Surbana Jurong establishes new Fire Safety Consultancy unit to strengthen fire safety standards and compliance in buildings
Singapore, 11 February 2020 – Surbana Jurong, one of the largest global urban, infrastructure and managed services consultancies based in Asia, has established a Fire Safety Consultancy unit to augment its multidisciplinary core capabilities, in the light of recent regulatory changes in fire safety legislation and major fire incidents worldwide. The unit will offer solutions on fire safety as well as help strengthen the regulatory compliance of commercial, industrial and residential projects, and hence contribute to a safe and secure built environment globally. This will further add to Surbana Jurong’s efforts in making sustainability a core delivery objective for all its projects globally.
Fire safety plays an integral role in a constantly evolving built environment, where buildings and infrastructure become increasingly complex and sophisticated. For instance, large-scale integrated mixed-use developments and deep underground infrastructure, rail network and roads are developed to meet today’s societal needs and optimise land use. With such a complex urban landscape, customised fire safety solutions involving the use of fire engineering, advanced modelling and computational tools are necessary.
Considering the global trend of ageing population, it is also important to ensure that future buildings are fire-proofed for the elderly. In Singapore, it is estimated that one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above by 2030. Hence, the new Fire Safety Consultancy unit will explore innovative approaches to design fire-safe homes where evacuation is not required in the event of a fire or by using materials which are fire-retardant.
It will also be relevant to building owners when the new amendments to the Singapore Fire Safety Act kick in this year. Under the new amendments, buildings identified for the mandatory upgrade will be required to install critical fire safety provisions. This applies to older and existing buildings which have not met fire safety measures as stipulated in the prevailing Fire Code. The Fire Safety Consultancy unit will be able to help building owners identify and address these gaps while balancing the costs of implementing them.
Mr Wong Heang Fine, Group Chief Executive Officer of Surbana Jurong said, “With the new capability in fire safety consultancy, we are able to offer solutions to fire-proof buildings and create safe and sustainable spaces where communities can live, work and play in. Often, our clients tend to involve the fire safety experts at the late stages of the development with dire consequences. With the new fire safety engineering expertise, we are able to mitigate fire safety risks and ensure more pragmatic and calibrated regulatory compliance of our projects globally.”
He added, “We believe that technology is an enabler of productivity and growth. Hence, we will explore how we can harness our digital capabilities to fully exploit the potential of our fire engineering expertise and help our clients better assess how their buildings can be protected against fire.”
The new unit will be helmed by Mr Christopher Tan, the former Senior Assistant Commissioner and Director of the Fire Safety & Shelter Department at the Singapore Civil Defence Force. Mr Tan has over three decades of experience in fire safety governance and design, emergency planning and incident command. “I look forward to leveraging my expertise and contribute towards Surbana Jurong’s value proposition to deliver comprehensive and integrated suites of professional services to our clients and partners,” said Mr Tan.
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