Fire safety management and property management in Hong Kong

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoi-ping Lee
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 568-580
Author(s):  
Edgar C. L. Pang ◽  
◽  
Wan-Ki Chow

Emergency evacuation for supertall buildings with heights over 200 m require a very long time for occupants to travel down the buildings. Occupants might jam into protected lobbies and staircases, extending the waiting time. There is not yet any code requirement specifically for emergency evacuation in supertall buildings, which are criticized for using the same codes for buildings with normal heights. Further, the evacuation design for several existing supertall buildings does not even follow prescriptive fire-safety codes. The underlying problems have not yet been addressed by thorough studies. Evacuation in such tall buildings in Hong Kong will be studied in this paper. The assumptions made in the local prescriptive codes for safe egress will be justified. Three buildings with evacuation design complying with the local codes are considered as examples. A commercial building, a hotel, and a residential block in Hong Kong are taken as examples. The key design parameters in the local codes are for 40 people evacuating with a flow rate of 1.1 person/s through the staircase between typical floors. The evacuation time from each floor to the protected lobby is assumed to be within 5 min. The evacuation times in different scenarios with these assumptions are calculated. Such assumptions do not hold under a high occupant load. The total evacuation time would be extended significantly when the travelling flows of occupants are blocked in any of the evacuation routes. Different fire-safety management schemes with staged evacuation, such as assigning higher priorities to evacuate lower or upper floors first, are evaluated. The results observed for safe egress are then discussed.


Facilities ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 149-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.C. Tsui ◽  
W.K. Chow

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Nikolai Zuev ◽  
◽  
Renat Khabibulin ◽  
Evgeni Meshalkin ◽  
Boris Pranov ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Wong ◽  
Joseph Lai

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the concerns and implications of the recently enacted Property Management Services Ordinance (Cap. 626) (PMSO) of Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approachA review was undertaken to identify the characteristics of the property management-related legislation of common law jurisdictions similar to Hong Kong, which include Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. Then, the development of the property management-related ordinances in Hong Kong and the key features of the PMSO were examined. Finally, a case study was conducted to demonstrate the potential problems of the PMSO.FindingsThere are various kinds of legislative controls on property management services in the above common law jurisdictions. The PMSO, which is the first to regulate property management services providers through a licencing system and introduce control on training and professional development, imposes limits on freedom of contract and self-regulation of professionals. Potential problems with the implementation of the PMSO are also revealed.Research limitations/implicationsThis research analyses four common law jurisdictions. Property management services contracts in these jurisdictions are subject to governance by their case laws and market operations.Practical implicationsBy virtue of the new licencing system of the PMSO, property management services contracts in Hong Kong become a new kind of specific contracts.Originality/valueThis paper illustrates the relationship between freedom of contract and public benefit. It contributes knowledge to the area of government policy formulation in property management.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
R.M.D.I.M. Rathnayake ◽  
P. Sridarran ◽  
M.D.T.E. Abeynayake

Purpose The total essence of apparel manufacturing buildings (AMBs) is highly influenced by fire incidents which are caused direct or indirect impacts to the present building structure or even in old age. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the fire risk of AMBs in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to explore the local and international fire incidents in AMBs and identify 24 factors that contribute to fire risk of AMBs. A questionnaire survey with professionals who have the knowledge and experience related to past fire incidents and 18 interviews with professionals of fire safety management were carried out. Content analysis was involved to evaluate interviewees’ opinions and relative importance index was involved to rank identified factors that contribute to the fire risk of AMBs. Findings The results revealed that due to the business nature of AMBs hold a high risk for fire incidents. The study discovered 83.4% of high fire risk prevailing in AMBs in Sri Lanka. Faulty wiring, welding work with electrical sparks and accumulation of waste fabric, paper and other garbage recognized as the top three factors that contribute to the fire risk of AMBs in Sri Lanka. Finally, the strategies proposed to eliminate identified all 41 factors that contribute to the fire risk of AMBs in Sri Lanka. Originality/value The paper helps to guide facility owners regarding the fire safety of AMBs in Sri Lanka.


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