Reader's Respond - Draft 1
According to the
article, “36 buildings may have combustible cladding that doesn’t meet safety
standards; police investigating,” Loh (2017). SCDF has been inspecting cladding
used on buildings to ensure fire safety criteria are met. 36 buildings had
failed to meet the class 0 standard and all the composites panels used for
cladding were supplied by a local distributor whom had mixed up the fire
classes of the two different models from an American Brand called Alubond.
Local distributor agrees to comply with the fire safety standards and will
seize distribution. SCDF stated the fire incident occurred at 30 Toh Guan Road,
an industrial building with cladding, had failed the class 0 standard and after
reviewing the incident, industrial buildings has agreed to remove cladding that
failed the fire class 0 standard for operation to carry on.
In another article,
“Guarding against a Grenfell-like disaster in Singapore,” by Ong (2017). The
intensity of the fire was due to the flammability of cladding which has gutted
the Grenfell Tower. Despite Singapore having the lowest fire fatalities rate in
the world, high standard of fire safety will still be maintained to all
buildings while seeking for improvements. Registered architects and engineers
are required to submit building plans to SCDF for approval while at the same
time, SCDF is working closely with HDB to ensure cladding used meet the fire
class 0 standard otherwise, it will be given 2 months to remove with immediate
effect. Materials used for cladding must be non-flammable and fire does not
spread along the material’s surface when ignited.
With SCDF enforcing on
the fire safety cladding materials to be fire class 0, it does not eliminates
the potential of fire hazard but rather minimizes it. According to the article “What
is cladding, and why can it be a fire risk?,” Boult (2017). Cladding has the
potential to serve as a chimney for fire to spread upwards through the spaces
between cladding and the exterior of building walls. Upon combustion, hot air can
pass through the spaces to the top while fresh cold air contain oxygen will
enter from the bottom which allows the fire to be intensified. Although the
cladding materials maybe fire class 0, there are possibilities of open windows
which allows fire to combust the interior of the building such as furniture.
On the other hand, cladding
provides many advantages to the buildings. It has the potential of protecting
buildings from the elements of the weather to prolong the structure and acts as
a drainage to allow rainwater to flow down the gaps. It also allows easy
cleaning and repairing while providing aesthetic appearance to the overall
outlook of the buildings.
In conclusion, it is
not possible to eliminate the potential fire hazard of cladding but with strong
implementation on fire safety standards to ensure cladding materials are fire
case 0, the potential risk can be reduced significantly.
Citations
Use of Cladding in
Buildings Here Have Grown in Recent Times, Faris Mokhtar (2017 )
36 buildings may have combustible cladding
that doesn’t meet safety standards; police investigating, Loh (2017)
Guarding against a Grenfell-like disaster in
Singapore, by Ong (2017)
“What is cladding, and why can it be a fire
risk?, Boult (2017)
The advantage of cladding
A lot of issues with "has" and to the points.
ReplyDeletecitations
with were too fixated to SCDF
Take from account from a positive and negative side, then to thesis.
have an inside on what the reader is writing (the one sentences to explain everything)
Eliminate allow of "the" and "has"
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