FIRE SAFETY AND PROTECTION MEASURES IN HERITAGE BUILDINGS WITH SPECIAL CONSIDERATION ON MUSUEM BUILDINGS IN MALAYSIA

An academic research on Fire Safety and Protection Measures in Heritage Buildings with Special Consideration on Museum Buildings in Malaysia was conducted by Nurul Hamiruddin Salleh from 2007 until 2011 for his PhD. thesis in Building Conservation at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang. The methodologies selected in the study are divided into three main methods. The first method involves literature review, where both heritage buildings and fire safety literatures were reviewed in order to identify key issues and recent research that relate or has significance to the research topic. The second method involves the collection of primary data through onsite observations, interviews and questionnaires into 37 heritage buildings that used as museums in 9 states throughout Malaysia. Out of the 37 heritage buildings, three of them were selected as case studies under specific selection criteria as an approach to audit and to examine directly the fire safety and protection measures in the heritage buildings. The study has provided sufficient information needed to derive three main conclusions corresponding to the research objectives as follows:

1.       Majority heritage buildings in Malaysia with poor fire safety and protection measures

A combination of observation surveys, survey interviews, questionnaires and case studies employed in this study has revealed that many heritage buildings in Malaysia (either owned by governments, private agencies or individuals) have relatively poor fire safety and protection measures. Evidence from this study shows that a majority of Malaysian heritage building owners have not provided a satisfactorily level of fire safety for their occupants as well as historical contents. The study identified various fire safety problems in the heritage buildings such as absence fire safety policy and plans (100%), absence of periodical fire trainings for staff (100%), absence of fire certificates (97%), absence of emergency escape plans (97%) and absence of fire policies (95%).  This is supported by the findings in the case studies where all studied buildings have not abided by a majority of the requirements of the selected Malaysian legislations and standards related to fire safety. The study also has identified 6 common weaknesses on fire safety and protection measures among the studied buildings. From the interviews, it is discovered that the major factors contributing these problems are limited budget, lack of appropriate guidelines and inefficient enforcement. Ironically, a majority of the respondents (75%) in the survey stated that their heritage buildings have a satisfactory level of fire safety. In contrast, only two respondents (8%) stated that the level of fire safety in their heritage buildings is unsatisfactory.

As stated above, the main causes of poor fire safety and protection measures in Malaysian heritage buildings are limited budget, lack of appropriate guidelines and inefficient enforcement. However, the key factor to these causes is lack of fire safety awareness amongst the building administrators. Most of the weaknesses regarding fire safety discovered in the heritage buildings could be avoided if the building administrators equipped with high-quality fire safety awareness regardless of the management of the buildings. It is believed that, if the building administrators are realised the importance of appropriate fire safety management, they would provide whatever necessary such as formulate fire policy, allocate sufficient budget, conduct fire drills, among others, to ensure that fire safety in their buildings is always at an acceptable standard.

It is not right to assume that the buildings and their contents are considerably safe from fire once fire safety systems are in place. Installations of high-end fire protection measures in the buildings will be meaningless with poor fire safety management such as irregular maintenance, no training, poor housekeeping and others. Thus, the basic principles for building an effective fire safety management depend on a continuous risk analysis, its evaluation and the incorporation of its conclusions in the form of concrete measures into the everyday operation of the building.

As already pointed out, it almost goes without saying that this should be part of duties of all staff. Everyone must know what to do and who to inform in the case of an actual or suspected safety emergency. This means that training in safety procedures and response to actual or threatened safety failures or other emergencies must be part of the building’s programme of training and continuing professional development of every staff member, regardless of their status or job. It is believed that good fire safety management (from adequate knowledge on fire safety) with minimum fire protection measures could give better protection to the priceless heritage buildings, its occupants as well as its fabrics and contents from fire. Fire safety awareness, which includes fire safety management, is more important than relying solely on various fire protection systems because awareness helps occupants to prevent fire from occurring and to be able to think of what to do before, during and after the event of fire.

