The building fire in Banani, Dhaka, in 2019 took away dozens of precious lives. In addition, incidents of fire occur in garment factories, almost regularly claiming many lives. However, if the buildings were designed with safety in mind against fire, the damage could be minimized, and many lives could have been saved. Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) describes the standards for various safety measures in design. Let us all be conscious about the need to conforming to the standards and make an increasing number of buildings safe against fire.  This guidebook illustrates with figures and tables the main fire safety standards of BNBC. We hope that our understanding of the BNBC codes will be deepened by unravelling its meanings and different stipulations.  This guidebook presents nine Chapters and an Appendix.  Chapter 1, gives the basic concept and the basic features of fire-safety design with particular notes on how to retrofit the existing buildings that are vulnerable to fire hazards; 

Chapter 2 has the definition of the terms related to the fire safety design and the general requirements; 

Chapter 3 focuses on the planning of stairways as a main means of egress. Stairway is an important evacuation route for the safe evacuation of many people at the time of emergency. 

Chapter 4 illustrates a smoke-proof enclosure to prevent the spread of smoke and fire. The smoke proof enclosure or the compartment is the basis of fire safety design, without which the various fire extinguishing equipment will not work. 

Chapter 5 focuses on the electrical cable, which is often the main source of fire and explains the notices to design. 

Chapter 6 mentions the automatic sprinkler system. A system that automatically sprinkles water and extinguishes fires is effective for fire extinguishing activities and minimizes loss and damage. 

Chapter 7 mentions the standpipe system. This system, with a higher fire extinguishing power than a fire extinguisher, has the potential to extinguish a fire that cannot be extinguished by a fire extinguisher. 

Chapter 8 refers to a portable fire extinguisher that serves as the initial fire extinguishing tool. The initial activity is one of the important keys to effectively extinguish a fire. The proper placement of the portable fire extinguisher can become most beneficial in an emergency.  The last

Chapter 9 describes the detector. Only the detectors can identify fires in places where the spaces are not constantly monitored by humans. In order to minimize loss and damage, it is essential to detect a fire by a detector and extinguish it before spreading.