Fire Risk Assessment of Low Cost High Rise Residential Buildings in Kuala Lumpur: A Case Study

Abstract

Low cost high rise residential buildings have had the highest number of fire incidents compared to other types of buildings in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the fire risk status of low cost high rise residential buildings in Kuala Lumpur through a fire risk assessment (FRA) approach. The study forms the exploratory phase of a wider research to develop a fire risk indexing (FRI) methodology for low cost high rise residential buildings in Kuala Lumpur. On-site fire audits were performed on three (3) selected low cost high rise residential buildings in the Pantai area of Kuala Lumpur using a 10-item FRA checklist. The results showed that all 10 FRA criteria recorded multiple issues ranging from the presence of multiple ignition and fuel sources to inadequate or vandalized firefighting equipment to lack of training of occupants on fire risk and safety. Further analysis showed that the fire risk status of the observed buildings was ‘high’. A need for immediate intervention measures to improve the fire safety credentials of the observed case study buildings was established. Recommendations include reconsidering the design layout of rooms, improving active and passive fire safety protection systems, and training of occupants to improve their awareness on fire safety.