Courses and Timeline

Program Structure

The program requires that 4 courses be taken, each taking 2 weeks of study time. The program will take about 60 hours to complete.

The program is offered in 2 sessions each year, one in the Fall (October – December) and one in the Winter/Spring (February/April). Students may register and complete all courses in one session or spread out the courses (in order of prerequisite requirements) over a 2-year time frame.

Each course in this program will require approximately 15 hours of learner’s time. The program has 4 courses:

  1. Fire Safety Regulations and Their Background (February 5 ‒ 16, 2024)
  2. Fire Science for Wood Products (February 19 ‒ March 1, 2024)
  3. Compartment Fires and Fire Resistance (March 4 ‒ 15, 2024)
  4. Applications of Fire Safety for Timber Buildings (April 1 ‒ 12, 2024)

Courses must be taken in sequential order, as they build on one another, but may be taken individually, in different sessions within a two-year time frame, to receive the micro-certificate.

Timeline to Completion

Participants have the flexibility to set their own timeline to completion, within a maximum of two years.

Course Descriptions

Course 1: Fire Safety Regulations and Their Background

This course is designed to explain and evaluate the role of fire safety in the built environment and its implementation in modern building codes, both in Canada, but also with global examples. It serves as a staging ground to develop a distinction between Acceptable and Alternative solutions that will be further distinguished in the subsequent courses. The course is intended to instill a solid understanding of the need for fire safety and how these needs influence regulations and tools to comply with regulations.

Course 2: Fire Science for Wood Products

This course summarises and describes the scientific principles that govern fire development in buildings and the effect that timber products have on a building’s fire safety strategy. Pyrolysis, ignition and heat transfer modes are introduced as crucial elements in the evaluation of micro and bench-scale fire resting results that characterize wood’s reaction to fire.

Course 3: Compartment Fires and Fire Resistance

This course teaches the development of compartment fires with consideration of the roles of fuel and ventilation on fire growth, temperatures and fire duration. The limits of compartment fire theory are highlighted alongside origins, intent and limits of the fire resistance framework. Zone models are introduced as practical tools to assess compartment fire dynamics.

Course 4: Applications of Fire Safety for Timber Buildings

This course combines teachings from the previous courses to showcase and highlight fire safety engineering tools that may be used in building design. Specific focus is placed on the importance of proper input parameters and the limitations that exposed wood places on the applicability of common tools to achieve the fire safety strategy. Fire resistance calculation options from CSA 086 will be explained and applied.