The Paradigm of Malaysia’s Old and New Public Hospital Buildings on Passive Fire Protection System with UBBL 1984 Compliance

Naziah Muhamad Salleh; Muhammad Afiq Bin Fakhrulazam

Authors

Naziah Muhamad Salleh Building Surveying Department, School of Housing, Building, and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9082-1088
Muhammad Afiq Bin Fakhrulazam Building Surveying Department, School of Housing, Building, and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Gelugor, Pulau Pinang

Keywords:

Passive Fire Protection, UBBL 1984, Public Hospital Buildings, Fire Safety

Abstract

Public hospitals in Malaysia require stringent fire safety measures for high occupancy due to government policy against convoluted building design and layouts. Ensuring compliance with fire safety regulations, particularly passive fire protection systems, is critical for safeguarding lives and facilitating safe evacuation during emergencies. However, older hospital buildings often face challenges meeting fire safety standards due to outdated designs and spatial limitations before the Uniform Building By-Laws, 1984 (UBBL 1984) was mandated in 1984. The paper summarises and explores the peer-reviewed literature on passive fire protection systems versus the appraisal of UBBL 1984 between existing, new, and old public hospital buildings. The key disparities are design criteria such as escape routes, fire compartments, emergency exits, and fire protection systems. The findings indicate that newly constructed hospitals are more likely to fully integrate passive fire safety features from the outset, ensuring better compliance with UBBL 1984. In contrast, older hospital buildings often lack essential fire safety components due to constraints in retrofitting, potentially compromising containment, disobeying by-laws and evacuation efficiency. This paper provides valuable insights for hospital administrators, fire safety professionals, and policymakers to enhance fire safety requirements in existing hospital facilities.

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