Safety standards in buildings: New international body emerges

Determined to step the tides of fire disaster in homes, high-rise buildings and factories, a new global coalition, numbering more than 30 groups, under the aegis of International Fire Safety Standards (IFSS) Coalition, was launched recently at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The coalition scattered around the continent, consists of local and international professional bodies and standard-setting organisations committed to developing and supporting a shared set of standards for fire safety in buildings.

It had as its objectives, how to develop landmark industry standards to address fire safety in buildings; develop a high level set of standards to reinforce the minimum requirements professionals should adhere to ensure building safety in the event of a fire and informing the design, construction, and management of buildings to address the risks associated with fire safety.

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The group will also set standards and reinforce the minimum requirements professionals should adhere to ensure building safety in the event of a fire.

It was observed that while the property market has become increasingly international with investments flowing across national borders, the sector still lacks a consistent set of high-level global standards that will inform the design, construction, and management of buildings to address the risks associated with fire safety.

Therefore, the coalition agreed to work together on this new set of standards, especially, to produce  workable decisions as the property market becomes increasingly international.

 

 

 

Differences in materials testing and certification, national building regulations or codes, and standards on how to manage buildings in use, particularly higher risk buildings, shows a kind of confusion, uncertainty and risk to the public, among others, which need to be addressed.

Citing example of the recent Grenfell Tower fire as an example, the RICS Global Building Standards Director, Gary Strong, emphasised the need to demonstrates a coherent global approach to fire safety.

As the RICS representative  and Chairman of IFSS Coalition, Strong noted that the Grenfell fire – the worst in the UK for almost a century that claimed 72 lives – not only focused attention on building and fire safety in the United Kingdom but also exposed global inadequacies in how fire safety standards are set.

He said: “The Grenfell Tower fire focused the world’s attention on how many buildings are threatened with the prospect of failing fire safety standards. All over the world we see the need for more high-rise structures, some residential, some commercial and some mixed-use buildings, particularly in cities.

“Our concern is not with the height of these buildings but with the risks they pose in the absence of a coherent and harmonised approach to setting global standards in fire safety. The effort by the IFSS Coalition aims to address this concern and bring together the design, construction and management aspects of ensuring fire safety of building assets.”

“Once the high-level standards are developed, the IFSS Coalition will work with professionals around the world to deliver the standards locally. The standards will be owned by the IFSS Coalition and not by any one organisation”.

As its first order of business, the IFSS Coalition will set up a Standards Setting Committee that will draw on a group of international technical fire experts to develop and write the high-level standards to ensure they are fit for purpose across global markets.