Fire Risk Factors in the High Rise Buildings in Abu Dhabi - Case Study Example

Name Assessment (Management) 29 May 2008 Fire Risk Factors in the High Rise Buildings in Abu Dhabi 1.0 Executive Summary One of the ubiquitous factors of the skyline at Abu Dhabi is its sprawling array of high-rise buildings. The unprecedented economic growth in the United Arab Emirates in the last few decades has given way to an ambitious construction boom. Massive high rise buildings are in vogue that house the offices of top notch business and financial institutions and organisations that are increasingly shifting their operations to this oil rich kingdom. Such impressive modern day monuments also add to the status and reputation of this desert metropolitan. Though most of the construction operations in this Islamic kingdom are outsourced; the imperative standards of fire safety measures in the high-rise buildings here are not as stringent as those in the Western nations. In the worst case scenario, hundreds of human lives and priceless financial assets may be exposed to risk owing to the immanent risk factors and sub standard fire protection systems in a high-rise building at Abu Dhabi. The purpose of this report is to identify the risk factors that are to be found in a typical high-rise building in this economically crucial metropolitan city. Attempts have been made to identify and label the potential risks to regular occupants and fire fighting crews in the wake of any major fire. Potential risk factors may be embedded in the design, installation, certification and maintenance of the crucial systems of the building under consideration (Gurnell, 2007). On the basis of the given assessment, the fire and rescue services will be required to chalk out an Integrated Risk Management Plan, which will enable them to proceed with confidence in the case of any major conflagration in the given high-rise building. Table of Contents 1.0 Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 3 2.0 Introduction 4 3.0 The Building 5 4.0 Risk Factors 5 4.1 Stairways 5 4.2 Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning 6 4.3Electrical and Communication Lines 6 4.4 Plumbing 6 4.5 Emergency Power 6 4.7 Hazardous Substances 7 4.8 Falling Objects 7 5.0 Conclusions 7 6.0 Integrated Risk Management Plan 8 7.0 Recommendations 9 Works Cited 11 2.0 Introduction Risk assessment has become an important constituent of the overall strategies adopted by fire and rescue services in Abu Dhabi. This enables the concerned services to save precious human lives and economic assets in the hour of need. Establishing and understanding a virtual worst case scenario makes the fire fighters understand and analyse the possible threats in advance and ensures better strategies and tactics when the need arises. This body of work provides detailed information on the possible risk factors to be faced in most of the high-rise buildings at Abu Dhabi. Once the relevant fire risks are identified, fire and rescue services can proceed to mitigate and nullify these risks in advance to avoid serious losses. The initiative facilitated by this report will enable the fire fighters to find the answers to many serious questions pertaining to the possibility of fires in high-rise buildings. Dousing a fire in a high-rise building is always a collaborative response. Thus it is a must that all the relevant systems like fire alarms, electrical systems, stairway doors, and automatic sprinklers should be in a prim pram ready to use condition. This ensures a meticulous and effective pre-fire planning by the fire and rescue services. All the successful Integrated Risk Management Plans in fire fighting services are based on a timely assessment of the potential risk factors in advance. A concerted attempt has been made in this report to evaluate the possible risk factors in the high-rise buildings at Abu Dhabi (Wong, 2003). In detail assessment of the risk management in relation to the fire and rescue services has been facilitated. Efforts have been made to understand the changes in risk between the daytime and night. 3.0 The Building Al Hyatt is a 54 four story five star hotel situated at the corner of the Alhambra Street, in the heart of the downtown Abu Dhabi. The whole of this neighbourhood is marked by a mixed scattering of high-rise and mid-rise buildings. On the west side, this building is attached to the 35 story Pakiza Trust Building. This given building is surrounded by many high-rise buildings. The issue of this ultra busy hotel faces the Alexi Multiplex. Al Hyatt has three underground levels and fifty above ground floors. This building is rectangular in shape. The construction of this building was initiated in 1999 and was passed for occupancy in the year 2003. The framework of this building is made of structural steel that is reinforced with premium grade concrete. All the structural steel and floor assemblies were sprayed with fireproofing material. The outside of this building is covered with high quality aluminium wall panels and has ample outward projecting glass windows. The given building basically adheres to a central core plan. It has two stairways, four elevators, two supply duct shafts, telephone and electrical lines and bathroom utility chases. 4.0 Risk Factors A careful survey of this building revealed many anomalies inherent in the installation and design of this high-rise building that could prove to be disastrously dangerous in the event of a fire. A few of such risk factors are (United States Fire Administration, 2004): TIME= 40 Minutes From the first time of call to the fire and rescue services Until the arrival of fire engines 4.1 Stairways This building has two stairways that serve all the fifty four floors. Adjacent to these stairways are installed utility and HVAC shafts (Burd, 2008). Pipe and duct penetrators through these shafts are not installed with fire dampers. There exist no fire or smoke barriers around the sleeved pipes. No fire dampers have been installed in the HVAC ducts penetrating the shaft walls. This deficiency could cause serious problems in the event of a fire. It has also been found that one of the stairway doors has been permanently locked for security reasons. This could withhold the entry of the fire fighters in the event of a fire. 4.2 Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning This building has two heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems located in the respective mechanical rooms on the 40th and 11th floor. Upon scrutiny it was found that HVAC shafts did not have fire dampers at the duct penetration on all the floors. 