DUBAI // Enforcement is necessary to compel companies in the building industry to comply with the UAE’s new Fire and Life Safety Code, experts say.
The code requires the use of third-party independent inspections, strict accountability and fines. It was announced at the Intersec safety and security conference on Sunday, although specific technical details were not available.
Industry members said they would have to wait a few days to obtain the code and understand its implications before sharing it with their colleagues and clients, and applying it to projects.
“What we have heard from previous discussions with the Civil Defence is that the process from design to commissioning right at the end will be far more closely scrutinised and formalised,” said Andy Dean, head of facades at WSP Parsons Brinckerhoff, an engineering and design consultancy.
He said companies would have to sign a document to affirm that they would comply with the code’s requirements.
“All parties during the whole process will have to be far more accountable. That is a general change but it’s an important change,” said Mr Dean.
“The success of that will depend on the enforcement. A law is only a law if it’s enforced and we really hope that some of these changes are backed up with real actions.”
Changes were also anticipated on smoke control, with more information on glass safety.
“Based on what was said, the code is very much about the clarification of a lot of the existing information,” Mr Dean said.
Third-party independent inspections would be an integral part of the compliance process, experts said.
Civil Defence officials said the code would include fines of up to Dh50,000 for each fault uncovered by inspectors, but experts said the fines should be more severe.
“There should be serious fines not in the thousands or hundreds of thousands of dirhams, but in millions, because when a company takes on a project that is worth tens of millions of dirhams, a fine of Dh100,000 is peanuts,” said David O’Riley, managing partner of fire safety consultancy Britannia International.
“But a fine of Dh10 million will make sure that they will put it right and make sure that they always get it right. This goes back to the need for enforcement.
“Fire safety shouldn’t be an option. The regulation must be enforced.”
Authorities tried to phase out combustible cladding in new buildings with the Federal 2012 Fire and Life Safety Code, but concerns persist about buildings completed before 2012.
Civil Defence officials said the code was meant to reduce the likelihood of fire breaking out at new buildings by introducing new regulations, procedures, regular maintenance and inspections.
Maj Gen Rashid Al Matroushi, director general of Dubai Civil Defence, said last week that the code would be regularly updated to keep abreast of safety standards.
“The updated chapters include those related to fire doors, cladding in buildings, access for Civil Defence trucks to reduce incident response times, and educating consultants, contractors and end-users on the latest modifications,” he said.
rtalwar@thenational.ae
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
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