AJMAN// Thousands of mixed-use commercial and residential buildings are to be inspected to make sure they meet fire safety standards and are suitable for people to live in and be connected to an emirate-wide alarm system.
Teams from the Civil Defence and municipality will carry out a survey of the 4,000 buildings, mostly apartment blocks with small businesses operating on the ground floor, in three stages. The first stage will take place in the next two weeks to check for breaches in safety rules, said Brig Gen Saleh Al Matrooshi, a director at Ajman Civil Defence.
Initially, inspectors will meet owners of buildings found to have issues in order for the necessary maintenance to be carried out.
“For the maintenance, they must have a maintenance contract renewed annually with one of the fire companies in the UAE, and this has to be certified by the civil defence,” Brig Al Matrooshi said.
As well as making sure buildings are safe, the survey will also help the municipality in providing up-to-date maps showing the exact location and dimensions of residential and commercial properties.
“In the first stage we will do a full field survey to know the number of these buildings in Ajman, the number of floors and apartments in each one, height, features, GPS location, its danger and suitability for housing, as well as detailed information about the owner and watchman and know if he has knowledge of fire procedures and has had training. We will train the watchmen,” Brig Al Matrooshi said.
The second stage will begin next year and see all of the buildings connected to the civil defence control room via an e-link system that will alert the authorities in case of fire or any maintenance issue.
The last stage will see fines handed out to building owners who are breaching the safety standards and rules.
roueiti@thenational.ae