PUTRAJAYA: The Fire and Rescue Department has recommended management of buildings in the country to conduct a self fire safety audit every 10 years.
This can be done through the appointment of independent consultants or experts to evaluate the safety of the building occupied, said its director-general Datuk Seri Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim.
"The management or owners of every building should do this if they want to ensure the safety aspects and the people who are occupying their properties," he said.
He added that the department would then be able to recommend if the building was safe to be occupied or maintenance work should be carried out.
His comments were made in response to the recent fire at the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) building in Jalan Gasing, Petaling Jaya last week.
While almost 40 per cent of the building was reportedly destroyed, its 527 staff who were in the building were safely evacuated during the incident.
Wan Mohd Nor said even if a building's Certificate of Fitness (CF) and Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC) were in order, the fire safety audit was necessary in terms of fire safety.
He added that buildings in Malaysia had no issues in meeting the international standard requirements in terms of CF and CCC but the maintenance culture was still lacking.
"We recommend maintenance on buildings should be carried out every year.
"But these buildings carry out renovation works, modification and facelifts every now and then, therefore this audit is recommended to ensure the safety of the building which is being occupied," he added.
He said the department also carried out monitoring on buildings from time to time and at some buildings, checks were conducted every year.
Wan Mohd Nor was met at the soft launch of the 2018 International Fire Conference and Exhibition Malaysia (IFCEM).
The three-day conference which is set to take place on March 27 at Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa, would be officiated by Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar.
A total of 1,300 international and local participants have registered for the conference and some 130 booths have been taken by 60 exhibitors for the exhibition.