How should life safety considerations be addressed during construction?

• A. By scheduling work only during off-hours.
• B. By removing all safety devices to simplify work.
• C. By maintaining safe egress, protecting exposed life-safety features, and implementing temporary fire protection measures.
• D. By focusing solely on structural performance.

Answer: (C)

Life safety during construction centers on keeping safe egress possible, protecting exposed life-safety features, and putting in temporary fire protection measures. This means keeping exits, stairs, corridors, and emergency lighting clear and usable at all times, even while work is ongoing, and ensuring doors stay properly arranged for safe egress. It also means guarding or temporarily relocating life-safety devices like fire alarms, sprinklers, detectors, and protected openings so they aren’t damaged during trades. When the permanent fire protection system isn’t in place yet, you implement temporary protections such as fire watches, temporary fire barriers around penetrations, and disciplined hot-work controls to reduce ignition risk. Together, these steps allow occupants to evacuate safely, keep life-safety systems functional, and enable firefighting to respond effectively. Scheduling work after hours, removing safety devices, or focusing only on structural performance don't provide the same level of protection for people, so they aren’t appropriate approaches.