Fire Safety Science Digital Archive

Buildings constructed in different ages would have different fire service installations. In Hong Kong, the first code on fire service installations (FSI) was implemented in 1964. There were eleven revisions up to 2005, with different new additional requirements specified. There are concerns on fire safety provisions in non-industrial workplaces, especially for offices in those old highrise buildings, consequent to the big Garley Building fire. Basically, four periods on fire codes implementation can be identified as 1960s, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. There are statutory requirements on improving the fire safety provisions for buildings constructed after 1973. However, those old buildings constructed decades ago might not be able to comply with the new requirements. Apart from financial problems, there are also technical problems on structural loading, limited space, inadequate water and power supply. Fire safety in offices in old industrial buildings is a concern. In this paper, FSI in office buildings constructed in different times will be reviewed. Four examples were selected in those four different ages to survey the FSI provided. To comply with the updated requirement, new FSI should be considered. In fact, FSI was upgraded in some examples. Proper implementation of fire safety management is necessary to achieve total fire safety.