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The updated NFPA 101®: Life Safety Code® raises occupant safety to a new level.

Protect people where they live, work, and play with NFPA®'s Life Safety Code — the most widely used source for strategies for occupant safety throughout the life cycle of a building. As the built environment and risks evolve, so do the challenges to protect people from fire and related hazards. The 2015 Life Safety Code provides a flexible approach that adapts to nontraditional use of buildings; innovative designs; and new technologies, materials, and construction practices. It is the only document that addresses life safety in both new and existing structures. There's no substitute for the latest NFPA 101 in any occupancy -- from assembly to health care, industrial, and residential.

Essential for architects, engineers, building owners and building managers, hospital administrators, and AHJs,NFPA 101 covers it all: Egress, sprinklers, alarms, emergency lighting, smoke barriers, and special hazard protection.

Changes advance safety and improve options for building design:

• Atrium walls are now permitted to serve as part of the separation for creating separated occupancies, offering greater flexibility in building design.
• New requirements enhance public safety, such as calculating occupant load for business uses that better represents how the space is used.
• Requirements permitting the use of alcohol-based hand-rub (ABHR) dispensers are included in more occupancy chapters, reflecting their widespread use.
• New mandates for carbon monoxide detection and alarm are included for new educational and new day care facilities for greater safety to life where CO might be generated.
• Expanded provisions concerning the responsibilities, training, and duties of crowd managers help ensure emergency readiness in places such as sports arenas, nightclubs, and concert halls.
• Revised rules permit door locking in new and existing residential board and care facilities, based on clinical needs to secure residents for their own safety.

Other changes help provide for safer, more homelike health care facilities:

• Health care occupancy provisions allow nursing home minimum corridor width to be reduced within small smoke compartments.
• Provisions added to permit doors to be disguised with murals for settings like dementia units.
• New self-contained ambulatory health care chapters improve code usability with one-stop access.

Make sure your knowledge is up-to-date and your facilities meet code. Base your decisions on the 2015 NFPA 101 and tackle safety challenges effectively.