applications and users
This Technical Report is practical for:
- Fire safety engineers performing performance‑based egress analyses and evacuation modelling.
- Model developers documenting calculation methods to support verification and validation.
- Building designers and consultants assessing evacuation strategies for high‑rise or large‑occupant buildings.
- Regulators and reviewers who need documented evidence of a model’s applicability, assumptions and limitations.
- Use cases include evaluation of staffing/wayfinding strategies, assessing impact of counterflows (fire service or obstructions), integrating smoke effects, and producing validated inputs for risk assessments.
Related standards
- ISO 16730‑1 - General guidance on assessment, verification and validation of calculation methods (normative reference).
- Other parts of ISO 16730 series (e.g., Part 3: CFD model example) provide complementary worked examples for different calculation methods.
Keywords: ISO/TR 16730-5:2013, egress model, evacuation simulation, EXIT89, fire safety engineering, verification and validation, evacuation model example.