# Visual Language-Aided Construction Fire Safety Planning Approach in Building Information Modeling
###### Abstract
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) carried out a five-year (2010-2014) study on under construction or renovation residential projects (discounting one- and two-unit projects) and found $280 million of direct damage to the property each year [4]. The growing challenges for fire safety concerning economic progress have encouraged the evolution of fire science and technology [6]. The primary aim of fire science and technology in the early time was to protect properties (to save large factories mainly) and avoid sweeping fires conflagration in cities [9]. Ample research has been performed considering fire safety monitoring and early detection. Many studies have been carried out for detecting smoke and by using different technologies such as very early smoke detection apparatus (VESDA), Dual infrared (IR/IR) spectral band flam detection, fiber optic attached to distributed temperature sensing (DTS) and linear infrared flammable gas detection. [6; 10; 11]. Apart from fire safety monitoring and fire detection, several studies have also focused on fire safety and evacuation planning for buildings and tunnels [12; 13; 14; 15]. To overcome the issue of fire safety in an existing building, fire safety evaluation systems for fire prevention, evacuation, and mitigation strategies were studied [13]. Advancements in fire safety science concerning modern-day buildings have gradually urged for the integration of fire safety in the design, yet, very few studies investigated fire safety during the planning and design stage. [PERSON] et al. developed a BIM-based safety management model for escape route planning, fire safety education, and maintenance records of fire equipment are in buildings [16]. Another study integrated BIM with fire dynamics simulator for a personal safety evaluation and escape route plan [17]. Currently, it is evident that many designers do not consider fire safety in the iterative design process of buildings, thus, the merging of fire safety science with the design process has the enormous potential [18]. Also, recent research has depicted that many construction accidents are associated with the design that could be eliminated with appropriate design considerations [19; 20]. Equipment operators, electric technicians, carpentry trades, HVAC mechanics, and many other trades are all prone to construction burn injuries and explosion accidents, which could be prevented. The probability of overcoming fire accidents could be increased if fire safety planning is incorporated in the design phase and implement during construction. The quantity of industrial and civil construction projects is rapidly increasing due to socioeconomic development policies and urbanization in many countries [21]. To make sure the fire and rescue operation is practical and useful as possible is a significant task for any building contractor [22]. Very few researches studied fire safety management planning in the design phase, but the firefighting equipment safety plan is not yet discovered. Thus, there is a gap identified in the literature for the portable firefighting equipment safety plan consideration in the design phase. Likewise, many construction job sites, unfortunately, do not apply the safety rule-based fire safety planning for portable firefighting equipment installation. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) stipulates that the site-specific safety plan should include a fire protection plan for every construction project [23]. In case of fire during the construction phase, the workers in the job site must be aware of escape routes and necessary relevant information about the fire extinguisher. The vital factor is to ensure the equipment is perfectly located and in good order. The scope of this paper is limited to the appropriate placement of the firefighting equipment, while the perfect order issue will be addressed in another research paper.