Steel structures the Dubai Building Code does not cover: bridges, towers, tanks, racks, pipe racks, marine and solar

What the Code excludes, in its own words

The Dubai Building Code applies to new buildings and to changes to existing ones, and to the occupancies of Table A.2, which include factories and workshops under industrial use and warehouses under storage.¹¹ It then lists what it does not apply to in five groups, each introduced with examples rather than as a closed list: (a) infrastructure, for example bridges for road or rail, tunnels, culverts, metro stations, hydraulic structures, utilities whether buried or overhead, power stations, antennas, masts, wind turbines and nuclear facilities; (b) marine structures, for example canals, dams, dikes, levees, piers, jetties and wharves; (c) oil and gas structures, for example petrochemical plants, refineries, LNG terminals, oil platforms and tanks; (d) a group given only by example, namely tents, cranes, storage racks, scaffolding, formwork and falsework; and (e) structures whose loading conditions are specific, for example stadia, grandstands, silos and chimneys.¹

Part F, the structural Part, applies to the design and construction of buildings and of structures or appurtenances connected to a building. It states that it does not cover the structures listed in Part A that need special consideration of their characteristics, functions and environment.²

Why these structures sit outside a building code

The Code’s own reason is in F.4.1: the excluded structures need special consideration because of their characteristics, functions and environment,² and item (e) of A.5.1 describes its group by their specific loading conditions.¹

AISC 360 is scoped the same way. It sets criteria for steel buildings and for other structures, which it defines as structures that are designed, fabricated and erected much as buildings are, with vertical and lateral load-resisting elements like those of a building. Where it refers to the applicable building code and there is none, loads, load combinations, system limitations and general design requirements are those of ASCE/SEI 7, and conditions it does not cover may be designed by tests or analysis, subject to the approval of the authority having jurisdiction.¹⁰ Its quality chapter states that it does not address quality control or assurance for tanks or pressure vessels, among other items.¹²

European practice, not a UAE requirement: a held JRC report on the Eurocodes lists Eurocode 3 in separate parts, with steel bridges, towers, masts and chimneys, silos, tanks and pipelines, and crane supporting structures each given their own part beside the general rules for buildings.¹³ None of those parts is held by this library or required by a held UAE document.

Structure type, Code status and what to ask

Bridges and footbridges

Road and rail bridges are excluded by A.5.1 (a).¹ The Code does deal with a pedestrian bridge that forms part of an accessible route: it has to be reachable by ramp or lift, to the Part C provisions, and it has to shade its users.¹⁹ A bridge connected to a building, such as a link bridge between two blocks, is a structure connected to a building in the sense of F.4.1.² The Dubai Municipality construction-safety guide counts bridges among the projects it applies to.²⁹ In Trakhees areas, Circular 10 of 2024 lists all types of beams among the items needing a structural inspection; the Arabic text uses a word that can also mean bridges, so whether bridges are meant is not clear.⁹

No governing UAE document for bridge design is held by this library. The Code’s Table F.1 does recommend a minimum design life of 10 to 25 years for replaceable structural parts such as bearings, but that table is written for the structures Part F covers.³⁰ AISC 360 is scoped to buildings and building-like structures.¹⁰

Towers, masts and wind turbines

Antennas, masts and wind turbines are excluded by A.5.1 (a).¹ Part G of the Code deals with mobile network services, not with the mast structure. It requires a rooftop mobile room on all multi-tenant buildings and separately requires rooftop space for mobile antennas. The Developer determines the need for the room, its rooftop position and the antenna arrangement during early consultation with the mobile network operators; on sites with multiple buildings, that consultation determines which buildings require a room. Antennas are typically positioned at building corners or on raised rooftop structures.²⁶

No governing UAE document for the structural design of lattice towers, masts or wind turbines is held by this library.

Tanks, silos, chimneys and pressure vessels

Tanks appear in A.5.1 (c) among oil and gas structures, and silos and chimneys in (e) among structures with specific loading conditions.¹ The Code still deals with liquid inside buildings: pool tanks and other areas liable to flooding are designed for at least the maximum retained head of water,²² and a damping value of 0.5% is used for the convective, or sloshing, part of the response of tanks and pools in seismic analysis.²³ Part H requires every pressure vessel to comply with the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, carry the label of an approved agency and be installed to the manufacturer’s instructions.²⁸ The chimneys Part H deals with serve fuel-burning appliances: each appliance discharges to a vent, a factory-built chimney or a masonry chimney designed for that appliance; factory-built chimneys are approved by the Authority and installed to the manufacturer’s instructions; and metal chimneys are built and installed to NFPA 211.²⁷

The UAE Fire and Life Safety Code sets structural requirements for aboveground LPG tanks: they sit on non-combustible supports on concrete or masonry foundations, the foundations and supports withstand the loaded tank weight, wind and seismic loads, saddles allow for expansion and contraction and prevent an excessive concentration of stress, supports are protected against corrosion, and tanks are not stacked. The same table places aboveground LPG tanks on the ground, outdoors and open to the sky, yet also asks for the container to be secured to the building structure; the held text does not explain how both apply.³ For flammable and combustible liquids, the fire code's Chapter 13 lists acceptable test standards for atmospheric tanks, including API 650, UL 142 and BS EN 14015, without edition years because the latest edition is intended, and requires the materials and products referred to in that chapter to be listed, approved and registered by the Civil Defence Material Approval Department.⁴

