Dubai fire code could’ve saved lives in London
dubai — The fire-retardent cladding of Dubai’s fire safety code could have prevented the spread of the deadly fire which struck London’s Grenfell Tower, according to experts.
The fire on June 14 — which killed at least 17 people — had a deadly effect compared to high-rise fire incidents in Dubai, such as the February 2015 Torch Tower incident which occurred without any loss of life and significant structural damage. The tower’s exterior cladding largely remained intact except for a corner that caught the fire. The fire did not spread so fast due to the superior quality of the materials and construction technology and due to the rapid response by the Dubai Civil Defence and the Dubai Police.
“In Dubai, recent high-rise building fires, including at the 79-storey Torch Skyscraper in 2015, spread because of cladding, according to fire engineering consultancy Tenable Dubai,” BBC said in a recent story. “But these fires caused no fatalities because the design and construction of the buildings allowed firefighters to battle the blaze and residents to evacuate via smokefree, fire-free safety zones, it says.”
The BBC report quoted Sam Alcock, Tenable Dubai’s director, as saying that “all the fires here lasted for six to seven hours but occupants managed to evacuate successfully and all fires were extinguished with no loss of life. In my opinion, design and construction is what saved lives.”
Initial reports suggest that the rapid spread of the Grenfell Tower fire was caused by substandard and flammable materials used in the cladding.
“Material used in the cladding that covered the Grenfell Tower was the cheaper, more flammable version of the two available options, an investigation of the supply chain has confirmed,” a report in the Guardian noted.
“Installing fire-resistant cladding at Grenfell Tower would have cost just £5,000 extra, it has been claimed, after the spotlight fell on the building’s facade as a factor in Wednesday’s devastating fire,” noted the UK’s Independent.
According to the Council on Buildings and Urban Habitat, the UAE is home to 24 per cent of the world’s 100 tallest towers, with Dubai alone hosting the top 20.
“The UAE has a solid building code and regulations are periodically revised to reduce the dangers — that was witnessed in some of the high-rise fire incidents in the emirates,” Nashat Sahawneh, chairman of Al Hamad Group of Companies, said.
“Contractors and the Dubai Municipality and the Dubai Civil Defence — who examine, test and certify all the materials used in each buildings — work closely on the safety issues before issuing the no-objection certificates (NOCs) and building permits,” he added. “The fire incidents in Grenfell Tower and the Torch — show us how fatal accidents could happen if proper materials are not used and if the building codes are not followed. Although the UAE has witnessed more fire incidents in high-rise buildings, loss of life and material damage has been less — which shows that building regulators and contractors work together to ensure safety in buildings.”
Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has said that the controversial non fire- resistant cladding fitted to Grenfell Tower is in fact banned in the UK.