Whether a project is a renovation, addition, tenant fit out, or new construction, all facility designs are subject to compliance approval by the local Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ). Our engineers and consultants review your work during the building design phase to verify fire protection, life safety, and accessibility code compliance is achieved to maintain project schedules.

Our building and fire code experts collaborate with architects, developers, owners, construction firms, design-build teams and jurisdictions. Not only do we stay apprised of regulatory updates needed for your projects, but we also work on creative applications for modern materials and methods that have not yet been widely adopted in building and fire code regulations.

A building's fire and life safety system is only as good as it's installed. From design, inspection, testing, and maintenance, we work with you to ensure your systems are operating efficiently throughout their life cycle. Without the right commissioning it is challenging to ensure that your fire and life safety systems will meet code minimum, performance-based design, and end-user requirements. Our systematic fire system commissioning and integrated testing approach for life and safety systems helps you document, verify, and sustain performance of the facility assets that are critical to your business.

Fire and life safety are pivotal considerations in today’s building designs. The integration of fire alarm systems, fire protection, life safety, and other fire protection systems into the design of all building types is essential for safety, property protection and code compliance. As leaders among fire and life safety consultants, we're actively involved in the development process for many of the fire protection system codes and standards. This knowledge and experience allows us to prepare accurate, cost effective, state-of-the-art fire protection design and life systems.

Health Care systems are continually challenged to properly assess their compliance with the Life Safety Code® (NFPA 101), understand the interpretations and exceptions to the Code, and maintain compliance through cost-effective measures. Partnering with our health care safety consultants makes these complex requirements achievable, while bringing positive, reliable outcomes in the event of an emergency.

In an emergency, it’s often difficult to predict and manage people and their actions. Having a well-designed Mass Notification and Emergency Communications system in place to alert, communicate and share information can save critical response time and potentially lives. Working with building owners, designers and architects, we determine system performance requirements and the right basis of design. System integrations with information display, distributed recipient systems and various building systems will ensure that the movement of people is most effective in your emergency.

Knowing the performance of your facility during day-to-day operations is critical to understand. Whether it is a concert hall, airport ticketing or a train station platform; circulation capacity and space is important to the overall efficiency of the building. Visual queues such as effective wayfinding, location of fare machines, design and location of security checkpoints and queue systems play a key role.

Modeling can help you simulate human behavior when subjected to smoke movement and physical barriers such as security gates and ticket kiosks. By accounting for these scenarios, we can help you identify potential modifications to inform security, emergency response, daily operations and improve life safety compliance.

Our multi-discipline engineering team works with you in the design phase to identify potential compliance issues, develops solutions that meet design intent and remains your partner throughout the construction process. We work seamlessly alongside the construction management team to make sure the fire, life safety, mechanical, electrical, structural (MES) and security systems installations are fully coordinated across all other disciplines. For Healthcare facilities, we conduct drawing reviews to protect our clients directly, Jensen Hughes operates as the representative with and/or for the hospital, ASC and Long Term Care Facility.

Codes and Standards require fire safety features based on a one-size fits all approach. While traditional compliance may be acceptable for many structures, it can limit design flexibility for many complex and state-of-the-art projects. Our engineers draw on advanced fire modeling techniques for alternative or performance-based designs as well as forensic applications to help achieve the desired vision and solve complex fire safety challenges.