2.       Give higher priority to building security aspects

This study has discovered that the building administrators have given higher priority to security aspects of the buildings rather than the safety aspects of occupants as well as the buildings and their contents from fire. For example, the study has shown that many fire exits were intentionally locked and obstructed. Meanwhile, there are many cases where fire protection systems had not been serviced and maintained for years due to financial constraints and less priority. Some of the buildings also did not upgrade their fire protection systems for the same reasons. However, the financial factor should not be used as a principal constraint in upgrading the fire safety systems of the heritage buildings. Facts have demonstrated that a total of less than RM100,000 had been required to upgrade the fire protection systems in the Perak Museum to a complete new satisfaction level. Indeed, that total amount is a small amount to large agencies such as the federal and state Government.

Nevertheless, it is not too late for the relevant agencies to take pro-active actions in order to prevent and protect heritage buildings and its contents from fire. Fire is impossible to be totally avoided to occur but certainly it could be prevented with an appropriate fire safety management and, when it does occur, the damage could be minimised. A high-quality fire safety management from adequate knowledge on fire safety with minimum fire protection measures could give better protection to the priceless heritage buildings, its occupants as well as its fabrics and contents from fire. The key to a successful solution is risk assessment, carried out as part of a comprehensive fire safety review of the building, in order to identify the degree of risk to both life and property. The assessment also needs to consider any occupier requirements that may have an effect on fire strategy. Having identified and quantified fire risk, the basis of fire safety design must be defined, always taking into account the requirement to satisfy life safety issues, and to balance property protection issues against physical intrusion. If necessary to upgrade fire safety in a heritage building, the fire protection measures must be designed with a sympathetic approach to heritage fabrics of the building. Finally, “prevention is better than cure” or “why wait for bad things to happen when we can do something to prevent them from occurring in the first place?”

1.3             3.       No comprehensive fire safety regulations and guidelines for heritage buildings in Malaysia

The existing fire safety requirements in the UBBL 1984 are written primarily for new buildings in which not all fire safety requirements in the law are suitable to be applied in upgrading fire safety system in heritage buildings. The UBBL 1984 also stresses the life safety of occupants as the ultimate principle of fire safety in a building. Unfortunately, fire protection of properties, such as historic buildings, historic contents and objects of value, is not really emphasised in the law.  In the case of fire, indeed protecting life safety remains the main priority; however, appropriate steps should also be taken to prevent fire from damaging the priceless heritage buildings and its contents. A heritage building is exposed to more fire threats, such as flammable contents, large numbers of visitors and existing structures weak on fire resistance unlike in a new building. Heritage buildings and its contents are categorised as historically valuable, priceless and irreplaceable, thus the buildings may face great loss in cases involving fire. No matter how well reinstatement works are carried out, lost historic fabrics and collections are gone forever and can only be replaced in replica form. In fact, many historic buildings have been involved in fire while this study was still undergoing its research stages.

This study also found that, until today, there are no comprehensive fire safety guidelines specifically for heritage buildings at both the federal and state levels in Malaysia. At state levels, all local authorities in Malaysian historic cities, namely Kuala Lumpur, George Town, Malacca and Taiping, have formulated individual conservation guidelines for their own historical areas. Nevertheless, in the context of fire safety, none of the state conservation guidelines provide comprehensive guidance to architects, conservators and managers. It is widely regarded that there are some major differences in the guidelines which then pose challenges for architects and fire protection engineers in applying general fire protection principles in heritage buildings. The main challenge in protecting heritage buildings is to maintain their historical fabric while providing a reasonable level of safety for their occupants and contents.

 In addition, heritage buildings are not classified under the high fire risk building category by the FRDM. Therefore, fire safety requirements for the buildings are not too stringent as hotels, shopping malls, factories and high rise buildings. Insufficient number of staff in the FDRM (the main agency to ensure building fire safety is always at satisfactory level) also partly contributed to inefficient enforcement in implementing building fire safety regulations in the country.