UAE Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice Jim Bychowski, P.E.

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Global Risk Consulting | Fire Protection Engineering Presentation to IOSH UAE

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
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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
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 Dubais Mantra

The Best and the Biggest

The biggest Never done before Amazing projects

Worlds Talent
Planners Architects Engineers Consultants Constructors
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Past UAE Process

Pick a code Pick your standards Package for Civil Defense approval
Fire Strategy

Adjust based on reviewing engineers preferences Apply UAE Fire Code

After Translation and Interpretation! Sometimes

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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

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Conflicts and Uncertainty

Architects code preferences Engineers design standard preferences Civil Defense application of UAE Fire Code, GCC Fire Code or NFPA Life Safety Code Civil Defense interpretation

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 Dubai Civil Defense

Time to Breathe Time to Create

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.
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 Write proprietary guidelines? Adopt model code and modify? Existing codes and standards that fit Middle East needs?

Where to start

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 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

UAE Fire and Life Safety Code

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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

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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.
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 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.
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Application

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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.

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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
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 18 Chapters (724 pages)

Contents

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

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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)

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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.
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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.
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Questions?

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