Occupant load assessment for old residential high-rise buildings

Fire risk assessment is the first step of fire safety improvement for old high-rise buildings in Hong Kong and occupant load of the buildings is an essential input parameter. It is difficult to carry out fire risk assessment without a good database for the occupant load of building spaces. However, those data are absent in the local literature. The occupant load factor for apartments of a typical old high-rise residential building in Hong Kong was studied by means of an interview survey. The average maximum occupancy factor of building apartments was 0.100 person m−2with a standard deviation of 0.041 person m−2.99.75% of the maximum occupant load factor surveyed fell within the probable occupant load imposed by local regulations. The daytime occupant load was 50 to 80% of the maximum load of the surveyed buildings. The people at risk were identified by the survey. If the nearest staircase of their apartment was not available in the case of fire, the result indicated that 65% occupants had problems in recognising the other staircases at the first instant.