(1) Every room designed, adapted or used for residential, business or other purposes except hospitals and schools shall be provided with natural lighting and natural ventilation by means of one or more windows having a total area of not less than 10 percent of the clear floor area of such room and not less than half out of this 10 percent floor area shall have openings capable of allowing a free uninterrupted passage of air.

Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 (As At 10th January 2024)

2. Clause Related to Building Services:

By-law 173: Exit Doors

• This clause falls under the fire safety installation requirements, which is part of the building services category.

• All exit doors shall be openable from the inside without the use of a key or any special device or tool and shall open in the direction of exit travel.

✅ Key Points from the Clause:

"Openable from inside" – People must be able to open the door freely without using a key or tool.

"Shall open in the direction of exit travel" – The door must swing outward, in the direction people will be escaping.

This clause is part of fire safety provisions to ensure safe and efficient evacuation in case of emergencies such as fire.

• It ensures that all occupants can evacuate quickly and safely, without delay caused by locked or jammed doors.

• It is especially important in buildings with large crowds, children, the elderly, or disabled individuals.

• Architects and engineers must consider this by-law in their design to provide safe and compliant exit routes.

Clause: By-law Part V STRUCTURAL REQUIREMENTS

57. Weight of partitions

    
    

    • If the locations of partitions are shown in the building plans, their actual weight must be included when calculating the building’s permanent (dead) load.

    • If the partitions are not shown in the plans yet, the floor and beams must still be designed to handle the extra weight just in case they are added later.

    • In this case, the design must include an extra load that is:

      • At least one-third of the weight of the expected partitions per metre length, spread evenly over the floor area (per square metre), and

      • At least 1 kN/m² ≈ 102 kg/m² if the floor will be used as an office.

    In short: even if partition walls aren’t planned yet, floors and beams should still be strong enough to hold a reasonable estimated weight of future walls.

    
    

• All exit doors and escape routes must be provided with a clear “EXIT” sign.

• Shall not be obscured by any decorations.

• The sign must be in capital letters, illuminated, and visible in the dark.

• It must be placed directly above or near the exit door.

• Shall be illuminated continuously during periods of occupancy.

EXPLANATION

• Applies to non-residential buildings (e.g., offices, malls, schools).

• If the building has more than 4 storeys (either above or below the main entrance level),

• Then at least one lift (elevator) must be installed.

• This is to ensure easy access for everyone, including the elderly and people with disabilities.

1. When the space beneath a roof is enclosed by a ceiling, access to that space must be provided through a trap door that measures at least 0.75 metres in any direction.

2. No verandah-way shall be constructed except at levels approved by the local authority.

3. A trap door is a small hatch or opening in the ceiling used to access the roof space (often for inspection or maintenance).

4. A cross-fall refers to the slight slope built into the surface to ensure rainwater flows off towards drains and does not pool on the surface.

2. Penthouse Exception

   • A penthouse that occupies no more than 50% of the area of the floor below is exempt from the mandatory rule

3. the fire lift must be located within separate protected shaft and should open into a separate lobby

4. the fire lift shall be provided at the rate of one in every group of lifts which discharge into the fire fighting access lobby

• Ventilation of staircase enclosures as stipulated under by-laws 198 stated that:

  
  

  All staircases enclosures shall be ventilated at each floor or landing level by either permenant openings or openable windows.

  The ventilation must not be less than 1 square metre per floor.

  
  

• Ventilation of staircase enclosures in buildings exceeding 18 metres as stipulated under by-laws 200 stated that:

  
  

  For buildings exceeding 18 metres above ground level that are not ventilated in accordance with by-law 198, two alternative methods of preventing the infiltration of smoke into the staircase enclosures may be permitted by providing ;-

  
  

  a) Permenant ventilation : not less than 5% of the area of the enclosure , suitable intervals in the height of the staircase

  b) A Mechanical Pressuration : the staircase enclosure needs to be designed and installed in accordance with MS 1472.

Anis Azlan , 22.05.25

1. A fire shutter may be permitted to be used as a compartment wall, except for the fire compartmentation of Fire Command Centre (FCC) or means of escape including an exit staircase, fire fighting access lobby, smoke lobby or internal exit passageway.

