This document specifies a methodology for the design of experiments conducted in the built environment to collect data on evacuation for the following purposes:

—     for use in fire safety engineering;

—     for comparing different evacuation experiments realized in different jurisdictions and conditions;

—     for studying one or more variables;

—     for achieving a general overview of an evacuation or for testing one or more parameters;

—     for design safety procedures and training;

—     for assessing evacuation plan(s);

—     for reducing uncertainty on the results;

—     for verifying the relevance of preventive measures implemented before and after building design;

—     for refining software input parameters and making them more realistic;

—     for comparing the results obtained with different software;

—     for verifying and validating evacuation models (for example ISO 16730-1).

This document provides guidance in several main areas: initial planning, preparation, the evacuation experiment itself, coding the collected data, data analysis and interpretation and documentation of results.

This document sets out the considerations for an evacuation experiment, including geometry of the space, lighting and environmental conditions, occupant characteristics, cue or alarm used, instrumentation and safety considerations. It discusses performance measurements for the evacuation experiment. The results of any experiment depend on all these factors and their interactions, if any. This document does not define a standard evacuation experiment.