BIM and GIS-integrated multi-stakeholder fire risk assessment model for heritage buildings

Heritage buildings are vulnerable to fires due to combustible materials, outdated suppression systems, and conservation constraints. Systematic fire risk assessment is therefore essential to appraise building conditions, identify dangers early, and enable proactive mitigation. However, current practice suffers from insufficient risk identification, limited multi-stakeholder involvement, and low integration with digital technologies. This study aims to develop RATER, a multi-stakeholder fire risk assessment model integrating AHP-derived expert weights with data-driven analysis for heritage buildings. RATER identifies 17 fire risk factors across fire hazards, heritage and firefighting equipment, surrounding environment, and fire safety management categories. To quantify risk weights, a pairwise comparison survey involving 53 professionals from fire services, heritage management, conservation, and safety engineering domains is conducted. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is applied to derive weighted priorities of fire risk factors and reveal consensus and divergence in expert judgments. The study further conducts professional-centric assessment and data-driven analysis using building information modeling (BIM) and geographic information systems (GIS) to display quantitative geo-spatial risk distribution. Through this dual assessment, the model is validated on three UNESCO heritage buildings in Macao. The results indicate that ignition sources, combustible materials, and integrated fire service installations are the top-ranked risk factors. Moreover, professional-centric and BIM-GIS data-driven results present high consistency in risk quantification, which reinforces the validity of the findings and offers complementary insights. RATER provides a structured fire risk model supported by multi-stakeholder insights and digital technology integration. Practically, it enables managers and policymakers to identify high-risk areas and support proactive mitigation planning. • Propose a fire risk assessment model for heritage buildings named RATER • Contain 17 factors across hazard, building and equipment, environment, and management • Conduct risk weighting with 53 professionals in fire safety and building conservation • Expert consensus prioritizes ignition source, combustible material, and fire system • Develop a BIM and GIS-integrated system for automated geospatial risk management