NFPA Journal - Winter 2021 - 43

There is a lot going on. Dar was among
the first companies that offered its
services to the government to survey
the damage and suggest what should be
done. Our structural engineer specialists,
façade specialists, and architects
went out in an official mission to
survey the buildings that are in danger.
Dar worked hard to support the effort
to rebuild Beirut quickly.
How does the implementation of
fire and life safety requirements
work in Lebanon?
When you want to build or improve a
building and you want to conform to fire
and life safety requirements, you have to
hire a government-authorized fire and
life safety office to do that. The office
reviews your design to see if it meets
the code requirements, it follows the
construction process to make sure that
the approved drawings are reflected in
the actual building, and at the end they
give you the certificate of completion.
What is the role of fire and life
safety codes in the country?
The country doesn't have a sophisticated,
self-sufficient code of its
own-it's more of a recommendation.
The codes you have to follow are
mainly from France or from NFPA-
the client has to choose. For high-rise
buildings, we always follow NFPA. A
few years ago, I worked on a hospital
project, and I made sure the client
followed NFPA for that building
because of the project's complexity.
Generally, when I'm working on a
project in Lebanon, I try my best to
implement NFPA because it always
offers more flexibility to cover more
options in architectural designs.
How would you describe the
fire and life safety culture in the
country?
I would say the problem isn't in implementing
codes. I know that when it
comes to a rebuild, for example, the
companies doing that work follow the
codes. It's during the inspections where
things need to improve.
" This catastrophe
didn't just happen
overnight-many people
knew what was stored in
that warehouse and they
all knew the risk. Still, the
fire was allowed to go on
for more than 40 minutes.
No precautions were taken
to warn people or to stop
traffic along the busy road
that runs next to the port.
Many people died in their
cars near the site of the
explosion. "
companies in this field. But now is not
the time for such an initiative because
of all the events that are happening
in the country that might be regarded
as more serious. People will take you
lightly. People are in way over their
heads on so many problems, and fire
safety just isn't currently on many
people's to-do lists.
Besides the Mecca expansion, what
are some of the other large projects
you've been involved with?
For example, I worked on the expansion
of King Abdulaziz International
Airport in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and
I'm currently working on the expansion
of Hamad International Airport
in Doha, Qatar. I worked on a large
Enforcement is so critical, but it's
often a neglected aspect of the
safety equation. Is anyone taking
steps to improve code enforcement
and the safety culture in Lebanon?
Not at the moment. I hope something
like this will happen. If something
does happen in the future, I would
definitely be involved in it because
of the work I do for Dar, one of the
Middle East's best-known consulting
residential development called Gewan
Island, in Doha-it was like building a
city from scratch, with a lot of residential
towers and hotels. I also worked
on an expansion of Hamad General
Hospital in Doha, and on a new iconic
high-rise hotel called Katara Towers. A
lot of work is taking place in Doha in
advance of the soccer world cup that
Qatar is hosting in 2022.
Are there common life safety
challenges you face as you go from
project to project?
In the Middle East, especially with
mixed-use developments that involve
multiple occupancies, I always have
challenges-there's always a unique
design that you need to be sensitive to
with fire and life safety requirements
because you don't want to ruin the
vision that the client has for his exceptional
project. At the same time, I have
to respect the adopted code requirements
and make sure that the design
is also in line with the additional
safety measures set by the authorities,
and those can differ depending
on whether I'm designing in Doha
or Dubai or Riyadh. I need to mix
and match between clients, authorities,
codes, and Dar perspectives of
the project, and figure out how to
deliver the safest design possible while
trying to make everyone happy. Every
fire and life safety strategy I design
enriches my knowledge.
Do you want to stay in Beirut?
I hope so. But this is a very hard
choice for people who really want to
stay, because it is not easy to live here
right now with the way things are. I
have had many opportunities to leave,
with my expertise, but it's a hard decision.
I travel a lot around the Middle
East, and when I see the amount of
change taking place in those societies,
and of the implementation of safety
and security, of codes and requirements,
I think, " What happened to
us? " We were the best city in the
region and now it's like we are far
behind, and it's not in our hands.
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NFPA Journal - Winter 2021

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