2. A shutter, may be used to protect an opening in the compartment wall or floor and the shutter shall have the necessary fire resistance including a thermal insulation, which shall not be less than the fire resistance of the compartment wall or floor.

3. However, the fire shutter, which may be installed to any area without any intended fire load such as the edge of atria or voids such as escalators voids areas, car park driveways and between the floors or door-ways, may not have the thermal insulation.

4. The commonly used shutters such as vertical fire shutters, horizontal fire shutters and lateral fire shutters shall comply with MS 1073: Part 3 or BS 476: Part 22 and the following requirements:

   
   

   (a) for a vertical fire shutter operated by gravity during a fire, upon activation by a fire alarm system or fusible link, the operating mechanism of a curtain or leaf of the vertical fire shutter shall be released; and the curtain or leaf shall descend under gravity at a controlled rate; and

   
   

   (b) for an electrically operated vertical fire shutter, lateral fire shutter or horizontal fire shutter (a fusible link is not required), upon activation by a fire alarm system, the electrical motor shall drive the curtain or leaf to descend and shall be backed up by an emergency power supply; and the power and signal cables shall be fire-rated.

5. The mode of activation for fire shutters at different locations shall be as follows:

(a) where the fire shutter is used as a separating wall between two buildings—

(i) if two buildings are separated by a common fire shutter, both gravity-operated and electrically operated fire shutters shall be linked to the fire alarm systems of both buildings and shall be activated by the fire alarm system of either building, and the activation solely by a fusible link shall not be permitted; and

(ii) if two buildings are separated by two separate fire shutters, both gravity-operated and electrically operated fire shutters shall be activated by the fire alarm system of its own building and the activation solely by a fusible link shall not be permitted;

(b) where the fire shutter is used as a compartment wall or floor for limiting a compartment area and cubical extent, as compartmentation between different purpose groups and as compartmentation of a passenger lift lobby or goods lift lobby which is situated at the basement:

(i) for a gravity-operated vertical fire shutter, the activation by a fusible link is acceptable; and

(ii) for an electrically operated fire shutter, the activation shall

be by local smoke detector or other fire alarm;

c) where the fire shutter is used as a compartmentation at atria or voids or between floors (being part of the engineered smoke control design, only an electrically operated fire shutter shall be permitted, and the signal to operate the respective fire shutter shall be from a dedicated smoke detector installed at the respective smoke zone.

6. An exit directional signage marks with an arrow and the word

"KELUAR" shall be prominently painted or pasted on a fire shutter or smoke curtain to redirect the building occupants to the nearest exits if the activated shutter visually obscure the building exit or directional sign.

7. The signage shall be reflective and the letter in the signage shall be at least 100 millimetres in height.

1. A wet riser system (a vertical pipe system filled with water for firefighting) must be installed in buildings where above 30 metres tall.

2. The system must be designed and installed according to MS 1489, Malaysian Standard for wet risers.

3. There must be a hose connection at every floor, located in a firefighting lobby or near the firefighting staircases so firefighters can easily access water.

4. System Limits:

   • A single wet riser system should not serve more than 150 metres of vertical height.

   • The water pressure must not go over 20 bar.

   • For each stage, the height between the highest and lowest hose connections should not more than 75 metres.

   • Each section must have its own pump system to supply water.

A risk assessment must be conducted if the system includes more than one pre-action installation to determine the possibility of simultaneous operation.

If simultaneous operation is possible:

a) The stored water volume must be increased to include the total volume of all pre-action installations.

b) The time between multiple installations activating and water discharging from any remote test valve must not exceed 60 seconds.

Maximum Area of Coverage per Sprinkler:

- Sprinkler deflectors must be located 0.1 m to 0.15 m below the ceiling and 0.05 m to 0.15 m horizontally from the wall.

- There must be no obstruction at the ceiling within a square area extending 1.0 m along the wall on each side of the sprinkler and 1.8 m perpendicular to the wall.

EXPLANATION

• Applies to non-residential buildings (e.g., offices, malls, schools).