In Trakhees areas, all types of storage tanks and silos are on the list of items needing a structural inspection before concrete or further works, and the list covers marine and infrastructure works as well as buildings.⁹

Pipe racks and pipe supports

Oil and gas structures, including petrochemical facilities and refineries, and buried and overhead utilities are excluded by A.5.1 (a) and (c).¹ Inside a Code building, the Engineer designs the supporting structure for the loads of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing equipment in its designated areas and along the equipment access route.²²

For flammable and combustible liquids, the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code requires the design, fabrication, assembly, testing and inspection of piping to suit its working pressures and structural stresses, requires pressure-containing parts to comply with ASME B31, requires piping to be supported and protected against damage and against stresses from settlement, vibration, expansion and contraction, and requires load-bearing pipe supports in areas of high fire exposure to be protected by fire-resistive construction, fire-resistant coatings or water spray systems, in accordance with API 2218.⁵

Marine and offshore structures, and buildings near the sea

Marine structures such as piers, jetties and wharves are excluded by A.5.1 (b), and oil platforms by (c).¹ In Trakhees areas, the main contractor must apply for a separate Certificate of Conformity for the marine construction activities the Trakhees matrix specifies,¹⁷ and where work on or over water carries a risk of falling into water and drowning, a full and detailed risk assessment is needed: the main contractor may not rely solely on workers being able to swim;¹⁸ where life rings are provided, each has a 30 m line and they are no more than 60 m apart; every worker is provided with a life jacket fitted with a whistle and emergency light; and nobody works alone.³¹ The Trakhees marine works checklist states that pontoons (piers) and what it prints as ‘floating proverbs’, an unclear term this guide does not interpret, should be submitted for inspection at four stages: before work starts, at 50% of pontoon fabrication in the yard, at 50% installation and at completion.¹⁵ It requires NOCs including one from the RTA, checks items such as pile coatings and cathodic protection,³² and checks mooring, gangway, bolted connections, jetty deck and handrails against the approved drawings and specification.³³

For a building near the sea the Code still applies. All elements are detailed and specified to achieve the design life in the project’s environment; the steelwork specification states steel grades and protective paint systems durable and compatible with Dubai’s climate, with coatings to BS EN 12944 as a minimum and extra requirements for ultraviolet resistance; and the inspection and maintenance requirements and the expected coating life are stated.²¹ AISC 360 states that its fatigue resistances are applicable to structures with suitable corrosion protection or subject only to mildly corrosive atmospheres.³⁴

Solar mounting structures

Photovoltaic cells or panels on roofs or façades conform to Section 2.2 of Chapter 14 of the UAE Fire and Life Safety Code, and panels attached to or integrated with the façade are also tested to Section 4 of its Chapter 1.²⁰ Solar PV generation is grid-connected to DEWA, subject to DEWA approval and the DEWA Shams Dubai regulations, which the Code says form an integral part of it.²⁵

The fire code requires PV on façades not to reduce the structural integrity or fire resistance rating of the exterior walls, an access path at least 1.2 m wide around installations on roofs or at commercial generation scale, and 6 m of clear fire access around and between arrays at ground-mounted commercial plants.⁶

Storage racking and rack-supported structures

Storage racks are excluded by A.5.1 (d),¹ while the warehouse around them is a Code building.¹¹ Under F.7.5, concentrated live loads from objects that create significant point loads, storage racks among them, are evaluated on the floor.²² The UAE Fire and Life Safety Code requires racks and shelving in storage occupancies to stand 1200 mm clear of the structure walls, with at least 915 mm between racks.¹⁴

In Trakhees areas, racking or shelving installed in an existing facility after the building completion certificate needs a Civil Engineering Department facility permit, under Circular CEDGR-85 of 14 May 2019, to begin installation without a modification completion certificate,³⁶ and that facility-permit route covers only minor racking up to 3.5 m high with a layout area of at most 250 m².⁸ The same procedure lists CED racking without mezzanine under Circular 75318/2010/MAS among its references.³⁷

Tents, grandstands and other temporary structures

Tents, cranes, scaffolding, formwork and falsework are excluded by A.5.1 (d), and stadia and grandstands by (e).¹ The UAE Fire and Life Safety Code makes the event organiser responsible for having tents, stages, grandstands, seating and platforms installed by experienced professionals, and for submitting suppliers’ material test certificates for tents, pre-engineered grandstands and kiosks to Civil Defence with the permit application.⁷ In Trakhees areas, the modification-permit procedure provides a Temporary Facility submission, made through CPR with the documents and drawings its application form lists, with revisions to approved drawings resubmitted; insurance may be requested for such submissions.³⁸

Mixed cases: where an excluded structure meets a building

What to ask for and obtain before design

Scope and limits