This part of ISO 13387 is intended to provide guidance to designers, regulators and fire-safety professionals on the fundamental engineering methods that should be included in design guides and reference manuals for the prediction of: a) times to detect fire events, based on the design-fire environment and properties and/or location of automatic detection devices; b) times to activate automatic alarm systems and automatic systems designed to control fire growth or to control the effects of fire, based on system design parameters; c) the effectiveness of activated automatic suppression systems in limiting the potential consequences of a fire, based on key system characteristics. NOTE The effect of human intervention on detection, activation or suppression is considered beyond the scope of this document. This part of ISO 13387 is not itself a design guide or reference manual but can be used as a resource by national organizations in the preparation of such documents. This report also provides a framework for critically reviewing the suitability of engineering methods, whether hand calculations or predictive computer models or correlations based on empirical data, to predict detection, activation and the effect of fire suppression systems. Note that the term "engineering method" used in this document refers to any of the preceding techniques.