Critique of ISO TS 13571 - 2002 - Life-threatening Components of Fire — Guidelines for the Estimation of Time Available for Escape Using Fire Data 

ISO TS 13571 is a document which addresses the following issue: how to assess the time available for escape from a fire and to compare it with the time required for escape. In order for fire victims to be able to safely leave the location of a fire, the time available for escape must be greater than the time required for escape. In principle that is a relatively worthwhile project, but “the devil is in the details”. After setting out this laudable premise, ISO TS 13571 starts narrowing what it actually does and ends up being used primarily as a way to help develop limits on the use of plastic materials which contain elements other than carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, based on their generation of irritants. It is worthwhile to discuss in detail what is contained in ISO TS 13571, the scientific basis of each section, and its practical implications.