Purpose The total essence of apparel manufacturing buildings (AMBs) is highly influenced by fire incidents which are caused direct or indirect impacts to the present building structure or even in old age. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate the fire risk of AMBs in Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to explore the local and international fire incidents in AMBs and identify 24 factors that contribute to fire risk of AMBs. A questionnaire survey with professionals who have the knowledge and experience related to past fire incidents and 18 interviews with professionals of fire safety management were carried out. Content analysis was involved to evaluate interviewees’ opinions and relative importance index was involved to rank identified factors that contribute to the fire risk of AMBs. Findings The results revealed that due to the business nature of AMBs hold a high risk for fire incidents. The study discovered 83.4% of high fire risk prevailing in AMBs in Sri Lanka. Faulty wiring, welding work with electrical sparks and accumulation of waste fabric, paper and other garbage recognized as the top three factors that contribute to the fire risk of AMBs in Sri Lanka. Finally, the strategies proposed to eliminate identified all 41 factors that contribute to the fire risk of AMBs in Sri Lanka. Originality/value The paper helps to guide facility owners regarding the fire safety of AMBs in Sri Lanka.

With the expansion of economic activities, sustainable development in construction industry got more attention worldwide. Hence, industry practitioners are more concerned on achieving sustainable construction goals to make more effective and efficient services. The Smart Building concept can be implemented with advanced building technologies to achieve clients' requirements with in the economic, environmental and social parameters while enhancing building performances efficiently. To explore the applicability of Smart Building concept to enhance sustainable building practices in Sri Lanka, the qualitative research approach was used in this research. The opinions of the smart and sustainable construction experts were obtained through semi-structured interviews. Smart Building concept is novel to the Sri Lankan construction industry and the implementation is still in the initial stage. However, the perception of the construction industry on the Smart Building concept is focused on a strong and positive direction. The recognised sustainable benefits of Smart Building concept implementation can be used as a promoting tool to make interest on Smart Buildings. Most of these benefits are long term and most of the clients do not recognise the value of Smart Buildings in terms of sustainability. Therefore, improving the knowledge and awareness of the developers is vital during the implementation process within the local context. Lack of financial resources, complex technology requirement, reluctant to commence new technologies and lack of knowledge of developers and owners are the main barriers that are existing within the local context. Mitigating these barriers will expedite the implementation process of Smart Building concept and will upgrade the performance of the local construction industry dramatically.

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PurposeThe creation of occupant satisfaction can be reached through the involvement of building performance mandates (BPMs) while enhancing the functionality of buildings. BPMs comprise five mandates namely, spatial performance, thermal performance, indoor air quality performance, acoustic performance, and visual performance. BPMs have been recognized as a vital element when refurbishing post-fire apparel buildings. However, the evaluation of post-fire refurbishment projects is mainly focused on mechanical and physical properties while ignoring the BPMs. Further, there is insufficient literature on the BPMs in post-fire building refurbishment. Hence, the purpose of this research is to identify the importance of BPMs, and its challenges and propose strategies to enhance the building performance of post-fire refurbished apparel manufacturing buildings in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approachThe study was conducted by involving a qualitative research approach. An extensive literature review and eighteen semi-structured interviews under three fire-affected apparel cases were involved as data collection methods and collected data were analyzed using content analysis.FindingsFindings highlighted the procedure of post-fire refurbishment and the importance of BPMs for apparel buildings to enhance building performance in post-fire situations. The research identified 42 challenges encountered in maintaining BPMs of post-fire refurbished apparel buildings and provided 70 strategies to overcome the identified challenges.Originality/valueThis study offers a comprehensive analysis of challenges in maintaining BPMs and strategies to overcome the identified challenges which facilitate enhancing the performance of post-fire refurbished apparel buildings in Sri Lanka.