NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 18
Dispatches International
RAPID IGNITION u
Fire engulfs the Abbco Tower in Sharjah, United Arab
Emnirates, last May. The building was fitted with combustible cladding, resulting in a rapidly escalating fire
that injured 12 people. GETTY IMAGES
UNITED KINGDOM AND
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Promises Made
Three years after Grenfell, officials
vow to replace combustible facades
in parts of Europe and the Middle
East. But experts remain skeptical.
By Angelo Verzoni
OVERNMENT OFFICIALS IN the
United Kingdom as well as the United
Arab Emirates recently vowed to strip
dangerous, combustible cladding and
other exterior wall components off
hundreds of existing high-rise buildings. Experts hope officials will make good on those
promises, but worry that the complexity and cost
of cladding-replacement projects will hinder those
efforts.
"It's encouraging to see that governments understand the need to replace combustible cladding on
high-rise buildings, but we have seen promises made
before with action not taken," said Birgitte Messerschmidt, director of Applied Research at NFPA.
"Replacing cladding is a complicated and expensive
task, so promises that are not followed by a financial
commitment are likely to fail."
On May 10, officials in Sharjah, a city near Dubai
in the United Arab Emirates, said they had identified
about 150 buildings in the city that needed to have
their cladding replaced. "[We] are working to amend
them and replace them with safe materials," Colonel
Sami Khamis Al Naqbi, director general of Sharjah
Civil Defence, told Gulf News. The announcement
came five days after a facade fire consumed Sharjah's
Abbco Tower, a 49-story residential building, displacing hundreds of people and injuring a dozen.
Three weeks after the Sharjah fire, on May 26, the
United Kingdom's secretary of state for Housing,
Communities, and Local Government introduced a
new £1 billion ($1.27 billion) Building Safety Fund to
assist with the removal of combustible cladding on
high-rise residential buildings throughout the UK. That
G
18 | NFPA JOURNAL * J U L Y /A U G U S T 2 0 2 0
Dispatches_08.20 R4 DCS.indd 18
7/1/20 2:15 PM
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NFPA Journal - July/August 2020
Contents
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - Cover1
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - Cover2
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 1
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 2
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 3
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - Contents
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 5
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 6
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 7
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 8
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 9
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 10
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 11
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 12
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 13
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 14
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 15
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 16
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 17
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 18
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 19
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 20
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 21
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 22
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 23
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 24
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 25
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 26
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 27
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 28
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 29
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 30
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 31
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 32
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 33
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 34
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 35
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 36
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 37
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 38
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 39
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 40
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 41
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 42
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 43
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 44
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 45
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 46
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 47
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 48
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 49
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 50
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 51
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 52
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 53
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 54
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 55
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 56
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 57
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 58
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 59
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 60
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 61
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 62
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 63
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 64
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 65
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 66
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 67
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 68
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 69
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 70
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 71
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 72
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 73
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 74
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 75
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 76
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 77
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 78
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 79
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - 80
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - Cover3
NFPA Journal - July/August 2020 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2024spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2023spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2022spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021winter
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021fall
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021summer
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_2021spring
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20201112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20200102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20191112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20190102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20181112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20180102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20171112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20170102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20161112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_201610_sprinkler
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20160102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20151112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20150304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_201501
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20141112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20140102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20131112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130304
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20130102
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20121112
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120910
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120708
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120506
https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nfpa/journal_20120304
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com