• If the building has more than 4 storeys (either above or below the main entrance level),

• Then at least one lift (elevator) must be installed.

• This is to ensure easy access for everyone, including the elderly and people with disabilities.

• Ventilation of staircase enclosures as stipulated under by-laws 198 stated that:

  
  

  All staircases enclosures shall be ventilated at each floor or landing level by either permenant openings or openable windows.

  The ventilation must not be less than 1 square metre per floor.

  
  

• Ventilation of staircase enclosures in buildings exceeding 18 metres as stipulated under by-laws 200 stated that:

  
  

  For buildings exceeding 18 metres above ground level that are not ventilated in accordance with by-law 198, two alternative methods of preventing the infiltration of smoke into the staircase enclosures may be permitted by providing ;-

  
  

  a) Permenant ventilation : not less than 5% of the area of the enclosure , suitable intervals in the height of the staircase

  b) A Mechanical Pressuration : the staircase enclosure needs to be designed and installed in accordance with MS 1472.

Anis Azlan , 22.05.25

2. Part VIII, 226A., Hose Reel System

• A hose reel system shall be provided in accordance with the Tenth Schedule and MS 1489.

4. Aligning with MS 1489 and Tenth Schedule,

   • Hose Reel System consists of a reel and semi-rigid hose connected to a continuous water supply.

   • This hose is used to tackle small fires. Need to be permanently installed on a wall in strategic locations.

   • However if installed outdoors, it needs to be above head level.

- This means that every building must have portable fire extinguishers, and they must be installed according to the guidelines and standards set out in “1539”.

- What is “1539”?

The number 1539 refers to the Malaysian Standard MS 1539, which is the official standard that outlines:

• The types of fire extinguishers allowed

• The minimum quantity and spacing required.

• Where and how they should be mounted.

- Example :

One fire extinguisher for every 500 square meters of floor area, or within 15 meters of travel distance.

• Extinguishers should be installed at visible and accessible locations, typically mounted about 1 meter above the floor.

• The extinguisher type must match the risk classification of the area

Fire fighting lobby must be spacious and well ventilated 🔥📛

(1) In residential buildings, a landing of not less than 1.80 metres in depth shall be provided in staircases at vertical intervals of not more than 4.25 metres and in all other buildings there shall not be more than sixteen risers between each such landings.

(2) No part in any flight of any staircase shall have less than two risers.

In short:

1. For residential buildings:

A landing (flat resting area) at least 1.80 meters deep must be provided every 4.25 meters vertically in a staircase.

2. For all other buildings:

A staircase flight can have no more than 16 risers between landings.

3. General rule:

Each flight of stairs must have at least 2 risers (no super short flights).

UBBL 164 – Door Closers for Fire Doors

Points of Clause 164:

(1) All fire doors shall be fitted with automatic door closers of the hydraulically spring operated type in the case of swing doors and of wire rope and weight type in the case of sliding doors.

(2) Double doors with rabbeted meeting stiles shall be provided with co-ordinating device to ensure that leafs close in the proper sequence.

(3) Fire doors may be held open provided the hold open device incorporates a heat actuated device to release the door. Heat actuated devices shall not be permitted on fire doors protecting openings to protected corridors or protected staircases.

Type of door closer:
The door closer must be suitable for use with fire-rated doors and must be capable of fully closing the door.
Hydraulic door closers are commonly used for this purpose.

Why is this important?

If a fire door is left open or doesn’t close properly, smoke and fire can spread to other parts of the building. This increases the risk of property damage and danger to occupants.

1. An external staircase is an open stairway located outside a building, used as a means of escape during fire or emergencies.

2. External staircases are only permitted for buildings not exceeding 12 meters in height or not more than three storeys.

3. The external staircase must be designed to:
   

   • Remain open to the sky and sides for ventilation, and

   • Be constructed using non-combustible materials (fire-resistant).

   
   

4. The location of the external staircase must:
   

   • Be easily accessible from every floor, and

   • Be separated from the main structure by a fire-resistant wall if attached to the building.

   
   

5. The minimum width of the staircase is 1 meter, and the riser height and tread depth must comply with UBBL ergonomic standards, same as internal staircases.