4.3 Electrical and Communication Lines The electrical and communication are located are located in separate rooms on each of the floors and are placed one above the other to achieve a vertical shaft configuration. The exposed wires run freely along the floors through unprotected penetrations of the floor assemblies. Breaches of fire resistance construction were found in the walls separating the electrical and communication rooms from the occupied spaces. 4.4 Plumbing The bathroom utility pipes run through pipe chases on all the floors. Upon the inspection of these pipe chases it was discovered that the integrity of the fire resistance rated floor and ceiling assemblies was severely compromised by not closing or sealing the floor penetrations. 4.5 Emergency Power Though this building receives its power supply from two separate sub stations, still it is backed up by an emergency generator. The emergency power is supplied by a 400 kW natural gas run generator that is supplied by the buildings natural gas service (Iklim, 2008). On inspection it was found that this generator is not sanctioned by the building code. A perusal of the maintenance records revealed a long history of problems with this emergency generator system. 4.6 Fire Detection Systems The rules related to fire alarms and smoke detecting systems were drastically revised only a year after the starting of this building’s construction. As a result of these changes, several improvements to the fire protection system were made in the following years. Though the building is equipped with appropriate fire alarms and automatic sprinklers, still these arrangements are not up to date according to the current standards. Improperly installed stand pipes will fail to provide adequate pressure in case of a fire calamity. 4.7 Hazardous Substances Hazardous substances like inflammable insecticides, bleaching and cleaning fluids, laundry, paint, wax based floor polishes, etc. are stored in the maintenance rooms on each of the floors. In the event of a fire, these inflammable substances could wreck havoc with the overall safety of a building. The maintenance staff is improperly trained in the handling and storage of these high risk inflammable substances. 4.8 Falling Objects The false ceilings installed in the overall structure of this building hold many falling objects like heavy chandeliers and decoration stuff that could prove to be dangerous in the event of a fire. 5.0 Conclusions All these discrepancies in the building design and installation as well as the poor storage practices and arrangements could definitely prove to be disastrous in the event of a fire. This situation is further aggravated by the fact that this hotel’s staff is not properly trained as to how to respond to a fire related emergency. These discrepancies could prove to be a serious threat to the occupants and the staff of this hotel. Considering the severe compromising of fire resistance construction measures, a fire situation could aggravate beyond control in such a set up (Koo, 2003). Such a situation also poses an immense threat to the fire fighters who will respond to any emergency situation in this building. The low quality fire alarms and sprinklers and substandard stand up pipes may jeopardize an entire fire fighting operation in the hour of need. This hotel being situated in a congested landscape, any fire situation could threaten the safety of important commercial buildings located in its vicinity. Considering the dense traffic and high occupancy in the vicinity of this building during the day time, any fire calamity during the day time is expected to cause more damage as compared to the night time. This risk factor is expected to be more enhanced during the evening hours. 6.0 Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) In the context of the fire and rescue services, a well chalked out integrated risk and management plan not only helps to prevent disastrous fires but also ensures that appropriate resources are available in the correct place at the right time to deal with any kind of eventuality (Galloway Fire Authority, 2006). An IRMP is a well researched document that forges a strategy to deliver a well balanced prevention and intervention service that improves the safety standards in a building. It also intends to reduce the commercial, social and economic impact of a fire in the high rise buildings. The primary aim of the IRMP is to make the fire services more responsive to the locally identified needs. Such a plan aims at preventing a fire from starting in the first place, rather then dealing with a conflagration after it has started. 7.0 Recommendations On the basis of the above analysis, the relevant recommendations to reduce the risk of fire in Hotel al Hyatt are; State of the art sprinklers and fire identification gadgets that are as per the most recent guidelines should be installed in this building. The requirements and procedures for installing stand pipes should be examined carefully. Fire code enforcement program should be strictly practised in this building. The hotel should hire trained personnel to manage and evaluate the fire protection codes in it’s building The ignition sources like inflammable substances and other portable electric gadgets should be removed from this building. The hotel’s security staff must be vigilant about fire threats. The regulations pertaining to fire resistance ratings should be meticulously revaluated. Inspection of this building must be conducted on a regular basis to identify anomalies in the fire resistance related assemblies. All the falling objects must be removed or carefully installed. Features to limit exterior vertical fire spread must be incorporated in the design of this building. Emergency electric systems must be either continuously monitored to ensure safety or most be completely removed from the hotel premises. Works Cited Burd, J. 2008, ‘Safety measures in high-rise buildings’, my Central Jersey.com, viewed 29 May 2008, Draft Integrated Risk Management Plan, 2006, Dumfrier and Galloway Fire Authority Gurnell, P. 2007, High Rise Fire Risk, The Daily Telegraph, viewed 29 May 2008, High-rise Office Building Fire on Meridian Plaza Philadelphia, 2004, United States Fire Administration, Copies held in the National Fire Data Centre. High-rise Office Building Fire on Meridian Plaza, 2008, Iklim, viewed, 29 May 2008, < http;//www.iklimnet.com/hotelfires/meridianplaza.html> Koo, L.T 2003, Old Residential High-rise Buildings, questia, viewed, 29 May 2008, < http;//www.springerlink.com/content/k743278/> Wang, B. 2006, Decision analysis in fire safety inspection of high-rise buildings, viewed, 29 May 2008, Read More