Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Gulf News
Dubai: A new national fire safety code set to become law later this year may be revised to ban non fire-rated cladding panels on skyscrapers, Gulf News has learnt.
Existing provisions in the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code introduced in July 2011 do not prohibit non fire-rated cladding panels that can burn within minutes compared to fire-retardant panels comprising fire-repellant compounds.
But pending meetings this week between civil defence and municipalities, amendments to the fire safety code could prohibit flammable cladding filled with petroleum-based plastics from being installed on high-rise towers, Pramod Challa, chief of engineering at Dubai Civil Defence headquarters, said in an interview yesterday.
Despite being introduced in July 2011, the code has yet to become law pending Arabic translation. Word of revisions possibly via a new circular to be issued to civil defence departments across the country comes in the wake of the prohibition of non fire-rated cladding by Dubai and Sharjah on April 29, documents obtained by Gulf News show.
These moves follow a devastating fire in Al Tayer Tower in Sharjah on April 28 in which aluminium cladding tiles went up in flames. This was preceded by a fire in Al Baker Tower, also in Sharjah.
We should have a unified approach when it comes to materials, Challa said.
We will issue a circular if everyone agrees. Lets wait and see what the Dubai Municipality says.
The code is a work in progress, he added, and has not caught up with new Sharjah and Dubai municipality updates calling for cladding to be fire-resistant.
By Derek Baldwin, Chief Reporter
Gulf News 2012. All rights reserved.
