Assessment of buildings structural fire safety: A case of Dar es Salaam

This study has assessed and identified available weaknesses and factors causing inadequate buildings structure fire safety in Dar es Salaam as the case study, and proposes performance improvement measures of the structures against fire based on the study findings. The study is limited to multi-storey reinforced concrete buildings. Several methods were used to collected information, namely through a structured questionnaire, extracting information from literatures, buildings design and fire reports case studies, conducting interviews, field observations and selected structures concrete cover tests. The study established that there are several reasons that contribute to the problem. These include, i) Regulatory authorities including Dar es Salaam city council does not give to it the expected priority in approving of buildings project, ii) Inadequate integration of structural fire protection into the design process, e.g. working together with all stakeholders at early stage of building design, iii) The traditional design method; designing structures to meet code-specified fire resistance requirements without considering the realistic end condition, e.g. effects of possible ‘real fire’ in a ‘real building’ Due to this situation, various measures to improve the performance are suggested. The top most recommended measures include: improving capacities of regulatory authorities in terms of laws and regulations enforcement, knowledge and skill in buildings fire protection plan and improve knowledge capabilities of building designers in structural fire safety design