Building Fire & Life Safety inspection, What happens?

The Ministerial Regulations of the Interior Ministry of Thailand are already into effect to define types of buildings that require owners to appoint a Building Inspector to inspect the buildings physical conditions and efficiency of its systems and equipments

In accordance with the Building Control Act (the third edition) B.E. 2543 (A.D. 1990) and the Ministerial Decree B.E. 2548 (A.D. 2005), the following buildings must be inspected for safety purposes within the end of 2007

1. “High building” implying  buildings 23 metres high and over 10,000 sq.m.
2. “Specially large building” implying  building with the total construction area over 10,000 sq.m.
3. “Public building” implying  buildings with an area of 1,000 sq.m. or
4. Theatres and Cinemas
5. Hotels with 80 rooms and over.
6. Recreation buildings (e.g. restaurant, bars, etc.) with an area of 200 sq.m. and over.
7. Condominium and apartment with an area of 2,000 sq.m. and over
8. Factory with and  area of 5,000 sq.m. and over.
9. Billboard with a height of 15 metres and over, with an advertisement of 50 metres and over, or those constructed on buildings with an advertisement area of 25 sq.metres and over.

 

 Building Inspectors

 Professional qualified engineers or architects that have passed the training and examination by a licensed institution, and have registered as a Building Inspector with the Building Control Commission.

Types of Inspection

 General Inspection will be carried out every 5 years.

Annual Inspection as planned by the Building Inspector.

What to be inspected

 Building stability:

– Modifications / alterations to the building

– Change in floor loading

– Change in building use

– Change in construction or finishing materials

– Building defects

– Structural defects

– Foundation deflection

Building service systems and equipment:

Services and facilities:

– Lifts

– Escalators

– Electrical systems

– Air conditioning and ventilation systems

Health and environmental systems:

– Cold water supply

– Sewage and waste water treatment

– Rain water drainage

– Garbage disposal

– Ventilation

– Air and noise pollutants

Fire fighting and protection systems:

– Fire escape and fire stair

– Fire exit and signage

– Exhaust fan and smoke damper

– Emergency power back-up

– Fireman lift

– Fire alarm

– Fire fighting equipment

– Fire pump and fire hose reel

– Sprinkler

– Lightening protection

Capacity of

– Fire escape and fire stair

– Fire exit and signage

– Fire alarm

Safety management:

– Fire protection and fighting Plan

– Fire drill plan

– Safety management plan

– Management plan of Building Inspector

The deadline for building owners to submit their first building inspection reports was 29 December 2007. So far many building owners are unable to comply. Rules requiring owners to maintain blueprints also are problematic for many older buildings, many building owners were still worried about the fees and some were afraid that the uses of buildings were different from what had been stated in the original construction permits.

What is the situation today? How many buildings have been inspected and certified?

How many fire systems have been upgraded to meet the code, how many buildings are regularly inspected? So many questions that I will try to find answer to in my following blogs.