Burning issue for buildings
Project aims to create new fire safety standards and bring reassurance to people across the globe
THE ROYAL Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) is collaborating with a coalition of more than 70 international organisations to develop a new fire safety global standard.
The project aims to bring reassurance to people across the world that the buildings and infrastructure they use follows the best worldwide expertise on fire safety.
Rics, which is chairing the development of the International Fire Safety Standard, is inviting experts to help shape the standard through a global consultation in an effort which is being supported by the United Nations and World Bank.
This follows previous Rics work to bring consistency to the standards people can expect globally across property, construction and valuation.
Various incidents of fire safety non-compliance, resulting in tragic consequences, have raised questions about the safety and compliance of South African buildings, and highlighted the importance of clear fire safety standards and ensuring compliance with such standards, says TC Chetty, South Africa country manager for Rics.
“The International Fire Safety Standard will ensure occupier safety by providing landlords with clear fire safety standards for building design and management while also providing occupiers with a means of holding landlords and building owners accountable when it comes to fire safety.”
Through the global consultation process, it is hoped that a uniform set of principles can be created for countries to adopt. Rics leadership in this initiative underlines the profession’s commitment to creating safer built environments for people around the world.
Fire knows no geographical or political boundaries, and along with this, the differing approaches to buildings fire safety across the globe can be inconsistent, ineffective and in some cases, non-existent, adds Gary Strong, who is the chairman of the International Fire Safety Standards Coalition and Global Building Standards director at Rics.
“There is an urgent need to deliver better safety for people’s homes, communities and workplaces.
“I now encourage experts to engage with this consultation to help us deliver the best possible fire safety standard for the environments we all inhabit.”
The International Fire Safety Standards is open for global consultation until March 23, with final standard to be published later this year. For more info email Chetty on tcchetty@rics.org