A building code is a set of rules that specify the minimum acceptable level of safety for constructed objects such as buildings. The first building codes can be traced back to early 1800 B.C. The Babylonian Emperor Hammurabi enforced what was known as the Code of Hammurabi. This early building code of Babylonian Emperor Hammurabi was very severe and strict in nature and stated that, “ If a builder build a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.” Same building code also said that, “If the building owner lose an arm as a result of collapse, then the builder would sacrifice his arm.” Building codes have evolved over the time to protect the safety of building occupants without the threat of death. Every year some people are getting killed in Bangladesh because of accident or fire in buildings. Neither proper investigations were done nor proper set of rules were developed to find and punish the responsible people behind those death.

Building codes were first seen in United States in the early 1700 AD. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson encouraged the development of building regulations to provide minimum standards to ensure health and safety of United States citizen. In the early 1900s insurance companies lobbied for further development of building codes to reduce the property loss payouts caused by inadequate construction standards and improperly built structures. During that time around 1905, one of the first building codes was developed on the East Coast by the Fire Underwriter Association intended to be a National Code and it was directed toward protecting the building rather than the people in the Building. After massive fire in Bashundhara Tower it is still not clear whether this building and its users are insured or not. Here in United States almost every single built structure is insured. With gradual economic development of Bangladesh a day will come when banks and investment companies will not provide money to build a building unless it is insured from pre-occupancy (design thru construction) to post occupancy (when the building in use) period. Insurance companies will not be interested to insure a building if is not built according to internationally accepted building codes, construction techniques and standards.

In United States, in 1915, the Building Officials and Code Administration (BOCA) was established. This organization developed what is now known as the BOCA/NBC National Code, which was mainly used in the Northeastern United States. In 1927, the International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) was established. This organization developed what is now known as the Uniform Building Code (UBC), which was mainly used in the Midwest and Western United States. In 1940, the Southern Building Code Congress International (SBCCI) was founded. This organization developed what is now known as the Standard Building Code (SBC), which was mainly used in the Southern United States.

Over the years each of these codes (BOCA/NBC, UBC, & SBC) were revised and updated. Many of the codes were duplications of one another or very similar in nature. In order to avoid duplication and to consolidate the development process BOCA, ICBO and SBCCI formed the International Code Council (ICC). The purpose of ICC was to develop codes without regional limitations. In 1994 they began to develop what would become the International Building Code (IBC).

In 1997, the first edition of the IBC published. There were still many flaws and it was not widely accepted. In 2000, the first comprehensive and coordinated set of the IBC published. All three organizations (BOCA, ICBO and SBCCI) agreed to adopt the IBC and cease development of their respective individual codes. The IBC supersedes the BOCA/NBC, UBC & SBC codes and State and Local Governments in United States began to adopt new ICC developed consolidated codes. In 2006 ICC published almost all building related codes like International Building Code 2006, International Mechanical Code 2006, International Energy Conservation Code 2006, International Fire Code 2006, International Existing Building Code 2006, International Plumbing Code 2006 etc. These building related model codes have no legal status until they are adopted or adapted by government regulation. These model codes provide minimum standards to insure the public safety, health and welfare as they are affected by building construction and to secure safety to life and property from all hazardous incidents to the occupancy of buildings, structures or premises.

The International Building Code is arranged in a systematic manner for easy reference. It incorporates all aspects of building construction. New editions of the IBC are published in every three years. Amendments to the 2000 edition were issued in 2003 and 2006. The amendments are issued to incorporate approved changes, lessons learned and new technology.

Present Government in Bangladesh developing adventurous ideas almost everyday. After massive fire in Bashundhara City they are suggesting helipad on high rise building to rescue people in case of fire. If it is a feasible solution International Building Code should have been incorporate this idea long time ago. Basic idea of International Building Code is every floor of a high rise building should be design in such a way that both fire and smoke cannot travel to other floor for at least two hours. By this time combustibles should be burned out within a floor. Now a day in Bangladesh exterior shell of high rise buildings are built with curtain wall (glass wall) system. It is not clear whether these curtain walls are built with proper technology or not? Pictures from Bashundhara Tower show fire attacked the curtain wall vigorously. Designing a proper curtain wall is very hard and need very in depth knowledge and skills.

During fire a dynamic situation is created in the joints of concrete slab, metal connector and curtain wall framing. This happens because of thermal rate of expansion of metal is more than that of concrete slab which ultimately creates gap between main structure of building and exterior curtain wall shell. Also fire and smoke travel through fire rated floor or ceiling with low quality thorough penetration design. Thru these gaps both fire and smoke travel from floor to floor. Architects and Engineers in United States found these flaws in high rise building after massive fire in MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas in 1980 in which 84 people died and 679 people injured due to quick smoke propagation from floor to floor. Same thing happened in case of fire in 62 storied high First Interstate Bank Building in 1988 in Los Angles.

