Thursday, Apr 04, 2013
Installation of fire-rated aluminium cladding panels are crucial for building safety and can help save lives and reduce damage to civil structures when fire breaks out. The UAE’s major metropolises such as Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah have a very high concentration of high-rises and a large number of them are fitted mostly with non-fire rated aluminium cladding that needs to be retrofitted with fire-rated ones.
While it is heartening to know that Dubai Civil Defence is reviewing national fire safety code, in which fire-rated aluminium cladding panels are expected to be made mandatory in the future, the question remains for the existing towers where non-fire rated claddings still pose a threat.
A senior Dubai Civil Defence official recently ruled out the possibility of forcing owners to remove non-fire rated cladding panels from their buildings. While retrofitting buildings with fire-rated cladding means additional cost burden for building owners, it cannot be costlier than the lives of thousands who live and work in these structures. Fire-related incidents, that forced hundreds of families to take shelter in gardens in recent years, are still fresh in public memory. These do not go well with the country’s global image of a developed nation. Safety and the lives of inhabitants are of paramount importance. People’s lives should not be short-changed for money. Government authorities should not only look at the interest of contractors and building owners. Public safety should far outweigh commercial interests.
Gulf News
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