The Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China recently announced new provisions on high rise civil buildings fire safety management.
Those who violate these provisions and commit any of the following acts shall be ordered by fire control and rescue institutions to take corrective action and could receive a fine.
(1) Conducting electric welding, gas welding and other open fire operations in high-rise civil buildings, while failing to perform hot fire approval procedures, make safety announcements, or failure to implement on-site monitoring measures for fire protection.
(2) Outdoor billboards and exterior decorations installed in high-rise civil buildings shall not use flammable or combustible materials, hinder smoke and exhaust escape, obstruct fire and rescue, or change / damage the fire protection structure of the building façade.
(3) Failure to set up reminder and warning signs for external wall and insulation materials, or failure to repair damaged, cracked or loose external wall in time.
(4) Failure to implement a duty fire control room in accordance with regulations, or arranging personnel who are not qualified to be on duty.
(5) Failure to establish duty fire control organizations such as a full-time fire brigade or volunteer fire brigade in accordance with relevant provisions.
(6) Failure to make announcements, formulate emergency plans, or implement preventive measures for the discontinued use of building fire control facilities due to maintenance or other needs.
(7) Parking or charging electric bicycles in public foyers, evacuation walkways, stairwells and safety exits of high-rise civil buildings.
The latest provisions on fire safety and emergency management in civil buildings will come into effect from 1 August 2021.
The announcement also states that High-rise civil buildings with a height of more than 100 meters should implement stricter fire safety management.
Commercial units and individuals not following, implementing and correcting the latest provisions could be imposed a fine of no less than 2,000 yuan but no more than 10,000 yuan.
Full list of provisions from the Ministry of Emergency Management of the People’s Republic of China
Related article: New initiative on swimming education and safety for primary and secondary school students