Means of Escape

DE6501

This online course will enable you to develop an understanding of the principles that govern safe egress from buildings in the event of a fire and how they influence the design requirements.

Availability

Our distance learning courses are offered throughout the year to help you fit study around your work and life commitments.
Courses are offered up to 12 times per year depending on demand and availability of academic staff.
Exact start dates are in the course information pages and in our Enrolment dates page:

Enrolment dates

Cost

Course costs can be found on all course pages. The fees may increase annually.
Qualification cost – to give you an idea of how much a qualification may cost in total over the duration of your studies, an approximate cost is provided for many of our qualifications. This is based on the required number of courses to complete the qualification and the average cost of those courses. It does not include annual administration fees, text books and course materials or external exam fees, and is subject to annual course fee increases.

Credits

Courses are assigned credits depending on how much time and effort is needed to complete their learning outcomes. In general, each credit represents approximately 10 hours of study time.

Delivery method

Online – The course materials for online courses are delivered in an online format and all assignments are submitted online.
Mixed – These courses are delivered using a mix of online and paper based course materials. This may include receiving paper course materials, submitting assignments online, or being required to participate in online forums and learning activities.
Print Only - The course will be delivered using paper based courses materials, and assignments may need to be submitted in hard copy rather than online. This will depend on the course.

Whether courses are delivered online, on paper or a mixture of both, there may also be components such as workshops, noho marae, work experience and practicum to participate in. To find out what your course involves check the course information page.

EFTS

EFTS stands for equivalent full-time student. An EFTS is the study time required for each course and is used by the Tertiary Education Commission to decide if a course is part-time or full-time.

One year of full-time study is generally between 0.8 and 1.2 EFTS.

Level

You can tell how hard a course or qualification is by the level it is set at:

Levels 1-4 are about the same as secondary school and basic trades training.
Levels 5-7 are the same as university study.

Prerequisites

Prerequisites are courses that must be completed before another course can be studied.
Co-requisites are courses that can be studied at the same time as another course.

If a course has a specific prerequisite or co-requisite course, it will be listed on the course page under the title 'Prerequisites'. If no courses are listed, check the entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying for. Some courses require you to have studied at a particular level prior to enrolling.

Student loans

Not all qualifications or students are eligible for student loans. You will need to meet criteria such as studying a minimum number of credits over a specific study period. It is up to you to apply for a student loan via StudyLink - Open Polytechnic does not do this for you.

Information about student loans and eligibility

StudyLink website

Teaching weeks

Teaching weeks is the number of weeks that we teach a course. This differs from the enrolment period, which is based on the course start and end dates.

For example, a 20-week enrolment period will have 16 teaching weeks, followed by four weeks to accommodate marking, any extensions and reassessments, or exams.

Workload

The workload estimate given on a course page is calculated like this:

Number of credits x 10, divided by the number of teaching weeks for the course. The hours will be rounded up to nearest whole number.

Please note, this is a guide only. You may need more or less time for study, and you may also need to do more hours during assessment due dates or exams times.

Level
6
Credits
15
Cost

$452 NZ Domestic
EFTS
0.125
Delivery type

Online only
Teaching weeks 16 weeks
Workload Approximately 10 hours per week
Prerequisites Check entry and other requirements under the qualification you are studying

This course will cover the following:

Relationship between fire safety systems and escape provisions
The principles of human behaviour in an evacuation situation
The different stages of the evacuation process
ASET/RSET principles
Occupant load of a space or a building and using it to derive the minimum requirements for egress, using hand calculations based on simple tabulated values;
Impact that various fire safety systems can have on both RSET and ASET and how strategically selecting fire safety systems can affect the balance to improve the level of safety in a building; behavioural response
Requirements of F6, F8
Reflective and illuminated signage
Interpretation and marking up of design drawings
Strategies for communication of means of egress design on drawings
Should also include simultaneous evacuation, phased evacuation and defend in place,
Factors that are critical to the successful evacuation of buildings beyond the initial design, including (but not limited to) good housekeeping, display of fire action notices, regular training, and maintenance of safety systems

Learners who successfully complete this online course will be able to:

Differentiate the key principles that govern occupant egress and the factors that can adversely affect it
Develop a compliant means of egress design for a simple layout of a building
Debate solutions to improve egress for existing non-compliant situations (ANARP)
Summarise the requirements for emergency lighting and egress signage, knowledge of the different type of systems available on the market
Prepare means of egress drawings that clearly identify the designated escape routes and supporting features
Summarise the different evacuation concepts, and the supporting features that are required for each strategy

Course Update

This course replaced DE6426 – Means of Escape; completion of DE6426 – Means of Escape will fulfil the same prerequisite requirements as DE6501 – Means of Escape.

Assessment

Assignment 80%
Exam 20%

For information on examinations, including a full list of exam times see our examination information:

Exam dates and venue information

Examination information

Assessments for this course include an examination that you need to attend in-person.

Learn more

Computer and internet requirements

To complete this course you will need access to a laptop or desktop computer, reliable broadband internet connection and a data plan able to support online learning such as streaming of videos (including YouTube), downloading content, and writing and submitting online assessments. If you are unsure if your current computer or internet access allows you to complete your online learning with us, please contact us before applying to enrol.

Learn more about our online learning and study tools.

Work towards

You can do this course as part of these qualifications:

Certificate of Proficiency

Course Only (Certificate of Proficiency) (OP7304)

Diploma

New Zealand Diploma in Engineering (Level 6) (Fire Engineering) (NZ261205)

Course availability over the next 12 months

2025

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