There are two distinct aspects of building fire protection: life safety and property protection. Although providing for one aspect generally results in some protection for the other, the two goals are not mutually inclusive. A program that provides for prompt notification and evacuation of occupants meets the objectives for life safety but provides no protection for the property. Conversely, it is possible that adequate building protection might not be sufficient for the protection of life.
Management of the building process is best performed by the individuals educated and trained in the profession, that is, architects and engineers. While the laws of various states and foreign countries differ, they are consistent relative to the registration requirements for practicing architecture. No individual may legally indicate to the public that he or she is entitled to practice as an architect without a professional certificate of registration as an architect registered in the locale in which the project is to be constructed.
The simplest building system consists of only two components. One component is a floor, a flat, horizontal surface on which human activities can take place. The other component is an enclosure that extends over the floor and generally also around it to provide shelter from the weather for human activities.
The ground may serve as the floor in primitive buildings. In better buildings, however, the floor may be a structural deck laid on the ground or supported above ground on structural members, such as the joist and walls in Fig.