Improper designing between the floor slabs and the skin permitted the fire to spread from floor to floor through the gap created between main structure and exterior shell during fire. In case of First Interstate bank Building fire was observed spreading through this area even before the glass and mullions failed. Architects of Bashundhara Tower can do a proper investigation why the fire and smoke travelled from one floor to another. If they find any flaws in their design they would be able to correct those in their future projects. International Building Code has proper design guidelines how to design an exterior curtain wall shell which will not fail in case of fire for certain period of time. Normally in United States, architects after designing a curtain wall for high rise building make a small replica. Then they send it to testing agency either in Underwriters Laboratories (UL) in Northbrook, Illinois or in Intertek (OPL), Elmendorf, Texas. These are two acceptable testing agencies in United States for curtain wall system. There they place this curtain wall replica inside an actual furnace to find out for how long and how much intense fire and heat can this curtain wall withstand. After getting the result Architects make necessary changes in their curtain wall detail to make the curtain wall system International Building Code compliant.

Compartmentation through fire barrier and fire wall inside a building is very important aspect of International Building Code to contain fire within a fire area. Smoke and toxic gases rise from the source of the fire. They spread quickly along the ceiling and heat the air in the room.

The current of hot air forces a curtain of deadly gases down the walls, making escape more difficult. In a few minutes the air will become so hot that the entire contents of the room will ignite spontaneously. This is known as flashover and usually occurs between 1,000 degree F and 1,500 degree F. Automatic Fire Sprinkler system is the most proven effective system to prevent flashover inside a building in case of fire. Reports from newspaper showed aluminum framing melted in Bashundhara Tower. Meting point of aluminum is almost 1200 degree F. That means flashover stage of fire occurred inside Bashundhara Tower fire. According to International Building Code a building like Bashundhara Tower must have automatic fire sprinkler system according to NFPA standard 13.

It is not clear from newspaper reports whether Bashundhara Tower has automatic fire sprinkler system or not. The typical automatic sprinkler head consists of a plug held in a place by a trigger mechanism. The most common type of trigger is a glass ampule filled with a glycerin-based liquid that expands when heated. The liquid is designed to expand and break the tube at a certain temperature. The most common are designed to break at 155 degrees. In the average sized room, a 5 mm diameter ampule will usually break in about one to one and a half minutes from contact with a heat source. Ampules as thin as 1 mm are manufactured for a faster response time. The plug forced out by the pressurized water behind it and deflected away by a beveled edge. The water sprays over the deflector plate which is designed to distribute it in an even pattern. Water will continue to flow until the main valve is shut off. Even a small smoldering fire acts like a heat engine as it steadily increases the air temperature directly above it. The hot air fans out across the ceiling, heating up the nearest sprinkler head. As soon as trigger mechanism is heated to the required temperature, it trips and the water is released. The immediate cooling of the heat source usually prevents other sprinkler head from activating. Often one or two sprinkler heads are enough to control a fire inside a building.

Bashundhara Tower Architects can carry out an investigation why the smoke detectors did not work properly. Architects should always double check the listing requirements of smoke detectors before installing them. Temperature below 32 degrees F can cause smoke detectors to false alarm whereas temperature above 100 degrees F can prevent proper smoke detector operation. Wiring the smoke detectors with its control panel should be done properly according to manufacturer’s specification. Because operation of any device on the same circuit would render all detectors relays installed after this device, inoperative.

There is nothing wrong learning from mistakes. That’s the way International Building Code is developed and still developing towards a more accurate standards for Building Industry Professionals.

I saw in the newspaper leading Bangladeshi Newspaper Daily Star arranged a round table meeting and found out the solution for safe buildings in Bangladesh within couple of hours. If the matter is so simple and finding the solution is so easy then hundreds of engineers, architects, urban planners, scientists, material scientists, fire protection engineers should stop their research and development works in developed countries and arrange an roundtable meeting to find their solutions within couple of hours. This proves in Bangladesh there is real lack of sense of professionalism in every sector not only in Architecture. In United States you will find the guy who fixes the photo copy machine he probably knows everything about photo copy machine but you will find him dumb almost in every other thing. In Bangladesh things are opposite. You will find an auto mechanic, an army officer, a doctor, a banker, a structural engineer or an architect not only knowledgeable in their respective field but at the same time every professional knows how diagnose a disease, how to design a building, how to run a bank or how to develop strategy for national security. Either the people in Bangladesh who are finding solutions with a round table meeting are extremely genius or they have no knowledge of the actual problem for which they are finding solution so quickly. It is almost miracle how a single person can become expert in so many fields at a time. In the history of whole world only a few people were born with this kind quality and aptitude.

Fokruddin Khondaker
E-mail: masudkhondaker@yahoo.com