The Shard - Structural fire engineering quiz

Please answer the following 5 multiple choice questions, then click 'submit' to check the result. The pass mark for a CPD certificate is 4 out of 5, and you may retake the quiz as many times as you wish, but the questions will vary! Please note that one, two, three or all of the possible answers presented for each question may be right, and to gain a mark for that question all correct answers must be identified.

Good luck

The Shard - Structural fire engineering

In a compartment fire, as the atmosphere temperature in the top layer reaches a critical level - radiation from that layer instantaneously ignites all other combustibles in the compartment . The resulting rapid rise in temperature is often termed what?

Runaway
Flashover
Spontaneous ignition
Backdraught

Having listened to the presentation, which of the following statements do you think is/are true?

Most people who die in fire do so as a result of smoke inhalation
If a fire in a building reaches a stage where the structural fire protection has to do its job, it indicates that there has been a systemic failure of significant elements of other parts of the overall fire precaution strategy.
Compartmentation is an important part of any fire strategy, not only to protect escape routes but also to contain the fire to the floor of fire origin and prevent spread of fire.
Structural collapse is a major cause of deaths in fire

Which of the following do not require consideration when following the prescriptive requirements of Approved Document B but which might be considered in a fire engineering assessment

The effect of deformation on compartment walls
The increased threat from fire in tall buildings
Identification of key elements required for structural stability
Real fires rather than reliance on the standard fire test

The standard fire test has served us well for over 50 years but it has significant drawbacks. Which of the following were identified as such?

Only a limited size specimen can be accommodated within the furnace due to practical size.
The test specimen is unrestrained whereas real structures exhibit a lot of restraint.
The standard fire test uses an unrepresentative fuel
The standard test time-temperature relationship does not represent what happens in real fire development

Which of the following were part of the fire performance solution agreed for the Shard?

On the steel framed floor, 90 minutes fire resistance on the primary beams with no protection to the secondary beams. 120 minutes fire resistance to the columns.
The transfer truss protected assuming a lower than default failure temperature to achieve 120 minutes fire resistance
Fire protection to the exposed concrete floors
An unprotected spire