Businesses and people need to pay attention

The Ministry of Public Security said that, in addition to the achieved results, the implementation of the Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting has revealed a number of limitations and inadequacies that need to be revised and new regulations need to be researched and supplemented to meet practical requirements and strengthen state management of fire prevention and fighting in the new situation.

The Ministry of Public Security has drafted the Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue, consisting of 08 chapters and 58 articles. In addition to general provisions, the draft has proposed specific provisions on fire prevention; fire fighting, rescue; building, arranging forces, tasks of fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue forces; means of fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue; ensuring conditions for fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue activities...

New proposals in the draft Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting

Firstly, many prohibited acts in fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue and relief are added.

Compared with the provisions of the 2001 Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, amended and supplemented in 2013, Article 10 of the draft Law on Fire Prevention, Fighting, Rescue and Salvage has added a number of prohibited acts in fire prevention, fighting, rescue and salvage.

Specifically: Insulting, threatening fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue forces performing their duties; Taking advantage of and abusing fire prevention, fire fighting and rescue duties to commit illegal acts, harass and infringe upon the interests of the State, the rights and legitimate interests of agencies, organizations and individuals; Reporting fake accidents and incidents; Manufacturing and converting means of transport subject to fire prevention and firefighting design appraisal without an appraisal document; Putting means of transport subject to design appraisal into use and operation without an acceptance document; Fire prevention and firefighting construction not in accordance with the approved design.

Second, reduce requirements for planning projects to build new industrial parks.

According to Clause 1, Article 12 of the draft Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue, when planning new construction projects or renovation of special economic zones, industrial parks, export processing zones, high-tech zones and other functional areas according to the Law on Planning, there must be solutions and designs on fire prevention and fighting (PCCC), the following contents must be ensured: Traffic system, water supply; Arrange locations for fire prevention and fighting units in necessary places.

The above contents have been omitted 2 contents compared to the provisions in Clause 1, Article 15 of the current Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, which are: "Construction location, arrangement of areas and lots" and "Estimated budget for fire prevention and fighting items".

Third, amend the requirements for construction design to include fire prevention and fighting solutions.

This continues to be a new proposal in the draft Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting that businesses need to pay attention to.

According to Clause 2, Article 12 of the draft Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue, when establishing a project, designing a new construction, renovation or changing the nature of use of a building, it is necessary to have solutions and designs on fire prevention and fighting, and must ensure the following contents: Safe distance; Escape system; Fire-resistant steps, fire prevention and fire-spread prevention solutions; Smoke control system; Fire prevention and fire-fighting system.

Compared to Clause 1, Article 15 of the current Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, the content of project establishment and construction design must have solutions and designs on fire prevention and fighting no longer requires construction locations and budget estimates for fire prevention and fighting items.

The contents of “Fire prevention and fighting safety technical system”; “Other requirements for fire prevention and fighting” are replaced by: “Fire resistance level, fire prevention and fire spread prevention solutions”; “Smoke protection system”; “Fire prevention and fighting system”.

Fourth, supplement regulations on acceptance, inspection and acceptance of fire prevention and fighting.

Clause 2, Article 14 of the draft Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue stipulates that after organizing the acceptance of a project or construction on the list of projects subject to design appraisal according to regulations, the investor must send the dossier to the specialized management agency to check the results of the acceptance of fire prevention and fighting.

In particular, enterprises are only allowed to put completed construction items and works into operation and use after the specialized management agency has appraised the design, inspected it and issued a document approving the acceptance results.

In case of putting a construction item or project into use or operation without a written approval of the results of fire prevention and fighting acceptance, the enterprise will be fined from 60 to 100 million VND (based on Clause 4, Article 38 and Clause 2, Article 4, Decree 144/2021/ND-CP).

Fifth, adjust some basic fire prevention requirements for business establishments.

According to the new proposal, production establishments, business establishments, commercial activities, workplaces, and construction works must ensure the following fire safety conditions:

Take fire prevention measures such as implementing and maintaining fire safety conditions; strictly managing and safely using flammable substances, explosives, fire-generating and heat-generating equipment and tools; equipping fire prevention equipment; checking to detect loopholes, shortcomings, and violations of fire prevention...

There are regulations and rules on fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue and first aid.

Ensure fire safety for each type of production and business establishment: Have fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue and salvage means and systems; technical systems; communication systems; fire and incident alarm transmission equipment; systems for updating and reporting data on fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue and salvage; fire prevention, smoke control and escape solutions. Have fire fighting, rescue and salvage plans. Have fire prevention, fire fighting and salvage forces at the establishment.

Compared to current regulations, the requirements of “Arranging funds for fire prevention and fighting activities” and “Having records to monitor and manage fire prevention and fighting activities” are no longer recorded, but the new draft Law still requires businesses to comply.

Specifically, Article 15 of the draft Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue requires agencies, organizations and individuals investing in construction and using works to ensure budget estimates for fire prevention and fighting items during the investment and use process.

Article 5 of the new draft Law clearly states that the head of the facility, within the scope of his/her duties and powers, is responsible for establishing and managing records on fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue and relief within the scope of his/her management; declaring and updating the database on fire prevention and fire fighting.

Sixth, conditions to ensure fire safety for the house.

According to the draft Law on Fire Prevention, Fire Fighting and Rescue, the conditions for ensuring fire safety for houses stated in Article 16 include the following contents:

Electrical systems, cooking stoves, and places of worship must ensure fire safety.

Flammable and explosive substances must be kept away from heat and fire sources (this content is inherited from Article 17 of the 2001 Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting, amended in 2013).

Have escape solutions, prepare fire prevention, fire fighting, rescue and salvage equipment suitable for actual conditions (new regulations).

Implementing fire prevention and fighting standards with houses must ensure fire prevention and fighting requirements (new regulations).

Thus, compared to the current regulations, the draft has added 2 new conditions and at the same time does not mention the regulation stated in Clause 9, Article 1 of the 2013 amended Law on Fire Prevention and Fighting: Villages, hamlets, villages, hamlets, villages, buons, phums, socs, and residential groups (hereinafter referred to as villages) must have regulations and rules on fire prevention and fighting, on the use of electricity, fire and flammable and explosive substances; based on specific conditions, have solutions to prevent fires; have plans, forces, means, roads, and water sources for fire prevention and fighting.

At the same time, the draft also adds conditions to ensure fire safety for houses combined with business, including: Ensuring the above conditions; Having solutions to separate residential areas and business areas as well as escape solutions in case of fire.

Seventh, fire prevention recommendations when using electricity.

In the use of electricity, Article 19 of the draft requires individuals and households using electricity to install and use electrical equipment that meets technical standards and electrical safety requirements. Regularly conduct inspections and promptly detect and prevent the risk of fire and explosion caused by electricity during the use of electricity.

It can be seen that these contents are new. Accordingly, the current Law only regulates fire prevention in the use of electricity, electrical equipment and tools with: Power plants, power grids; Design, construction and installation of electrical systems and electrical equipment; Electrical equipment and tools used in environments with fire and explosion hazards; Agencies, organizations and individuals supplying electricity.

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