22 January 2017

Existing towers will have to comply with the new cladding regulations once their maintenance is due

Dubai: The updated UAE Fire and Life Safety code has new regulations on cladding panels to ensure their flammability is as close to zero as possible, a top official revealed at Intersec Fire Safety Conference on Sunday.

Lieutenants Taher Hassan Al Taher, head of Inspection and Permitting section at Dubai Civil Defence, said that though there is no such thing as fire retardant cladding, the new specification's goal is to minimize it [flammability] to zero."

Existing towers will have to comply with the new cladding regulations once their maintenance is due, he added

"The new rules on cladding took six months to be finalised," he said.

A copy of the new code and technical specifications on cladding was not available at Intersec, which is taking place at Dubai World Trade Centre.

The new fire safety code is designed to radically reduce the threat of major fires in UAE’s high-rises.

UAE has enforced stricter rules for the use of cladding, thought to be partly to blame for a number of fires across the emirates, including the one at The Torch tower in Dubai Marina.

Cladding refers to the panels used to cover the exterior of most modern buildings.

© Gulf News 2017