Application for the fire prevention and fighting license

APPLICATION FOR THE FIRE PREVENTION AND FIGHTING LICENSE

The Fire Prevention and Fighting license (FPF) is a legal document proving that the granted subject has met the conditions of fire prevention and fighting according to the provisions of law. This is one of the popular sub-licenses for enterprises yet relatively complicated if you want to apply for it due to the fact that the procedure and process of the issuance still have many problems as well as shortcomings. In this article, GLaw Vietnam will share with the Clients the latest legal provisions as well as the necessary procedures to apply for this type of license.

I. Subjects must apply for the Fire Prevention and Fighting license

Decree 79/2014/ND-CP details the subjects that need and do not need to apply for the Fire Prevention and Fighting license and classifies them into 4 main groups through 4 appendices issued together with this Decree. Specifically:

  • Appendix I: LIST OF CONSTRUCTIONS WHOSE FIRE SAFETY IS MONITORED

Constructions whose fire safety is supervised are include manufacturing facilities, business premises, public constructions, office buildings, apartment buildings, and independent constructions. These constructions will only need to meet the general conditions for fire prevention and fighting specified in Article 7 of this Decree and will be granted an Inspection record of fire prevention and fighting after being examined by the competent authority.

Examples: Apartment building, multi-function house, hotel, inn, rest house; Institute, university, college, secondary school, vocational school, compulsory school and junior college; nursery, kindergarten; discotheque, crowded entertaining establishment, …

  • Appendix II: LIST OF CONSTRUCTION POSING A FIRE SAFETY RISK 

Constructions posing a risk of conflagration are those whose fire safety is supervised and is subject to strict fire safety requirements. Similar to constructions that are regulated in Appendix I, constructions posing a risk of conflagration need to ensure fire protection conditions when inspected by competent authorities and will be granted an Inspection record of fire prevention and fighting if all legal conditions are met.

Examples: Power plants; electrical substation of 110 KV or higher; Petrol stations with at least 01 fuel dispenser; gas stations with at least 70kg of stored gas, …

  • Appendix III: LIST OF CONSTRUCTIONS REQUIRED TO INFORM FIRE DEPARTMENTS OF THEIR FIRE SAFETY BEFORE BEING PUT INTO OPERATION

Similar to the constructions in the two appendices above, those in this appendix also need to meet general fire protection and fighting conditions. However, the difference from the two types of facilities above is that the facilities specified in this appendix, after having fully prepared the statutory conditions, will have to notify the fire police so that this authority will carry out the inspection. Only after the inspection is completed will a fire safety inspection record be issued. Meanwhile, constructions in Appendices I and II only need to meet general conditions, do not have to notify and just register for the inspection and issuance of this type of Inspection record of fire prevention and fighting from the competent authority when it’s necessary.

Examples: Head office of State administrative agencies, apartment buildings with 09 floors or more; multi-function houses, hotels, inns, rest houses, head office of specialized agencies, enterprises, political and social organizations and other organizations, institutes, research centers with 07 floors or more; Petroleum storages with a volume of 500 m3 or more; gas storage with total weight of 600 kg or more,…

  • Appendix IV: LIST OF CONSTRUCTIONS WHOSE FIRE SAFETY DESIGN IS APPROVED BY FIRE DEPARTMENTS

The projects and constructions specified in this Appendix are usually large-scale projects and works, so it is necessary to have a professional fire prevention and fighting designing plan. Therefore, an additional and required license for these constructed projects is the Certificate of approved fire safety design. The design of fire prevention and fighting plans for these projects and works must be performed by a professional fire prevention and fighting design service provider.

Examples: Apartment buildings with 05 floors or more; multi-function houses, hotels, inns, rest houses with 05 floors or more or with a volume of 5,000 m3 or more; Institutes, universities, colleges, secondary schools, vocational schools, compulsory schools and education centers whose classroom has a volume of 5,000 m3 or more; nursery schools, kindergartens with 100 children or more, …

Thus, in the case that the Client is an enterprise that wants to run a hotel. If the business location is a building with 5 floors or more, the Client will have to hire a design service provider to make a design project for fire prevention and fighting and apply for the Certificate of approved fire safety design in accordance with regulations of Appendix IV. Conversely, if the business location is a building with less than 5 floors, it only needs to meet the conditions of fire safety and apply for an Inspection record in case of necessity.

II. The dossiers for the application of the Fire Prevention and Fighting license

The dossiers for the Fire Prevention and Fighting license includes:

  • An application to a competent authority for the FPF;
  • A copy of the Enterprise Regirstration Certificate;
  • Statistics table of fire protection vehicles;
  • Rules on fire prevention and fighting;
  • Rules on using electricity;
  • Certificates of professional training in fire prevention and fighting of trained members;
  • The company’s fire fighting plan: Must comply with the form and instructions of the Ministry of Public Security regarding the regulations on the fire prevention and fighting plan;
  • Decision of the enterprise on the establishment of the fire prevention team. List of individuals who have passed the firefighting training: If the Company has less than 10 people (employees), all employees will join the team; from 10 to under 50 people, the team must have at least 10 people; from 50 to 100 people, the team must have at least 15 people; If it’s more than 100 people, at least 25 people must be in the team.

III. Procedures of licensing

  • Ways to submit the dossier: The enterprise prepares 01 application for the license and submits it to the competent authority. After examining the satisfaction of general conditions and/or completing the examination of fire protection design, the competent authority will issue the Fire Prevention and Fighting license to the enterprise.
  • The competent authority:
    • Depending on the type of enterprise, the competent authority that grant the Fire Prevention and Fighting license is different. However, in most cases, the Police Department of fire prevention and fighting by level is the competent unit.
    • In each specific case, the competent authority may be the Central Department of Fire safety, Firefighting, and Rescue; Public Security of provinces or Office of Fire safety and Rescue of provinces, …
  • Processing time: 20-30 working days depending on specific cases.

CONCLUSION: From the analysis of the subjects in Section I, it can be seen that at the present time, the Fire Protection Licenses are, in fact, the Inspection record of fire prevention and fighting or/and Certificate of approved fire safety design. After conducting these procedures and receiving the above type of Fire Prevention and Fighting license, the Client can continue to do businesses in their registered fields and no longer have to worry about violating regulations related to the Fire Prevention and Fighting license.

For more information about GLaw Vietnam’s License for outsourcing service application, please contact us at hotline: 0945 929 727 or email: info@glawvn.com.