Help with Building Construction

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jay Michael on April 14, 2008 at 1:05pm

Mike
Building Construction for the Fire Service is the hands down best. The 4th edition is out now, the author, Francis Brannigan, passed away and the book was finished by Glenn P. Corbett, who happens to be the person who started this group.
Anyway, the book is an NFPA published book and is readily available.
Sructural Building Components magazine April 2008 has an interesting article on understanding the flow of loads. I believe information on the magazine may be obtained from www.sbcmag.info
To understand building construction it is very beneficial to learn about fire behavior at the same time. Learning how strutures are put together and the effects of fire on these same components, makes this study more compplete. The National Institute of Standards and Technology, www.nist .gov or www.fire.gov are excellent sites. Brannigans book will speak on the matters of structures and fire. If you can get your hands on some old video tape from American Heat, Mr. Brannigan was interviewed, good stuff he talks about void spaces and smoke travel.
One of the simple things to do to learn about construction is go out and look at the buildings under construction. Ask the people doing the work. They probably won't know why they are doing something other than that is the way we do it, but you can learn what to look for. John "Skip" Coleman will tell you the diference between good carpenter and a bad one is the ability to cover up their mistakes. This is very true in all of the trades.
Jay

Permalink Reply by Michael Tucci on April 14, 2008 at 8:48pm

I appreciate the help. Thanks.

Permalink Reply by Michael Tucci on April 14, 2008 at 8:50pm

Thanks, I appreciate the help.

Permalink Reply by Matt Thomson on April 19, 2008 at 1:12pm

Mike,
Collapse of Buring Buildings by Vincent Dunn is also an excellent text. It is very easy to read and is put together in a way that makes sense to firefighters. Brannigan's book is excellent and the 4th Edition is much easier to read than previous editions, but it is still a BIG book. By comparison, Dunn's book can be read in a weekend. I recommend learning both books, but Dunn's is the less intimidating of the two.

Matt

Permalink Reply by Gregory Havel on April 21, 2008 at 8:22am

The National Fire Academy hand-off courses on building construction were updated a couple of years ago and put on CDs with PowerPoints instead of slides. These are a good introduction.

Chief Vincent Dunn (FDNY, retired) has several other books that address building construction issues, although they are not entirely on that topic. Check the "Fire Engineering" catalog.

"Fire Engineering" magazine has a lot of articles on this subject, at levels from basic to advanced.

Also, click on the "Training" tab on www.fireengineering.com, and look for "Construction Concerns". These started in July of last year, and have been well received.

NFPA's "Fire Protection Handbook" has some chapters that could help:
-Fundamentals of Firesafe Building Design
-Systems Concepts for Building Fire safety
-Electrical Systems
-Heating Systems
-Fire Hazards of Materials
-Sprinkler systems
-Buildings and fire codes
and many more. Check out the Table of Contents, or the Index

Permalink Reply by Lisa Fairfield on April 25, 2008 at 10:35pm

A book that helped me is called "Building Construction, Methods and Materials for the Fire Service" by Michael Smith. It has good info on building construction history, loads, building materials and components, trusses, collapse, etc.

Lisa

Permalink Reply by Anthony Avillo on May 3, 2008 at 3:52pm

the study of building construction is vast and there are lots of great books. Get into them -- Dunn, Brannigan, IFSTA. Once u get that info, the best way to reinforce the info is to get out in the street and look at buildings -- ones that are going up, ones that are coming down, ones being renovated, and the ones we work in every day. Never miss an opportunity to lerarn about a buildng. There are a zillion variances to every construction type, exceptions to every rule and even more wierd buildings out there. Surprises are no fun on the fireground -- minimize them by knowing your buildings.
The eternal enemy to the fire service is the field where we make our bones -- never trust a building
Get em in safe
work em safe
get em out safe
aa

Permalink Reply by Rich Kukac on May 15, 2008 at 3:29pm

While I respect Branniigan's efforts and knowledge in building construction and have taught from his books since the first edition, I feel that the 4th edition is a sad legicy for him. It doesn't seem as organized as some of his other works, there are numerious spelling errors and over-all seems as though it was rushed into print before it was really ready to go.

Having said that, it is still one of the best books for your fire science library. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the topic, there isn't just one book that answeres all the questions to building construction. Additionally, nothing beats getting out in the field and looking not only at new construction, but also at the older methods of construction.

Permalink Reply by Michael Tucci on May 16, 2008 at 8:01am

I appreciate the help. Thanks, Mike

Permalink Reply by Michael Tucci on May 16, 2008 at 8:02am

Thanks for the help.

Permalink Reply by Michael Tucci on May 16, 2008 at 8:02am

Thanks for the help.