This manual is intended to provide guidance for engineers, architects, building officials, and property owners to design shelters and safe rooms in buildings. It presents information about the design and construction of shelters in the work place, home, or community building that will provide protection in response to manmade hazards. Because the security needs and types of construction vary greatly, users may select the methods and measures that best meet their individual situations. The use of experts to apply the methodologies contained in this document is encouraged.

The information contained herein will assist in the planning and design of shelters that may be constructed outside or within dwellings or public buildings. These safe rooms will protect occupants from a variety of hazards, including debris impact, accidental or intentional explosive detonation, and the accidental or intentional release of a toxic substance into the air. Safe rooms may also be designed to protect individuals from assaults and attempted kidnapping, which requires design features to resist forced entry and ballistic impact. This covers a range of protective options, from low-cost expedient protection (what is commonly referred to as sheltering-in-place) to safe rooms ventilated and pressurized with air purified by ultra-high-efficiency filters. These safe rooms protect against toxic gases, vapors, and aerosols (finely divided solid or liquid particles).

The contents of this manual supplement the information provided in FEMA 361, Design and Construction Guidance for Community Shelters and FEMA 320, Taking Shelter From the Storm: Building a Safe Room Inside Your House. In conjunction with FEMA 361 and FEMA 320, this publication can be used for the protection of shelters against natural disasters. Although this publication specifically does not address nuclear explosions and shelters that protect against radiological fallout, that information may be found in FEMA TR-87, Standards for Fallout Shelters.

Two different types of shelters may be considered for emergency use, standalone shelters and internal shelters. A standalone shelter is a separate building (i.e., not within or attached to any other building) that is designed and constructed to withstand the range of natural and manmade hazards. An internal shelter is a specially designed and constructed room or area within or attached to a larger building that is structurally independent of the larger building and is able to withstand the range of natural and manmade hazards. Both standalone and internal shelters are intended to provide emergency refuge for occupants of commercial office buildings, school buildings, hospitals, apartment buildings, and private homes from the hazards resulting from a wide variety of extreme events.

The shelters may be used during natural disasters following the warning that an explosive device may be activated, the discovery of an explosive device, or until safe evacuation is established following the detonation of an explosive device or the release of a toxic substance via an intentional aerosol attack or an industrial accident. Standalone community shelters may be constructed in neighborhoods where existing homes lack shelters.

Community shelters may be intended for use by the occupants of buildings they are constructed within or near, or they may be intended for use by the residents of surrounding or nearby neighborhoods or designated areas.

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You can download the entire publication in PDF format, 14.5MB, 264 Pages.

This manual includes the following chapters and appendices:

❏ Chapter 1 presents design considerations, potential threats, the levels of protection, shelter types, siting, occupancy duration, and human factors criteria for shelters (e.g., square footage per shelter occupant, proper ventilation, distance/travel time and accessibility, special needs, lighting, emergency power, route marking and wayfinding, signage, evacuation considerations, and key operations zones).

❏ Chapter 2 discusses the structural design criteria for blast and impact resistance, as well as shelters and model building types. Structural systems and building envelope elements for shelters are analyzed and protective design measures for the defined building types are provided.

❏ Chapter 3 describes how to add chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) protection capability to a shelter or a safe room. It also discusses air filtration, safe room criteria, design requirements, operations and maintenance, commissioning, and training required to operate a shelter.

❏ Chapter 4 discusses emergency management considerations, Federal CBRE response teams, emergency response and mass care, community shelter operations plans, descriptions of the responsibilities of the shelter team members, shelter equipment and supplies, maintenance plans, and commercial building shelter operation plans. Key equipment considerations and training are also discussed.

❏ Appendix A presents the references used in the preparation of this document.
❏ Appendix B contains a list of acronyms and abbreviations that appear in this document.

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