Fire Safety & Building Regulations

8 things you need to consider when designing…

Introduction

• 2 Relevant Resources– Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 (latest version) - UBBL– Guide to Fire Protection in Malaysia

• 3 Fire Safety Philosophies– Means of Escape– Containment within compartment / buildings– Detection and Extinguishment

• 2 Means of Fire Safety– Passive – Active

#1 - ActivityUBBL Fifth Schedule

– Types of Activities categorised under broad “Purpose Groups”, e.g. I. Small Residential, II. Institutional, III. Small Residential, IV. Office, … etc.

– Checking the Fifth Schedule will tell you the maximum size of a compartment, either in floor area or volume

– Buildings can be sub-divided into compartments containing different purpose groups

– If the building houses multiple purpose groups, use the one that is more stringent

Useful Example:

COMMUNITY CENTRE– Purpose Group II. Institutional– “Hospital, school or other similar establishment used as living

accommodation for, or for treatment care or maintenance of, persons suffering from disabilities due to illness or old age or any other physical or mental disability or under the age of 5 years, where such persons sleep in the premises”

Therefore, based on the Fifth Schedule:– Height of building: any height– Floor area of storey or compartment: 2000 m2

– Cubic capacity of building or compartment: no limit

#2 - Building VolumeBy Law 140– Building volume determines

amount of perimeter access for fire vehicles.

Volume of Building(m3)

Minimum Proportion of Perimeter of

Building7,000 – 28,000 1/6

28,000 – 56,000 1/4

56,000 – 84,000 1/2

84,000 – 112,000 3/4

112,000 and above Island site

Useful Example:

COMMUNITY CENTRE– Assuming 2,000 m2 floor area, with

average floor to floor height of 4m:

Volume = 2,000 x 4 = 8,000 m3

Therefore, no minimum requirement for fire truck access to perimeter of building.

#3 - Building HeightUBBL (Various)

Building Height

Active Systems Passive Fire FightingExternal Hydrants

Hose Reel

Dry Riser

Wet Riser

Fire Escape Stairs

Party Wall

Fire Break

Compartments

Fireman Lift

Firefighting Access

Single Staircase Building √ √ √ √

< 18.3m √ √ √ √

18.3 – 30.5m √ √ √ √ √ √

30.5 – 45.0m √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

45.0 < √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √

#4 - OpeningsUBBL Sixth Schedule – Amount of openings in a wall determines the distance that wall should

be set back from boundary / adjacent building.– The bigger the openings, or the more the number (calculated as a

percentage of a wall), the further back the wall should be.– It is useful to work backwards to determine how much openings to

introduce if it is a tight site– Sixth Schedule is based on purpose groups, height of wall, as well as

percentage of openings.

#5 - Fire EscapeSome Tips about Fire Escape Stairs

(FES): – Always have more than one (what if

one catches fire?)– Minimum distance between FES is 5m– Never discharge from a protected

zone (e.g. FES) into an unprotected one (e.g. lobby); always discharge people outside as quickly as possible

– FES running to the Ground Floor must not be allowed to continue into the Basement

– FES should be naturally ventilated, otherwise must be pressurised

#6 - Running DistanceUBBL Seventh Schedule – Based on purpose groups– Gives the maximum running distance to an exit, in terms of dead end

limits, unsprinklered and sprinkled corridors

Useful Example– Purpose group II. Institutional (Hospitals, Nursing Homes, etc.)– Dead End Limit: 9m– Unsprinklered: 30m / Sprinklered: 45m

#7 – Exit CapacitiesUBBL Seventh Schedule – Based on purpose groups– Gives a projected occupant load per square meter based on activity,

from which the total capacity of exits may be derived– Number of exits may vary, as long as the total capacity is met with one

exit to spare and each exit meets the minimum width– Exit capacities must be tabulated for every floor, with the highest

capacity adequately served.

#8 – Active SystemsUBBL Tenth Schedule– Tenth Schedule lays out three basic active fire fighting systems:

Extinguishing system, Fire Alarm and Emergency Lighting– Again, these are classified under purpose groups, but more specific in

terms of usage, e.g. school, nursing home, etc.– If mixed usage occurs, always take the more stringent conditions

Useful example:II. Institutional – 1. Hospital and Nursing Home

(ii) in patient treatment(c) exceeding 250m2 per floor: 3 or 4

storeys– Extinguishing system: Hose Reel– Fire Alarm: Automatic Fire Detectors & Signal Indicator Alarm System– Emergency Lighting: Signal Point Units

Image References• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/8/88/Height_demonstration_diagram.png• http://www.colocode.com/ftcollins/municipal/figures/figure_D103_1_part3.gif• http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5253/5492000592_c134de0c08.jpg• http://farm1.static.flickr.com/29/53756264_f729c6756c.jpg