The Means of Escaping for Occupants for Renovation Works of Terrace Houses in Malaysia

The Uniform Building By-Law (UBBL 1984) of Malaysia is a reference about the minimum and maximum limits of occupant's comfort and has been implemented since 1984. As a practice norm, all modern houses must follow those limitations suggested. However, pilot survey shows many occupants still renovate their houses and concurrently death causes of fire are increasing. Therefore, the objective of this article is to bring out the actual facts about the enforcement culture and it is relevance against UBBL. This research only focuses on means of escaping for occupants; dead-end distance and grilles fixed to windows/doors. Through structured interview and questionnaire survey, analysis using software of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) of this research found that certain area of UBBL requirements such as room extending and materials used were overruled by non compliance persons. This output could be implemented by Local Authority to enforce the culture of house renovation for comfort living.