UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice by James Bychowski

UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice

Jim Bychowski, P.E.

Aon Risk Solutions Global Risk Consulting | Fire Protection Engineering

Presentation to IOSH UAE

Aon Risk Solutions | Global Risk Consulting | Fire Protection Engineering 15 December 2011

2

Introduction

• Aon FPE – Fire Protection Engineering and Life Safety Consulting

– Security Consulting

– Certified House of Expertise in Abu Dhabi and Dubai

– Local company is Schirmer Safety Consultants

• Jim Bychowski – US registered Fire Protection and Safety Engineer

– 24 years US

– 6 years UAE


3

Introduction

• Purpose – Introduce New UAE Code – Home Grown Code – Used by Civil Defense

• Objective – Application – Relation to Past Codes and Referenced Standards – Major Content

• Not Covered – Detailed Requirements


4

The Best and the Biggest • Dubai’s Mantra

– The biggest

– Never done before

– Amazing projects

• World’s Talent – Planners

– Architects

– Engineers

– Consultants

– Constructors


5

Past UAE Process • Pick a code

• Pick your standards

• Package for Civil Defense approval – Fire Strategy

• Adjust based on reviewing engineer’s preferences

• Apply UAE Fire Code – After Translation and

Interpretation!

– Sometimes


6

Previously Applied Codes and Standards • National Codes and Model

Codes – Building Code of Australia – German Building Code – NFPA 5000 – International Building Code

(IBC)

• Design Standards – British Standards – NFPA Standards

• Civil Defense Requirements

– UAE Fire Code (Arabic) – GCC Fire Code (Arabic) – Unwritten Requirements


7

Conflicts and Uncertainty

• Architect’s code preferences

• Engineer’s design standard preferences

• Civil Defense application of UAE Fire Code, GCC Fire Code or NFPA Life Safety Code

• Civil Defense interpretation


8

Time to Breathe – Time to Create • Dubai Civil Defense

– Realized need for publishing guideline for fire safety in 2007

– Had established “House of Expertise” program – Established committee to develop guideline

• Goal to create code based on past experiences – Reduce losses by minimizing most common fire

and life safety issues – Address construction and fire protection

systems that are most critical or need extra attention to get installed properly.


9

Where to start • Write proprietary guidelines? • Adopt model code and modify? • Existing codes and standards that fit Middle East

needs?


10

UAE Fire and Life Safety Code • UAE Fire Code

vs. Dubai Fire Code

• Uses NFPA standards and British standards

• Consensus Code • Review and

input by: – Civil Defense – HOEs – Fire equipment

manufacturers – NFPA, BSI and

ISO


11

UAE Fire and Life Safety Code

• Published by UAE Ministry of Interior

• Adopted by all Emirates

• Adopted July 2011

• Effective date for all new construction October 2011


12

Components

• Draws from widely accepted sections of International Codes and Standards – Height and area limitations similar to NFPA 5000 –

Building Construction and Safety Code – Means of egress requirements drawn from NFPA 101 –

Life Safety Code – High-rise smoke-proof stair requirements from IBC

(Pressurization method) – Fire brigade access requirements from Civil Defense

• Many familiar fire and life safety diagrams, tables and passages….


13

Application • Required for use on all new

UAE projects

• Primary Fire and Life Safety Code

• Used in conjunction with building code

• Over-rides Fire and Life Safety requirements of building code

• Defaults to NFPA 101 (Not building code provisions) where elements not covered by UAE code

• Replaces all previous Civil Defense rules and Fire Codes

• “Minimum” requirements as with all codes.


14

Review and Amendment

• Civil Defense Fire Code Council (CDFCC) – Responsible for review, evaluation and administration of code

• Executive Director (Director General Civil Defence) – Gen. Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi • Chairman (Director, Fire Safety & Prevention Section, Civil Defense) – Major Jamal Ahmed Ibrahim • Members from industry – Fire protection systems, fire fighting

operations and fire fighting, and life safety experienced

– CDFCC may consult with any group or members affected by code

– May resolve to amend the code at any time by making a recommendation to the Board of Directors of Civil Defense.


15

Distribution

• Format: Hard and soft copy – AED 3,000

• Purchased from Civil Defense – Dubai or Abu Dhabi

• Each copy registered with Civil Defense to qualified firms

• Soft copy protected

– No printing or extraction of data


16

Contents • 18 Chapters (724 pages)

– Most popular search topics (Alpha - linked) P. 4

– 22 page TOC (Fully Linked) PP. 5 - 27

• Ch. 1 Construction and Fire Compartmentalization

• Ch. 2 Fire Service Vehicle and Personnel Accessibility

• Ch. 3 Means of Egress

• Ch. 4 Portable Fire Extinguishers

• Ch. 5 Exit Signs

• Ch. 6 Emergency and Exit Lighting

• Ch. 7 Emergency Voice Evacuation and Communication System

• Ch. 8 Fire Detection and Alarm System

• Ch. 9 Fire Protection System

• Ch. 10 Mechanical Ventilation and Smoke Control Systems


17

Contents (cont.) • Ch. 11 Fire Safety Guideline for Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Installations

• Ch. 12 Fire and Safety Codes During Construction and Maintenance

• Ch. 13 Fire Safety Requirement for Multi-Tenant (Terrace Type) Warehouse and Factories

• Ch. 14 Substation Requirements

• Ch. 15 Accessibility Guidelines for Disabled

• Ch. 16 Specification for Life Safety Alarm Monitoring

• Ch. 17 Guidelines for Conducting Risk Assessment (RA) Studies

• Ch. 18 Requirements for Submission of Drawings

• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)


18

Miscellaneous Items

• Code often requires “Approved” materials or personnel, however “Approved” is not defined in most areas – Approved fire stop system

– Approved engineer

• Detailed Means of Egress Chapter with many graphical examples

• Chapter 9 – Details location and selection of fire protection systems for various occupancies. Pulls in a lot of information from NFPA design standards and diagrams on arrangement of pumps and risers.


19

Miscellaneous Items

• Accessibility Guidelines – Requires compliance with Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and ANSI A117.1 – Exempt sites, buildings facilities and elements are

listed.

• Risk Assessments – Ch 17 – Performed using various hazard assessment

methods prescribed

– Performed for all special hazards indicated in table 9.7 to determine appropriate protection.


20

Questions?

UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice by James Bychowski

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