FIRE SAFETY IN HERITAGE BUILDINGS

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 herita...

ABSTRACT: In Malaysia, there are many heritage buildings with an architectural and historical significance that influenced by several architecture styles including a traditional Malay architecture, the Portuguese architecture, the Dutch architecture, and the architecture styles brought by British (e.g. Moorish, Tudor, Neo-Classical and Neo-Gothic). Most of them are worthy to be listed as Heritage Buildings or National Heritage Buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). The Malaysian government is undertaking many efforts to promote conservation and preservation of heritage buildings in the country. Some of the buildings have been changed to different functions from its original (adaptive-reuse) such as into museums, libraries, offices or hotels. It is however, in the past few years there are few priceless heritage buildings were badly damaged or burnt down by fire includes the People Museum, Melaka (2001), Rumah Pak Ali , Gombak (2003) and Sarawak Club, Kuching (2006). ...

Cultural Heritage Disaster Preparedness and Response Patrimonio Cultural: Preparación y Reacción ante los Desastres Patrimoine culturel : prévention et gestion des catastrophes International Symposium Proceedings Salar Jung Museum Hyderabad, India 23-27 November 2003 ©ICOM, all rights reserved Link to the proceedings: http://icom.museum/disaster_preparedness_book/index.html

This paper is presented in CIPA 2009 at Kyoto, Japan (11-15 Oct 2009). ABSTRACT: In Malaysia, there are many heritage buildings with an architectural and historical significance that influenced by several architecture styles including a traditional Malay architecture, the Portuguese architecture, the Dutch architecture, and the architecture styles brought by British (e.g. Moorish, Tudor, Neo-Classical and Neo-Gothic). Most of them are worthy to be listed as Heritage Buildings or National Heritage Buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). The Malaysian government is undertaking many efforts to promote conservation and preservation of heritage buildings in the country. Some of the buildings have been changed to different functions from its original (adaptive-reuse) such as into museums, libraries, offices or hotels. It is however, in the past few years there are few priceless heritage buildings were badly damaged or burnt down by fire includes the People Museum, Melaka (2...

1) Introduction to Fire Safety Management by Furness, A. and Muckett, M. (2007) 2) The Fire Safety Management Handbook, Second Edition by Daniel E. Della-Giustina (2003) 3) Fire Safety Management in Heritage Buildings by Kidd.S. (2005)

1. NFPA 914: Code for Fire Protection of Historic Structures 2. NFPA 170: Standard for Fire Safety and Emergency Symbols 3. NFPA 101A: Guide on Alternative Approaches to Life Safety 4. NFPA 101: Life Safety Code 5. NFPA 909: Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties- Museums, Libraries and Places of Worship

Authors: N. Hamiruddin Salleh and A. Ghafar Ahmad Paper for The International Conference on Built Environment for Developing Countries, USM, Penang , Malaysia 3 rd -4 th December 2007. Note: Figures are not attached. ABSTRACT: In Malaysia , there are few heritage buildings with architectural and historical significance that may classified into several categories, namely traditional timber Malay houses, pre-world war shop-houses, colonial office buildings, institutional buildings and religious buildings. Some of them have been listed as Heritage Buildings or National Heritage buildings under the National Heritage Act 2005 (Act 645). However due to poor fire protection and management, many priceless heritage buildings were badly damaged or burnt down by fire e.g. Muzium Rakyat, Melaka (2001), Rumah Pak Ali, Gombak (2003) and Sarawak Club, Kuching (2006).It is widely accepted that fire is one of the greatest threats not only to the building’s occupants but al...