Grand designs present unique dilemmas for fire safety experts

Changing technologies and new building materials used in the latest grand designs are putting pressure on regulators to ensure buildings comply with new safety standards.

Global experts on fire safety and building codes discussed implementing and enforcing the latest building codes at a conference in Dubai.

Strict guidelines on the use of fire-resistant cladding is a major aspect of a new building code introduced this year, and part of proactive solutions to improve safety in UAE skyscrapers.

Adrian Brown, fire service adviser at Dubai Civil Defence, said safety reviews are ongoing and will be regularly reviewed when incidents arise.

“Technology and construction is moving at a faster rate, so guidance may be slightly behind the curve,” he said.

“It is ongoing work as to the performance of buildings in a fire, while building products and systems will always be reviewed for performance after each fire.

“This is often the nature of fire investigation. The majority of fire safety codes in place around the world have evolved in this way.

“All we can do retrospectively is look at how building fires developed and escalated to try to stop that happening again.

“There is a moral and legal obligation for fire safety – relevant to private and public sectors and not just civil defence.”

The federal fire code has been driven by the UAE Civil Defence with considerable input from Civil Defence in Dubai after fires at The Torch in Dubai Marina and The Address Hotel in Downtown last year.

The Real Estate Regulatory Agency, the regulatory arm of the Dubai Land Department, has already replaced some building facades that do not comply with fire resistance safety requirements.

Sanctions against building owners who do not comply with new regulations in fire safety is not always an easy process, said Chuck Ramani, president of International Accreditation Service, who was speaking at the conference.

“Imposing new codes retroactively on existing buildings is dangerous territory,” he said. “We cannot condemn existing structures if there has been a law change. The international property maintenance code is a good one to adopt because it takes care of ongoing safety standards in existing buildings.”

Robert James, global building and security inspection director at Underwriters Laboratories, said the biggest safety challenge in global construction was ensuring that buildings were tested and inspected properly.

“Outside curtain walls in buildings are critical, acting as a barrier to stop fires from spreading to areas people need to access in an evacuation,” he said. “They can stop fire from spreading to the floor above, but there need to be controls in place as part of a fire code to ensure the construction has been done correctly to make it effective.

“There is a lot of choice of materials now for architects to work with. There are many types of buildings in Dubai, for example, and we need to make sure they are being installed properly and tested correctly in the field.”

All we can do ... is look at how building fires developed and escalated to try to stop that happening again ADRIAN BROWN Fire service adviser