ISO 7010 vs NFPA 170: Which Symbol System Should Your Evacuation Plan Use?

Fire safety symbology developed in parallel on two continents. ISO 7010, first published in 2003 and most recently revised in 2019, is the International Organization for Standardization's set of graphical safety signs. It draws heavily on earlier European and Japanese conventions — most famously the green 'running man' exit pictogram designed by Yukio Ota in 1979 and standardized by ISO 6309. NFPA 170, the Standard for Fire Safety and Emergency Symbols, is published by the U.S. National Fire Protection Association and is on a three-year revision cycle (current edition 2024). NFPA 170 evolved from the U.S. fire protection community's need for consistent symbols on as-built drawings, mechanical plans and posted evacuation plans. The two systems overlap substantially — both use a fire extinguisher icon, both use red for fire equipment and green for safe condition — but they differ in stylization, in which symbols are included, and in the categories they cover. Most U.S. evacuation plans use NFPA 170 symbols; most international plans and many large multinational corporate plans use ISO 7010. Some jurisdictions accept either, and an increasing number of plans use both side-by-side.

ISO 7010 is organized by sign category, each with a specific shape and color: prohibition signs are red circles with a diagonal bar (E series), warning signs are yellow triangles (W series), mandatory action signs are blue circles (M series), safe condition signs are green squares (E series), and fire equipment signs are red squares (F series). Each symbol carries a code such as E001 (emergency exit, left-pointing running man), F001 (fire extinguisher), F002 (fire hose reel), and W021 (warning: flammable material). The standard specifies the graphical form of each symbol in detail — line weights, internal proportions, color values in CIE chromaticity coordinates — so that a symbol drawn anywhere in the world is visually identical. The ISO 3864 series of standards governs sign design rules (color, shape, geometry) while ISO 7010 catalogs the specific symbols. For evacuation planning, the most relevant ISO 7010 symbols are the E-series safe-condition exits and the F-series fire equipment markers. ISO 16069 covers safety way-guidance systems for low-location lighting and photoluminescent markings.

NFPA 170 is organized by chapter according to the application of the symbols: Chapter 4 covers fire safety symbols used on as-built drawings and posted plans, Chapter 5 covers emergency planning symbols, Chapter 6 covers life safety symbols, and Chapter 7 covers symbols for use in fire incident reporting. Each symbol is defined by its graphic form, intended meaning and acceptable variations. Fire equipment symbols (extinguishers, hose stations, standpipes, sprinkler-control valves, fire alarm pull stations, fire-department connections) appear in Chapter 4. Means-of-egress symbols (exits, exit signs, areas of refuge, stairs, evacuation routes, assembly areas, accessibility marks) appear in Chapter 5. Unlike ISO 7010, NFPA 170 emphasizes black-and-white line drawings suitable for engineering drawings, with color usage advisory rather than mandatory. NFPA 170 also addresses route line styles — the standard 'arrow' egress route, the alternate route, the accessible egress route, and the area-of-refuge marker — at a level of detail that ISO 7010 does not match. For posted plans, NFPA 170 symbols combine readily with color overlays consistent with NFPA 170 Annex recommendations and OSHA color conventions.

OSHA 29 CFR 1910.145 specifies that safety signs in U.S. workplaces conform to ANSI Z535 (which aligns closely with ISO 3864 color geometry but uses its own catalog) and is technology-neutral on symbol catalogs. NFPA 101, the Life Safety Code, references NFPA 170 in Chapter 7 for emergency markings and route signage. The International Fire Code (IFC) Section 405 (Emergency Evacuation Drills) and Section 408 (Use and Occupancy-Related Requirements) imply NFPA 170 symbology for posted plans by reference to NFPA 101. ISO 7010 is required in most European Union member states under EU Directive 92/58/EEC (Safety and Health Signs at Work) and in many other jurisdictions worldwide. International airports, multinational corporate campuses, and shipping facilities frequently use ISO 7010 to maintain consistency across borders. The Joint Commission, for U.S. healthcare, accepts either system but encourages consistency within a facility. For most U.S. domestic projects NFPA 170 is the safer default; for international or multinational projects ISO 7010 is preferred.

The color codes are similar but not identical. Green safe-condition (used for exits, first-aid stations, evacuation routes, assembly points): ISO 7010 specifies Pantone 354C / RAL 6032 (signal green); ANSI Z535 and NFPA 170 commonly use a slightly darker green often rendered as Pantone 348C. Red fire-equipment (used for extinguishers, alarm pull stations, hose stations, fire-department connections): ISO 7010 specifies Pantone 485C / RAL 3001 (signal red); ANSI/NFPA also uses safety red, typically Pantone 186C. Yellow warning: ISO 7010 specifies Pantone 109C / RAL 1023 (signal yellow); ANSI Z535 specifies safety yellow, typically Pantone 109C as well. Blue mandatory: ISO 7010 specifies Pantone 286C / RAL 5005 (signal blue); ANSI uses safety blue, often Pantone 285C. The differences are small enough that a printed plan using ANSI/NFPA red and green will not be mistaken for a different category by a viewer trained on ISO 7010. The bigger color decision for evacuation plans is whether to use green for safe-condition exit routes (most common) or red for the primary egress route (some occupancies). EvacPlan Generator allows full control of route line color so either convention can be used.

A typical posted evacuation plan should include, at minimum: the 'You Are Here' marker, the primary egress routes (color-coded), the alternate egress routes, fire extinguishers (with class indicator if relevant), fire alarm pull stations, the building exits and exit numbers, the assembly point (one or more), areas of refuge if present, AEDs, first aid stations, the location of fire-department connections and standpipe outlets, and the map key (legend) that decodes all symbols used. Many plans also include eye-wash and emergency shower locations (in laboratories or industrial occupancies), shelter-in-place rooms (for severe weather or active-shooter scenarios), and stairwell identifiers. The map key is essential — a viewer should not have to guess what a symbol means. Symbols should be drawn at a size proportional to the plan, typically 0.25 inch to 0.5 inch tall on a printed 11x17 plan, and arranged in the map key in a logical grouping (egress symbols together, fire equipment together, medical equipment together).

EvacPlan Generator (www.evacplangenerator.com) ships with an extensive symbol library that includes the most commonly used NFPA 170 and ISO 7010 icons side by side. The icon picker organizes symbols by category — Egress, Fire Equipment, Medical, Hazards, Wayfinding — so the planner can drop the correct icon onto the plan regardless of which standard the facility prefers. Color overlays can be applied to keep the plan consistent with either ISO 3864 or ANSI Z535 color geometry. The MAP KEY (legend) is automatically generated from the icons actually used on the plan, so an ISO-flavored plan will not show NFPA fire-extinguisher icons in its legend, and vice versa. For multinational projects, the planner can mix and match — using ISO running-man exit icons alongside NFPA extinguisher icons — so the posted plan matches both the facility's local code and the corporate standard. The MAP KEY remains accurate either way because it is built from what is actually placed on the plan, not from a fixed template. Plans drawn with one symbol system can be converted to the other by re-selecting icons; the underlying coordinates and routes are preserved.