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Following is the question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mrs Regina Ip, in the Legislative Council today (October 23):
Question:
Under section 5.24 of the Code Of Practice For Minimum Fire Service Installations And Equipment, the minimum effective quantity of water required to be available in the supply tank for fire fighting is classified into four levels according to the floor area (gross) factor of the largest floor of the building in which the supply tank is located. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of supply tanks in domestic, commercial and composite buildings in Hong Kong at present, broken down by these four levels,
(b) of the criteria for defining these four levels; whether they are related to the Performance Pledge of the Fire Services Department that building fire calls should be responded to within six minutes in built-up areas; and
(c) whether it will consider adopting the structure and space of the building in which the supply tank is located as the criteria for determining the minimum effective quantity of water required to be available; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(b) According to Section 5.24 of the Code of Practice for Minimum Fire Service Installations and Equipment, the four levels of minimum effective quantity of water required to be available in the supply tank for fire hydrant/hose reel systems, details are as follows:
Floor area (gross) Water storage required
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Not exceeding 230 square meters 9 000 litres
Over 230 square meters but not 18 000 litres
exceeding 460 square meters
Over 460 square meters but not 27 000 litres
exceeding 920 square meters
Over 920 square meters 36 000 litres
The Fire Services Department (FSD) does not maintain a statistic of the numbers of different levels of supply tanks provided in all of the buildings in Hong Kong.
(b) The supply tank is to provide a building with in situ water supply for ready use by firemen when they arrive at the fire scene, enabling them to spring into fire-fighting action immediately. It would also provide a buffer period for the firemen, while carrying out fire-fighting, to secure access to street hydrants or other sources of water supply for prolonged operations. The different levels of supply tank capacity requirements stipulated in the Code of Practice for Minimum Fire Service Installations and Equipment have been drawn up by FSD taking into account its past experience of fire-fighting, the number of fire-fighting jets and length of buffer period required for buildings with different floor areas and its consultations with the trade and other government departments (including the Hong Kong Institute of Architects, Hong Kong Institute of Engineers, Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, Buildings Department and Architectural Services Department). In place since 1966, the requirements have proven to be sound and effective. For example, for a fire covering an area of about 230 square meters, at least two jets, each consuming about 450 litres of water per minute, are required to cover the scene, prevent the fire from spreading and put it out as quickly as possible. In that case, a standard supply tank with a water storage of 9 000 litres can support the jet operation for about ten minutes. As for a fire covering an area of over 230 square meters, more jets are required, and in turn a larger supply tank in order to maintain a reasonable buffer period.
Response time refers to the total amount of time it takes for the firemen to arrive at the scene after the Fire Services Communication Centre received a fire/emergency call. Having considered the building density and other factors in different districts across the territory and assessed the fire risks involved, FSD has designated five graded target response times ranging from six to 23 minutes. The requirement of the capacity of supply tanks is subject to the operational needs of firemen after arriving at the scene and it bears no relationship with the target response time.
(c) Under section 16(1)(b) of the Buildings Ordinance, the building plans of development projects must be approved by FSD to ensure that new buildings will be provided with fire service installations and equipment as required. Based on the structural and spatial conditions of the building, the architect will design the fire hydrant/hose reel system (including the relevant supply tank) in compliance with the relevant requirements of FSD. FSD will consider alternative improvised measures proposed by developers taking into account the scale and fire risk of individual development projects, provided that fire safety is not compromised. For instance, considerations will be given to providing a hose reel system and exempting the fire hydrant requirement in a low density residential building of four storeys. In that case, a supply tank with a capacity of 2 000 litres only would be required.
As regards old commercial buildings built before 1987, the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance (Cap. 502) provides for the upgrading of fire service installations. In implementing the legislation, FSD has been undertaking a flexible and pragmatic approach in handling cases where owners encounter difficulties in complying with the requirements. Owners will be given sufficient flexibility as far as it is safe and the circumstances permit. For example, if an authorised person or a registered engineer confirms that the rooftop of the building concerned cannot support a standard supply tank due to structural or spatial problems, and that no alternative place is available for the installation, FSD will consider accepting a supply tank of a smaller capacity. The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap. 572) passed in July this year seeks to upgrade the fire service installations of old composite buildings and domestic buildings built before 1987. After the commencement of the Ordinance, FSD will also undertake a flexible and pragmatic approach in implementation. With reference to past experience, FSD will exercise discretion in relaxing the requirement of supply tank capacity having regard to the structural and spatial constraints of the building concerned.
End/Wednesday, October 23, 2002
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