Operational Assessment of Fire Safety Status of Existing Commercial Buildings at Birtamode, Jhapa, Nepal
Abstract
The study was carried out to analyze the current fire safety status of existing commercial buildings at Birtamode, jhapa. This research is focused on two commercial buildings; Hanuman central and One stop mall (Birtamode Jhapa). These building are selected for research as both of the buildings are considered as largest shopping malls and they also vary in planning and construction technology.
Standard fire safety status check was done with comparing with NBC 107:1994. A standard check list was prepared and compared with current status of buildings. Data was collected from site visits with check list and key informant interview.
During survey of the existing commercial building it was found that not all the guideline mentioned in NBC 107: 1994 was followed. Many aspects of door detailing and stairs detailing were considered in Hanuman Central whereas in case of one stop mall staircase was narrow. Design aspect of Hanuman Central was found more advanced. There was four Exit
route however only two of them lead to open space. One escape route lead to basement parking and another was behind the building from where street was nearly 300m far. Semi enclosed stairs were present in all four buildings. No proper signage of exit was found. One stop mall seems to be more prepared and concerned about the fire safety. Smoke detector, dry powder extinguishers was found in working condition. Water hose reel was installed but ws not functional as water tank was not operational and also lack of trained manpower was main problem there. It had four exit, two staircase and two escalators.
How to cite this article: Lama S, Mishra AK. Operational Assessment of Fire Safety Status of Existing Commercial Buildings at Birtamode, Jhapa, Nepal. J Adv Res Const Urban Arch 2022; 7(3&4): 9-24.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2456.9925.202202
References
Craig SR. Industrial Fire Protection Handbook, 2nd Ed., Florida: CRC press LLC 2002.
Derek J. Fire Prevention Handbook. London: Butterworth and Company (Publishers) limited 1986.
Fire Safety: The Science and its Application to Building Codes, Canada: NRC [Online] Available at: http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/view/fulltext/?id=a2f1e26c-8d11-4481-a1a2- 4b9afd5478e8 [Accesses 24 July 2017].
Furness A, Muckett M. Introduction to Fire Safety Management, 1st ed.,UK Butterworth-Heinemann 2007.
Q Ma, Huangt T. Analysis of and Study on the Difficulties in the Fire Protection Design of Large Commercial Complex. In: Procedia Engineering, The 5th Conference on Performance-based Fire and Fire Protection Engineering. Tianjin, China. Elsevier Ltd 2011. [Online] Available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705811008496 [Accesses 24 July].
Malhotra HL. Fire Safety in Buildings 1993, [Online] Available at: http://www.lmc.ep.usp.br/grupos/gsi/wpcontent/artigos1/Malhotra.pdf [Accesses 24 July2017].
Mehaffey JR. Flammability of building materials and fire growth, Designing for Fire Safety: The Science and its Application to Building Codes, Canada: NRC [proceedings of] Building Science Insight 87: 21-33; 1987-11 [Online] Available at: http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/view/fulltext/?id=a2f1e26c-8d11-4481-a1a2-4b9afd5478e8 [Accesses 24 July 2017].
Ogajo NJ. Influence of Fire Disasters on Mitigation and Preparedness in Commercial Premises in Kenya; A Survey Study of Kisumu CBD. B.A. School of Built Environment, University Of Nairobi 2013.
OSHA a, [Online] Available at: https://www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/emergency-exitroutesfactsheet.pdf [Accesses 24 July 2017].
OSHA b, [Online] Available at: https://www.osha.gov/shpguidelines/hazard-prevention.html [Accesses 24 July 2017].
Sagun A, Anumba C J, Bouchiaghem D. Designing Buildings To Cope with Emergency: Finding from Case Studies on Exit Preferences 2013; 445.
Sun Y. Egress as Part of Fire Safety in High Rise Building. MSc. Delft University of Technology 2013.
Yatims YM. Fire Safety Models for High Rise Residential Building in Malaysia. PhD. Edinburg: Herriot Watt University 2009.
Mishra AK, Shrestha A. Assessment of exit requirements for fire safety of commercial buildings, Kathmandu, Nepal. International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research 2017; 4(10): 248-55.
Mishra AK, Shrestha A. Fire safety preparedness among occupants of selected commercial buildings, Kathmandu, Nepal. International Journal of Creative Research Thoughts 2017; 5(4): 195-207. DOI: http://ijcrt.org/viewfull.php?&p_id=IJCRT1704025
NBC 107 : 1994 (Provisional recommendation on fire safety)
Shah S. Mishra AK. Review on Global Practice of Housing Demand Fulfilment for Low Income Group People. NOLEGEIN Journal of Business Ethics, Ethos & CSR 2018; 1(2): 5-16. https://doi.org/10.37591/njbeec.v1i2.187
Mishra AK. Housing Needs Fulfillment for Low-Income Group, Liva S: International Journal on Livable Space 2019; 4(2) : 40-47 Doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.25105/livas.v4i2.5630
Mishra AK, Shah SK. Estimating Housing Units for Low Income Group of People in Kathmandu, Nepal. NOLEGEIN Journal of Operations Research & Management 2018; 1(2).https://doi.org/10.37591/njorm.v1i2.185
Mishra AK, Lama C, Sah DP et al. Effectiveness of Safety Measures Implementation. J Adv Res Civil Envi Engr 2019; 6(2): 1-20 DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2393.8307.201903
Mishra AK, Aithal PS. Preparedness and Costing on Fire Safety Installation in Commercial Buildings. International Journal of Applied Engineering and Management Letters (IJAEML) 2022; 6(2): 182-196. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7108648
Lama C, Sah DP, Mishra AK. Occupational Hazards Identification and Risk Assessment During The Construction Of Head Race Tunnel In Middle Bhotekoshi Hydroelectric Project. International Journal of Research - Granthaalayah 2019; 7(3),227-248. https://doi.org/10.29121/granthaalayah.v7.i3.2019.965.
