Accessible Means of Egress - A path of travel, useable by a person with a severe mobility impairment, that leads to a public way or an area of refuge.

Accessible Are of Refuge - A path of travel, useable by a person with the accessible route requirements of CAB)/ANSI A117.1, Americans National Standard for Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities.

ADA - Americans with Disabilities Act.

Animal Holding Facility - A secure area within a building where research animals are housed.

ANSI - American National Standards Institute.

Approved (NFPA) - Acceptable to the Authority Having Jurisdiction.

Authority Having Jurisdiction, AHJ (NFPA) - The organization, office, individual legally appointed and responsible for the "approving" of installations, drawings, specifications, or procedures.  The Authority Having Jurisdiction at the University of Maryland is the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office.

BOCA - Building Officials and Code Administrators.

Central Station - An office to which remote alarm and supervisory signaling devices are connected, and where personnel are in attendance at all times to supervise the circuits and investigate signals.  Note: The Pine Street Police Station is the Central Station for the University of Maryland.

Fire Alarm System - Consists of manually operated fire alarm pull stations, smoke/heat/flame detectors, beam detectors, sprinkler water flow alarms and alarms used in conjunction with Halon or any other fire suppression systems which, when activated, initiates an audible and visible alarm within campus buildings.

Fire Department Access - Either a paved thoroughfare or open space of at least 21 feet in width which allows fire suppression motorized equipment access to the perimeter of a building.

Fire Department Equipment - Motorized fire suppression, rescue, hazardous materials, and/or ambulance equipment.

Firefighters Smoke Control Station - The firefighters smoke control station includes monitoring and overriding capacity over smoke-control systems and equipment provided at designated location(s) within the building for the use of the fire department.

Flame Spread - The propagation of flame over a surface.\

Floor Area, Gross - The floor area within the inside perimeter of outside walls of the building under consideration with no deduction for hallways, stairs, closets, thickness of interior walls, columns, or other features. 

Floor Area, Net - Net floor area shall be the actual occupied area, not including accessory unoccupied area or thickness of walls.

Hazardous Areas - Those areas of structures or buildings posing a degree of hazard greater than that normal to the general occupancy of the building or structure, such as those areas used for storage or use of combustible or flammable, toxic, noxious, or corrosive materials, use of heat-producing appliances.

High Hazard Areas - Those areas of structures or buildings used for purposes that involve highly combustible, highly flammable, or explosive products or materials that are likely to burn with extreme rapidity, or that may produce poisonous fumes or gases, including highly toxic or noxious alkali's, acids, or other liquids or chemicals that involve flame, fume, explosion, poisonous, or irritant hazards; also those uses that cause division  of material into fine particles or dust subject to explosion or spontaneous combustion, and uses that constitute a high fire hazard because of the form, character, or volume of the material used.

High Rise Building - A building more than 75 feet in height.   Building height shall be measured from the lowest level of fire department vehicle access to the floor of the highest occupiable story.

Interior Finish - Interior wall and ceiling finish means the exposed interior surfaces of buildings including, but not limited to, fixed or movable walls and partitions, and ceilings.

Mezzanine - An intermediate level between the floor and ceiling of any room or space.

Plenum - An air compartment or chamber to which one or more ducts are connected and that forms part of an air distribution system.

Public Way - Any street, alley, or other similar parcel of land essentially open to the outside air, deeded, dedicated, or otherwise permanently appropriated to the public for public use and having a clear width and height of not less than 10 feet.