mentalist

Didn't the owners of the tower next door (Al Seef) just issue a written warning to their residents not to use BBQ's on their balconies? Maybe they know something?

jackthehat

More likely to do with the photgraph below . . .

1. Alarm Panel Swithed-Off (False Alarms from cheap Chinese Smoke Detectors).
2. Break Glass Alarm Calls inoperative.
3. Zones not defined on the Alarm Panel (30 Zones and 120 Apartments)
4. System not Commissioned Correctly
5. No Watchman
6. No Fixed Land-Line in the case of Emergency.

These are just six points of default from a list of over 1,200 related to Fire Safety, in the same building! Give it another week and the Tamweel Fire will be blamed on the 'Night Fairies, Smoking, and having a Barbecue on a Balcony!'

You really should check the whole system in your own building!

flood2

report below. Easy to blame faulty equipment/cigarettes/barbeque than admit the towers are not safe, with flammable cladding.

http://http://www.emirates247.com/ne...11-19-1.483757

I think that there is a lot of people getting worried. Note that JLT is a free zone, and apparently the local decree below does not cover it!!

http://http://www.emirates247.com/ne...11-21-1.483818

jackthehat

The 'Links' do not appeat to engage?

Boomhauer

Buying cheap can be very very expensive; I always thought Arabs were very schrewd businessmen, so why would they muck about with Chinese stuff when they have the money to get Carrier or other proper brands.

flood2

Everywhere i have stayed in the UAE or Qatar has cheap and nasty fittings, lights, kitchens, toilets, switches etc, all looks good from a distance but up close cheap and nasty

auzdafluff

Because they don't have to live there, and they know that after the apartments have been sold, it's all money coming in, very little going out. Therefore, if the tower goes, it's no major loss. Unlike for the landlords and the tenants.

captainflack

I was a design engineer at a German manufacturer of air handling units in the late 90s. We shipped stuff to Thailand, Israel, China and various places on major projects like airports, metro systems and so on. It was top quality stuff.

We didn't sell stuff to the gulf. I am pretty sure there would have been appropriate projects at that time. But having been here, I can see why we didn't. All the money spent here goes on the designer branded stuff you can see as these are status symbols. Everything you cannot see is the cheapest, nastiest sh1t they can get from suppliers in the third world engaged in a bidding war, put together by the cheapest untrained labour they trick into slavery.

I live in a building in the Marina. Maybe once a month, the fire alarm goes off and is promptly shut down within a few seconds (not a drill, I check). Clearly they don't know it's a false alarm in that short space of time. They just cancel it as routine, then send a guy up to wherever the alarm was raised to check it out. In the event of a real fire, they'd have lost 5-10 minutes, and that could be fatal.

Just the other day, the evacuation alarm and voice warnings came on in our apartment, then stopped after a few seconds. About 3 minutes later, a guy from security turns up at our door to check it out. We invite him in, he's convinced we must have been cooking, was sceptical when I denied it, so I took him into the kitchen to show him the oven and hob were cold, as was the toaster.

So I don't have a lot of faith in the quality of the construction, the quality of the fire alarm system or the quality of the procedures in the case of fire.

All in all, if everything works out I will be in Europe next year and it cannot come soon enough as I'll have two small children by then.

Meow

Bigger profit margins with short-term thinking.

auzdafluff

Actually, I think they do have long term thinking.

Build it cheap, leave it ten-15 years. Then declare it unsafe, rip it all down, and then sell another 200 apartments on the same plot with no refund for those that lost their apartment.

Rinse and repeat.

Meow

Long term thinking around these parts is equivalent to short term thinking in other places where we are actually expect buildings to last for more than 20 years...

Bongoman2

Well it seems that tenants are a bit more alert these days.

I had a knock on my door the other night from building security telling me I had to stop barbecuing in my ground floor courtyard as neighbours had complained.

According to the community master rules it states I am allowed to bbq, only if it is within a contained bbq unit, which it is. There is nothing flammable nearby, and is always supervised, but due to 'lowest common denominator' it sadly looks like I have had my last outdoor cooked steak!

jackthehat

The new Construction Addenda from Dubai Civil Defence have been put together extremely well. Practice Notes and Regulations have been based on UK and US Models. There are also very informative sections for Building Owners and Occupiers, which include Checklists, and Fire Drill Protocols, etc. Unfortunately, this new set of local standards either surpasses, or makes redundant many clauses in the DM Building Code. This will undoubtedly result in disputes with determination between DM and DCD however, [most] Architects and Engineers should follow the rule of the more superior standards taking precedence.

The DM Building Code is long overdue for a radical overhaul. It was put together in the 1970s and addresses Villas, and Low-Rise Structures. Whilst there are references to High Rise, any detailed regulations are sadly lacking.

The DCD Regulations are available in English. The DM Building Code is only available in Arabic. The English Translation of the latter has been a 'Work in Progress' for the last 15 Years, to my knowledge. However, there are 'Unofficial Translations' available, for what they are worth! – In short, they are a Joke! JAFZA/TECOM Regulations go a little further, but are still a far way off the mark.

In Abu Dhabi, confusion reigns. ADM adopted the American IBC Code a few years ago. This is essentially a 'Model Code;' as in the US, each State produces its own 'Supplement,' reflecting local conditions, such as Geology, and Climate. ADM is still using the 'Raw Code,' which means effectively that Architects and Engineers should design for 'Snow Loading!'

On a slightly different topic, I was checking-out a Local Consultant in Doha, at the weekend. Reams of documentation had been delivered, which I found 'Depressing' to say the least! – The only rather ironic contradiction to this, was one line in their Mission Statement! – "Blazing a trail in building design in Qatar!" From their most recent performance, they certainly have been!

flood2

its good to see them acting all of a sudden. They have known for years that these panels are highly flammable, but have let them be installed in over 500 towers apparently.

However, are the building regulations that they are introducting restrospective?

will they apply in free zones?

If so who pays for new cladding? The owners or the builders who built with dangerous materials in the first place? answers on postcard...

jackthehat

Like most things here, they never really thought that one through!