6. External staircases cannot replace all internal staircases — they are only allowed as additional escape routes.

• All staircases must be provided with at least one handrail, except for staircases with fewer than 4 risers.

• This is to ensure basic user safety, especially on longer or steeper stair flights.

2) Requirements for Intermediate Handrails

• For staircases that are wider than 2200 mm, intermediate handrails are mandatory.

• One intermediate handrail must be provided for every 2200 mm of width, and they must be evenly spaced.

*Purpose: To ensure users have access to a handrail within reasonable reach at all times, even in very wide staircases.

3) Dual Side Handrails for Non Residential Buildings

• In non residential buildings, when a staircase has a width of 1100 mm or more, handrails must be provided on both sides.

• This applies regardless of wall placement handrails can be wall-mounted or freestanding.

4) Handrail Design Specifications

• Projection: Handrails must not project more than 100 mm from the wall surface.

• Height: Handrails must be positioned between 825 mm and 900 mm, measured from the nosing of the stair tread.

• For handrails on landings, the height must not be less than 900 mm from the landing level.

• This ensures ergonomic compliance and prevents falls.

(2) The width of staircases shall be in accordance with By-Law 168.

(3) The depths of landings shall be not less than the width of the staircases.

Key Uses of Fire Shutters According to UBBL:

1. Compartmentation of Fire Zones (UBBL 138 & 139)

   • Fire shutters are used to separate different fire compartments, especially in large open-plan buildings or where firewalls are interrupted by openings (e.g., conveyor belts or loading docks).

   • They are necessary where a fire-rated barrier must be maintained even though access is needed through the opening.

2. Protection of Openings in Fire-Rated Walls (UBBL 143)

   • Any opening in a fire-rated wall must be protected with a door, shutter, or other suitable closures that provide the required fire resistance rating.

   • Fire shutters used here must match the wall's fire resistance (e.g., 1-hour, 2-hour rated).

3. Alternative to Fire Doors Where Practical Constraints Exist

   • In areas where fire doors are not feasible due to space or operational constraints, automatic or manually operated fire shutters are accepted, provided they meet the fire resistance requirement.

4. Fire Shutters in Atriums or Large Spaces (UBBL 230)

   • In atrium designs or large open spaces, fire shutters may be used to contain smoke and flame spread, especially around escalators or open voids, where vertical fire spread is a risk.

5. Fire Safety in Kitchens and Service Areas (common practice and UBBL Fire Requirements)

   • Fire shutters are used in kitchen service hatches, especially those opening into public or common areas like cafeterias, to prevent fire from spreading from kitchen areas.

6. Integration with Fire Alarm Systems

   • Fire shutters must automatically close upon activation of the fire alarm or smoke detection system, in accordance with UBBL requirements for fire safety systems.

Important Compliance Aspects:

• Fire shutters must be tested and certified by recognized authorities (e.g., SIRIM, BOMBA-approved).

• They should not obstruct means of escape, and their installation must not compromise egress routes or ventilation systems.

• Maintenance and inspection must be conducted regularly as part of the building's fire safety management.

(1) The emergency lighting shall be installed to provide sufficient illumination for the escape purposes.

(2) Such lighting shall be of the self-contained type or supplied with emergency power from an emergency power system or central battery bank and shall comply with MS 619 and MS 2687.

(3) In all cases, the duration of emergency illumination in the event of failure of a normal supply shall not be less than three hours.

Explanation:

• Emergency lights must be installed to give enough light for people to escape safely during an emergency.

• The lights must be either:

  • Self-contained (have their own battery), or

  • Connected to emergency power (like generator or central battery),
    and they must follow MS 619 (Malaysian Standard 619 – Electrical installations of buildings) and MS 2687 (Malaysian Standard 2687 – Emergency lighting system) standards.

• The emergency lights must stay on for at least 3 hours if the main power goes off.

• Clause 83: Protection Against Soil Erosion
  

  • Requires measures to prevent soil erosion, which can compromise building stability and affect drainage systems.

  
  

• Explanation

  • Mandates the implementation of erosion control measures, such as retaining walls or vegetation, to maintain soil stability around the building site.