The deadly blaze on Tuesday, which claimed the lives of six patients at Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) in Johor Bahru, has brought the use of old buildings under the spotlight.

Although the cause of the fire is still under investigation, some had pointed to the hospital’s aged physical characteristics.

Founded in 1882, the hospital’s current main building was built sometime in the 1930s.

Just like humans, who, with age, need the necessary health checks, old buildings too require more critical inspection.

This is why the Royal Institute of Surveyors Malaysia (RISM) has long called for building surveyors to be given their due recognition.

RISM vice-president Mohd Amin Mohd Din emphasised the need for building surveyors to have their own board and the Building Surveyors Act, just like engineers and architects who have their own respective acts.

“We have been calling to the government to please recognise us. Building surveyors have been sidelined,” he told Malaysiakini.

Lamenting how the “healthcare” of buildings in the country has not been properly taken care of, Amin said building surveyors - tasked with carrying out building care works - would look at all aspects including fire audits.

Amin, who also chairs RISM’s building surveying division, said that building surveyors were eager to provide the necessary input and advice.

“We need the public and the government to recognise us so we can do our part," he said.

Calling for the enforcement of building condition assessments, Amin said these must be conducted by none other than building surveyors.

“Engineers do some of those things but they don’t do everything. The person who cares for the building must be a professional, not some Tom, Dick or Harry.

“Although engineers, architects and building surveyors study more or less the same thing, caring of buildings is the job of building surveyors.”

And with building condition assessments enforced, Amin believes the country would then have better and much more “healthier” buildings.

First class maintenance mentality

Meanwhile, fellow RISM vice-president Choy Yue Kwong said building surveyors should be engaged on a regular basis to inspect buildings to identify and rectify defects.

“Building surveyors play a very important role to ensure that buildings are structurally sound and fit for human occupation.

“However, the most crucial role is that of a competent property manager who oversees and orchestrates the work provided by the service providers."

Choy also admitted that old buildings carry greater risks compared to new buildings.

“I am sure a competent property manager would have conducted periodic inspection of the electrical system in a building as important as a general hospital and made the appropriate recommendations to the authority for any remedial action, unless of course there was dereliction of duty on the part of the property manager," he said.

This is why Choy believes it is very important for there to be competent, well-trained and properly regulated property managers as well as the need to educate the public and property owners on the importance of adopting a “first class maintenance” mentality.

Unfortunately, in the case of hospitals, Choy said they now fall under the category of “property-based business” and as such are not being regulated by the Board of Valuers, Appraisals and Estate Agents Malaysia.

“It is time that that the authorities look into regulating the property management of such property-based businesses especially hospitals so that they conform to the prescribed standards,” said Choy, who is also chairperson of RISM’s property management, valuation and estate agency surveying division.

Following the deadly incident, Johor Fire and Rescue operations division assistant director Mohd Rizal Buang was reported to have said that the department had suggested that every building, especially old ones, should be examined for their safety level and upgrading of security system.

A day after Tuesday's incident, smoke came out of a socket at the hospital’s operating theatre, prompting an evacuation.

The Fire and Rescue Department had also revealed that there was a small fire which broke out in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU) some 10 days before the deadly blaze.