In February 2008, the City of Portland, Oregon, adopted Administrative Rule ARB-FIR-2.08 to establish prodecures for the inspection, testing, and certification of fire escapes.  Miller Consulting Engineers worked with Portland Fire & Rescue to develop safe testing and inspection procedures for fire escapes on the exterior of buildings.

MCE has a unique understanding of the goals and requirements for exterior fire escapes as well as an efficient method of meeting the requirements. We have worked with contractors, testing agencies and Portland Fire & Rescue staff to develop a plan that effectively implements the requirements of ARB-FIR-2.08.

To meet the requirements of the City of Portland there are four aspects of the fire escape certification requirements:

• Assessment
• Repair recommendations
• Report with recommended testing procedures
• Repair details for fire escape elements
• Signed affidavit required by the Portland Fire Bureau

Miller Consulting Engineers is a full-service structural engineering firm capable of performing visual observations of the fire escape, preparing construction documents for fire escape repairs, and providing the necessary load testing procedures and requirements.