i FIRE SAFETY IN HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING LEE JUN HOU UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA i i SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION “I/We* hereby declare that I/We* have read this thesis and in my/our* opinion this thesis is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Science (Construction) Signature : Name of Supervisor I : PM. DR. YAHYA BIN MOHAMAD YATIM Date : 10th JUNE 2018 Signature : Name of Supervisor II : Sr. DR. NORAZAM OTHMAN Date : 10th JUNE 2018 * Delete as necessary i FIRE SAFETY IN HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL BUILDING LEE JUN HOU A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the awards of the degree of Bachelor of Science (Construction) Faculty of Built Environment Universiti Teknologi Malaysia JUNE 2018 ii DECLARATION I declare that this thesis entitled “Fire Safety in High-Rise Residential Building” is the results of my own research except as cited in the references. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not concurrently submitted in the candidature of any other degree. Signature : Name : LEE JUN HOU Date : 10th JUNE 2018 iii DEDICATION Special thanks to my beloved parents, family members and friends for their support, help, and understanding Thanks for everything iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First of all, I would like to express my deep and sincere gratitude goes to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yahya Bin Mohamad Yatim who is my research supervisor for providing the valuable advice, guidance, and comments on this research. His contributions are highly appreciated. Besides that, I also appreciate to building management committee or manager because allow me to enter the building to carry out the observation survey and willing to answer my question. Apart from that, the appreciation also extends to the occupants who willing to spend their precious time to answer my questionnaire. Last but not least, a special thanks to my beloved family and friends who always give me the support and encouragement along the period to process this research. v ABSTRACT Unforeseen fire incident may happen anytime and anywhere. There is the possibility of fire happening to high-rise residential building. The faulty condition of fire equipment became the main reason of fire potential. Furthermore, low quality and not strict management system was current fire safety status. Therefore, this research objective aims to identify the condition of fire safety aspect and propose the measures to enhance the fire safety aspect in the high-rise residential buildings. Mixed methodologies with quantitative and qualitative methods adopted in this research. Therefore, observation and questionnaire selected as the data collection method. The raw data was collected from five high-rise residential buildings located in Johor Bahru by using developed active and passive fire safety checklist and taken photos of the fire safety aspects for the analysis purpose. Apart from that, the questionnaire was distributed randomly among the occupants to find out the best measures to enhance fire safety aspect based on their knowledge and perceive. Once finish data collection, it analysed by using Microsoft Excel 2013. It was found that, 71.05% of portable fire extinguishers, 100% of fire alarm, 86.47% of break glass alarm system, 41.98% of fire detection system, 100% of wet riser system, 37.70% of hose reel system, 100% of fire lifts and 60.77% of emergency lighting was in good condition. For passive, most of the problem came from obstruction in the staircase, broken of components of fire doors, do not install with fire doors and lack of illuminated with electric lamps in exit signage. Moreover, conduct with fire safety training programs and implement regular housekeeping was the most measures that selected by the occupants to enhance active and passive fire protection respectively. Last but not least, the developer should concern about the fire safety aspect, construction designer must make sure a comprehensive fire safety plan while building management and occupants cooperate to maintain a safer accommodation. vi ABSTRAK Kejadian kebakaran yang tidak dapat dijangka boleh berlaku pada bila-bila masa dan di mana-mana tempatnya. Jadi, kebakaran juga mungkin berlaku di bangunan kediaman aras-tinggi. Kerosakan peralatan pencegahan api boleh mengakibatkan potensi kebakaran. Selain itu, kualiti sistem pengurusan yang rendah dan longgar merupakan status keselamatan kebakaran semasa. Oleh itu, penyelidikan ini bertujuan untuk mengenalpasti keadaan aspek-aspek keselamatan kebakaran serta mencadangkan langkah-langkah untuk meningkatkan aspek keselamatan kebakaran di bangunan kediaman aras-tinggi. Dalam kajian ini, metodologi campuran dengan kaedah kuantitatif dan kualitatif telah digunakan. Oleh