| Summary: | This thesis is a study of the theory of quality assurance in fire safety engineering. The aims are to examine the implication of the general concepts of quality and quality assurance in the context of fire safety engineering, to investigate the causes and effects of the development of quality assurance in fire safety engineering firms, and to identify the factors that affect the effectiveness of the quality systems in these firms. Research was carried out on four major perspectives: (1) quality definition of fire safety systems in buildings (2) quality assurance in fire safety engineering projects, (3) quality assurance in fire safety engineering firms, (4) the macro quality assurance system in fire protection industry. A model for defining quality of fire safety systems in buildings is described. Features of quality assurance in fire safety engineering are identified. A systematic approach for assuring quality in fire safety engineering projects is proposed, which consists of total system quality planning, sub-system quality planning, and quality management systems in fire safety engineering firms. The investigation found that the driving forces for fire safety engineering firms to adopt quality assurance come from client's need, market competition, development of certification schemes, and the business development strategy of the company. Research data suggests that fire safety engineering firms have gained benefits through the implementation of quality assurance. However, the effectiveness of quality systems is affected by a number of factors both internal and external.
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