PAM council member Chong Lee Siong said the cladding, using polyform, was in common use during renovations of buildings at that time.
Chong said some years ago, government buildings were exempted from obtaining the certificate of fitness (CF) and Certificate of Completion and Compliance (CCC).
This exemption from examination by the Fire and Rescue Department will now pose a problem, he said.
Chong said all buildings must be examined by the fire department to ensure fire risks were reduced.
It was reported in 2007 that Housing and Local Government Minister Ong Ka Ting had said all buildings owned by the Public Works Department only needed the authorisation of inhouse engineers or architects to be ready for use.
The use of easily combustible polyform cladding was discovered after a fire broke out at the Employees Provident Fund building in Jalan Gasing here yesterday.
Sparks from workmen working on the first floor of the building spread to the cladding used on the outside of the building, quickly spreading to the sixth floor.
Fire and Rescue Department deputy director-general (operations) Soiman Jahid said yesterday that the polyfoam was used as cladding without approval.
“The fire began from the first floor (outside) where maintenance work was being carried out. The wind and hot weather also contributed to the spread of the fire.”
He said the fire involved the exterior walls of the building and part of the interior on the sixth floor.
Order to building managements to remove polyform cladding
Bernama reported that Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Noh Omar had ordered the managements of buildings fitted with inflammable cladding to remove the materials immediately and replace them with materials approved by the fire department.
Noh said the approved cladding, materials as mentioned in the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984, included clay material for finishing materials for wall, aluminium composite panels and exterior compact high-pressure laminates.
“May I remind and warn all building (operators) to remove the polystyrene foam immediately. It is an offence if the material is found to be in use.”
He said the fire department would conduct spot checks on buildings suspected to have been using these banned materials.
Noh said the full report on the EPF fire would be released in two weeks.
The minister revealed that this was not the first time such an incident had occurred. A similar incident occurred at the Kuala Lumpur Library on Jalan Sultan Hishammuddin in 2016, where the same material was used.
Asked whether action would be taken against the contractor involved in putting up the combustible materials at the EPF building, Noh said the substances were not widely used when the renovation took place in 2003.
He said it was an accidental fire and there was no foul play or sabotage.
He said it occurred during External Insulation Finishes System or EIFS (waterproofing) repair works, using “granule bitumen membrane roll”, which was being carried out on the first floor of the building’s rear foyer.
Noh said the waterproofing membrane needed to be melted first, using a single-burner flame gun, powered by liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). This was to allow the material to stick to the concrete floor.
“The contractor was not aware that the cladding (covering or coating on a structure) for the building, from the EIFS-type, was made of combustible material, namely polystyrene foam, when carrying out this melting method.
“The EPF building had gone through renovations involving the installation of the cladding in 2003.”
The fire department received a distress call at 11.52am and firemen took about 30 minutes to put out the blaze and all 527 employees at the building were evacuated, he said.
Noh explained that the fire involved 5% of the entire building.
“The source of flames that triggered the fire came from the LPG, which was used for the single-burner flame gun. It was exposed to the cladding installed outside the building wall and spread rapidly.”
Combustible cladding was in the news last year when a fire broke out at Grenfell Tower, a high-rise block of public housing flats in North Kensington, London.
In the early hours of June 14 last year, a fire broke out, killing 71 people, including many children, and injuring 70 people.
A refrigerator in a unit on the fourth floor of the building caught fire, but was quickly put out by firefighters.
However, as the firefighters were leaving, they noticed that the fire had spread to the cladding on the exterior of the flats and was spreading quickly.
Flammable cladding blamed for rapid spread of fire at EPF building