Emergency tape remains at the scene of the fatal fire at Loafers Lodge in Wellington on 16 May. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
The fire engineering sector says a review of fire engineering legislation is urgently needed.
The Wellington hostel fire has spurred the government to look at whether building regulations for high density accommodation are fit for purpose.
"I think the idea this kind of tragedy can happen in New Zealand doesn't sit with most people," said Carol Caldwell, president of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers.
She said fire legislation last overhauled in 2012, and tweaked since, needed an urgent review.
"Fire design and the associated fire safety management and system maintenance did not work as intended for this building."
However, the society was not aware of any specific weaknesses that needed fixing and engineers did not have a consensus or developed position on this, she added.
"There needs to be a robust investigation to help identify if any are changes needed to regulations," she said.
"The whole things needs to be looked at - what happened, what went wrong."
That would lead to considering what changes would boost protections, if any.
"Fire alarms, yep, fire separations, what kind of other systems might be in place - do they want sprinklers, do they want an extra stairwell?"
Engineering New Zealand chief executive Richard Templer said it was not clear what went wrong or whether regulations for high-density buildings needed to be tightened, but a review was the way to go.