At approximately 1530 hours on Monday, 6 March 2017, an outflow of water from at level 7M2 was reported within SC Shopping Centre (hereinafter referred to as SC), located at, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The water allegedly originated from damaged coupling causing the water to burst out from the fire sprinkler system and damaged properties including elevator and escalators, which were at the final phase of the construction at the time. The Approved Forensics Sdn Bhd (AFSB) Team examined in detail, the water-affected lift and escalators and their components.
Based on the damage analysis and information acquired, the extent of damage varied amongst the lift and escalators. Most of the components were damaged by water and replacements were recommended. However, we were also presented with components which did not display any signs of contact or damage by water. As for those components which did not display any signs of water damage or any physical damage, the Team requested the vendor to have them tested for its functionality. The Team’s proposal was to ‘swap-test’ these components to verify if they were damaged. The lift vendor was unable to provide a satisfactory testing method to proof their claim, and hence we disregarded these parts. As for the escalators, the Team couldn’t support the vendor’s contention of ‘pre-emptive’ replacement without proof of any physical damage. The Team proposed servicing these components as the exposure to elevated humidity and effects of moisture on these components couldn’t be ruled out.
