New UN-backed global fire safety standard under development

Protecting against building fire.

New UN-backed global fire safety standard under development

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is collaborating with a coalition of over 70 international organisations to develop a new global fire safety standard. The project aims to bring reassurance to people across the world that the buildings and infrastructure they use follows the best worldwide expertise on fire safety.

TC Chetty, RICS, South Africa

RICS, which is chairing the development of the International Fire Safety Standard, is inviting experts to help shape the standard through a global consultation in an effort which is being supported by the United Nations and World Bank.

This follows previous RICS work to bring consistency to the standards people can expect globally across property, construction and valuation.

‘Various incidents of fire safety non-compliance resulting in tragic consequences, have raised questions about the safety and compliance of South African buildings, and highlighted the importance of clear fire safety standards and ensuring compliance with such standards,’ says TC Chetty, South Africa Country Manager for RICS. ‘The I nternational Fire Safety Standard will ensure occupier safety by providing landlords with clear fire safety standards for building design and management, while also providing occupiers with a means of holding landlords and building owners accountable when it comes to fire safety.’

Uniform set of principles Through the global consultation process, it is hoped that a uniform set of principles can be created for countries to adopt. RICS leadership in this initiative underlines the profession’s commitment to creating safer built environments for people around the world.

‘Fire knows no geographical or political boundaries, and along with this, the differing approaches to fire safety in buildings across the globe can be inconsistent, ineffective and in some cases, non-existent. There is an urgent need to deliver better safety for people’s homes, communities and workplaces and RICS is committed to being at the heart of this,’ says Gary Strong, Chair of the International Fire Safety Standards Coalition and Global Building Standards Director at RICS:

‘This project has brought together wide-ranging global expertise and attracted the support of the United Nations and World Bank. I now encourage experts to engage with this consultation to help us deliver the best possible fire safety standard for the environments we all inhabit.’ The International Fire Safety Standards will be open for global consultation until 23 March 2020 with the final international standard to be published later this year.

The professional to contact for further information is TC Chetty of RICS on +27 (0)31 764 4645.

• The International Fire Safety Standards consultation paper and questions can be viewed on link https:// bit.ly/2trmGlF. Interested parties are invited to respond by midnight CET on 23 March 2020. • The IFSS Coalition (IFSSC) was for med at a meeting hosted by the United Nations in Geneva in July 2018. A full list of all the coalition organisations and partners is available at https://bit.ly/36QWiiB • The Coalition came together to address the need for better and consistent global standards in fire safety in light of some tragic fires in recent years. The aim is to improve fire safety both during the design and construction phase and the maintenance and management of existing buildings and infrastructure in the public interest, sharing best practice knowledge and expertise. • All coalition organisations have committed to adopting and implementing the new standard through their own guidance to professional practitioners.

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