Building risks
codes into the spotlight, and identified changes required to certain imported building products and combustible cladding. A recent decision handed down by Judge Woodward, vice president of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, identified a range of people and positions in the construction process as financially accountable
•
Bankstown fire in Sydney, Australia (2012) – coroner HCB Dillon identified the potential for installation of cost effective sprinkler protection in residential high rise buildings under 25m in Australia1
• Address Hotel fire in Dubai, UAE (2015) – building standards and building materials were reassessed
Information that is easily understood and available to occupants on what fire and life safety system is relevant to the building they occupy is currently very limited. If occupants are empowered with easily digestible information, it is possible that building fire and life safety will no longer be viewed as a minimum standard that must be achieved. When an occupant evacuation elevator assists in providing a higher B-FLSR and occupants are aware of this benefit, or when the retrofitting of a sprinkler system increases the B-FLSR and is offset with reduced insurance premiums, the result will be pressure to implement change. Proactive change is a huge challenge in a building industry that is largely driven by financial viability. The application of a B-FLSR could really help drive proactive safety enhancements across the entire building industry. If the customer demands a higher level of fire and life safety in their building in a similar way to the motor vehicle industry designing safer cars, there will be an opportunity and incentive to improve.
Safety culture
The B-FLSR system is aimed at prioritising a safety culture for all buildings, whether they are old or new, by implementing a national or international rating system. Buildings would receive a percentage rating for their level of fire and life safety. The rating is between 0 and 100, with 100 being the highest level of fire and life safety. If deemed more suitable, the B-FLSR could be displayed as a star system; five stars being the highest rating. It would need to be displayed in the foyer or at the entrance of each building, ensuring that the rating is visible to and readily available to any occupant. A national register of B-FLSRs would provide occupants with additional information – a set of benchmarks would
FOCUS
need to be established, and the criteria for determining the B-FLSR would need to apply to the building type. In Australia, a residential building containing
long term tenancy (a Class 2 building under the National Construction Code2
) would receive
a B-FLSR applicable to that type of building. The building would be assessed against a checklist of installed fire safety systems, on site management capability, maintenance planning, evacuation performance and capability, and overall emergency planning. Benefits of the system could include: ◊ Acting as an incentive for buildings to go above the minimum standard for fire and life safety.
◊ Acting as a guide for the new occupant or purchaser, who is often unaware of the level of fire and life safety they are buying into. This becomes even more important when buying into older buildings built to older standards.
◊ Creating an incentive for the building industry to construct buildings to higher levels of fire and life safety. Market demand could potentially influence the construction sector to develop buildings to higher standards of fire and life safety.
◊ Providing a potential benefit of reduced insurance premiums for buildings of a higher B-FLSR.
◊ Creating an incentive for retrofitting or upgrading the many ageing buildings to a more current standard or higher level of fire and life safety.
www.frmjournal.com JUNE 2019 33
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
