Fire rules to set penalties for violators

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A committee has been set up by Civil Defence to draw up the rules. It has also set up teams to monitor sites.

Construction companies face court action and losing their business if they fail to follow new fire safety regulations for buildings under construction.

Dubai Civil Defence has started to roll out measures that contractors, consultants, real estate developers and MEP companies must follow to ensure buildings under construction are kept safe from fire.

A committee was formed by the civil defence body soon after the fatal blaze at Fortune Tower in January, to look into the cause of the fire as well as devise procedures that need to be applied before, during and after construction of a building.

The under-construction Al Attar Tower 2 on Sheikh Zayed Road was also hit by a major fire on 20 March.

Currently, there is no legal requirement in the UAE for fire safety to be considered in buildings under construction.

"We have started to formulate legal requirements, but such legislation requires time and has to be announced by Dubai's Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum," said Brigadier Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, chief of Dubai Civil Defence.

"After the Fortune Tower incident, we immediately took action by forming a committee. We have also instructed contractors and installation companies to follow our procedures, and have set up teams to monitor the installation of equipment and the safety standard of buildings. Even the major real estate companies will have to follow the instruction."

Al Matrooshi added that although there will be cooperation between Dubai Civil Defence and construction companies, they will have no choice but to accept the law. "They will be forced to apply and follow the Dubai Civil Defence requirements and standards, or they will not be approved by us. If they don't, we can take them to court, and they could even lose their business."

Fire experts have stressed the importance of fire safety training since the fires at Fortune Tower and Al Attar Tower 2.

"The trend is showing there are more recurrent fires happening, which calls into question training and safety procedures on sites," said Amal Tamim, business development manager, fire safety services at Bodycote.

"Construction sites need to have better trained people on hand. Safety procedures must be introduced for workers to abide by. And these have to be stressed from developers to the project managers to contractors and passed onto subcontractors on site."

Tamim added: "There have been some positive developments. However, you can introduce new guidelines but if you don't enforce penalties or have the oversight available, these will only help to a certain point."

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