itu, pemerhatian dan soal selidik dipilih sebagai kaedah pengumpulan data. Data dikumpulkan dari lima bangunan kediaman aras-tinggi yang berada di sekitar Johor Bahru dengan senarai semak keselamatan kebakaran aktif and pasif serta mengambil gambar terhadap aspek- aspek keselamatan kebakaran untuk tujuan analisis. Selain itu, soal selidik diagihkan secara rawak kepada para penghuni untuk mengetahui langkah-langkah terbaik untuk meningkatkan aspek-aspek keselamatan kebakaran berdasarkan pengetahuan dan pandangan mereka. Selepas selesai pengumpulan data, ia dianalisis dengan menggunakan Microsoft Excel 2013. Ia mendapati bahawa, 71.05% pemadam kebakaran mudah alih, 100% penggera kebakaran, 86.47% daripada sistem penggera kaca pecah, 41.98% sistem pengesanan kebakaran, 100% basah sistem riser, 37.70% sistem reel hos, 100% lif api dan 60.77% lampu kecemasan berada dalam keadaan baik. Untuk pasif, kebanyakan masalahnya disebabkan oleh halangan di tangga, komponen pintu api rosak, tiada pintu api dan papan tanda keluar yang tiada lampu elektrik. Tambahan pula, mengadakan program latihan keselamatan kebakaran serta melaksanakan pengemasan secara tetap merupakan langkah-langkah yang dipilih oleh penghuni untuk meningkatkan perlindungan kebakaran aktif dan pasif masing-masing. Akhir sekali, pemaju perlu mengambil kira aspek keselamatan kebakaran ketika waktu perancangan, pereka bentuk pembinaan harus memastikan pelan keselamatan kebakaran dengan sempurna manakala pengurusan bangunan serta penghuni haruslah bekerjasama untuk mengekalkan penginapan yang selamat dalam bangunan kediaman aras-tinggi. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER TITLE PAGE TITLE PAGE i DECLARATION ii DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv ABSTRACT v ABSTRAK vi TABLE OF CONTENT vii LIST OF TABLES xiii LIST OF FIGURES xv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xvii LIST OF APPENDICES xviii 1 INTRODUCTION .............................................................................. 1 1.1 Background of Research ........................................................ 1 1.2 Problem Statement ................................................................. 3 1.3 Research Questions ................................................................ 7 1.4 Research Objectives ............................................................... 8 1.5 Scope of Research .................................................................. 8 1.6 Significant of Research .......................................................... 9 1.7 Research Methodology ......................................................... 10 viii 1.8 Organization Structure of the Research ............................... 13 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................ 15 2.1 Introduction .......................................................................... 15 2.2 High-Rise Residential Building ........................................... 15 2.3 The Demand for High-Rise Residential Buildings .............. 16 2.4 Types of High-Rise Residential Building ............................ 18 2.4.1 Flat ............................................................................... 18 2.4.2 Apartment Building ..................................................... 18 2.4.3 Condominium .............................................................. 19 2.4.4 Fire Statistics of High-Rise Residential Building ....... 19 2.5 Theory of Fire....................................................................... 20 2.5.1 Fire Triangle ................................................................ 20 2.5.2 The Stages of Fire ....................................................... 21 2.5.3 Fire Spreading in Building .......................................... 23 2.6 Fire Hazard in High-Rise Residential Building ................... 24 2.6.1 Caused of Fire in Buildings ......................................... 25 2.7 Fire Safety ............................................................................ 26 2.8 Fire Safety Regulation .......................................................... 27 2.8.1 Fire Services Act 1988 ................................................ 27 2.8.2 Uniform Building By-Law (UBBL) 1984 ................... 28 2.9 Active Fire Protection .......................................................... 29 2.9.1 Portable Fire Extinguishers ......................................... 29 2.9.2 Fire Alarm and Detection System ............................... 31 2.9.3 Automatic Sprinkler System ....................................... 33 2.9.4 Dry Riser System ........................................................ 34 2.9.5 Wet Riser System ........................................................ 35 2.9.6 Hose Reel System........................................................ 36 ix 2.9.7 Fire Hydrant ...............................................................