Stewart Kidd
Mon, 02 Apr 2007 08:28:28 -0700
ColleaguesI have just seen this thread as I have been travelling and wonder if some facts might help ?
In my consultancy role I am working on a number of projects in the UAE including acting as the insurance advisor on two very tall buildings (confidentiality forbids me to state which ones) and am happy to confirm that the building codes being applied are in accordance with international best practice. Can I also suggest that it can be sometimes a mistake to rely on information from Wikipedia - many of the facts about the Burj Dubai project in the reference are incorrect.
While the local building codes in Dubai do not specifically cover very or super tall buildings I would be interested to learn of any such codes which do.
All high rise hotels and non residential buidlings in Dubai are fully sprinklered, have standpipes and hose racks/reels, voice alarm systems and fitted with full fire detection monitored on a 24 hour basis by trained personnel. (I wish I could say the same things about the hotels in some other countries - including those in Europe.)
It is worth noting that the owners of the Burj Dubai employed a highly competent US based international practice to design the tower and also a very reputable US firm of code consultants to advise on the fire safety of the building.
What should be of more concern is that there are more than 20 super tall (over 400m buildings) either under construction or being planned. Only one of these is in the US and one in Europe - the rest are in the Middle East or Far East and I have grave concerns that in some countries the codes in place are totally inadequate for the design of such structures. Perhaps what is needed is an ISO for very and super tall buildings ?
Regards to all Stewart Stewart Kidd Loss Prevention Consultancy Ltd England
Dubai has been in the news lately with its latest endeavor Burj Dubai which when completed will be the world's tallest building at approximately 2600ft ((800+meters). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Dubai) (http://www.burjdubai.com/) With all the "unique" and seemingly cutting edge buildings/structures Dubai is constructing, I am curious to know about their fire protection. Are there any new concepts coming out these radical structures? I'm now reading an article about Burj Dubai in the latest NFPA journal. But wondered if anyone here had any info/insight. Steve Smith Colorado Springs FD _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
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