DUBAI // Electronic data tags are to be used to check the standard of a building’s fire safety equipment and weed out counterfeit products.
Civil Defence inspectors will use a scanner to quickly read the equipment’s RF code, which will provide information about the manufacturer, UAE agent, reference number and maintenance schedule.
“The RF tags will be used on all Civil Defence-approved products like smoke detectors, sprinklers, fire extinguishers and fire pumps,” said Lt Col Jamal Ahmed Ibrahim, director of the preventative safety department for Dubai Civil Defence.
“We will even be able to see if the item is installed where it is supposed to be.”
The move comes after a distributor was fined and ordered to shut his business after hundreds of fake fire safety goods were discovered.
“We discovered that this particular distributor was mixing, for example, 100 legal products with around 500 fake goods,” said Lt Col Ibrahim. “We fined him Dh50,000 and then shut the business down.”
The legal action happened in 2007.
Lt Col Ibrahim was speaking on the sidelines of the second day of the Intersec 2014 conference at the World Trade Centre in Dubai on Monday.
During a question-and-answer session he told delegates the RF tag system would complement existing technology used by Civil Defence.
A smartphone-accessed system where property owners can book an exact time for the inspections to take place was also highlighted.
“People will be able to select from three times and the inspectors will come at that exact time,” he said.
“At the moment we have a situation where people are given a time period between 9am and 5pm, for example, so that means they have to be at their buildings for most of the day,” he said.
“The new system will mean people will not waste time waiting for our inspectors.”
People will also be able to rate the performance of the inspector, giving feedback on whether they arrived on time as well as behaviour.
The fire-detection system is also due to be expanded.
“We have linked all high-rise buildings to our control centre with a 24-hour, seven days a week fire-detection system,” he said.
“The next phase of that project will see all smaller buildings, like villas, added to the system.”
Intersec 2014 concludes on Tuesday.
nhanif@thenational.ae
