Development of Hierarchy for Safety Elements and Its Attributes for Malaysia's Low Cost Housing

Since the First Malaysia Plan (1966–1970), there is an emergence development of low-cost housing construction in Malaysia that intentionally acts as an approach to resettle of squatters or illegal residential. In the current economic situation, there is a growing demand from residents for a better and safer housing. Evidence shows that safety is a major problem in low cost housing and it is apparent after the building is occupied by the residents. The evaluation of safety hazards, such as structural failures in a high-rise context and quality defunctional, were largely ignored during occupancy period. This paper provides a review of safety performance assessment tools that has been used for high-rise housing. Based on the review, this paper also suggests a development of hierarchy for safety elements and atttributes for low cost housing. The attributes in the hierarchy are suggested to be used as parameters in safety performance evaluation, by integrating the occupants‟ opinion as the benchmark of the evaluation.