Currently, most apartment projects in major cities are being built in the context of fire prevention and firefighting regulations that are still simple and not strict. As a result, in recent years, there have been many fires and explosions originating from the lax fire prevention efforts of investors and apartment management boards. Therefore, updating and complying with the latest fire prevention and firefighting regulations not only helps minimize risks but also ensures that apartments meet safety standards in terms of design and equipment.
In this article, BLawyers Vietnam presents 03 notes on fire prevention for apartments.
1. Fire prevention regulations for apartments
On 29 November 2024, the National Assembly passed the Law on Fire Prevention, Firefighting and Rescue 2024, effective from 01 July 2025.
Such Law has detailed and clearly defined fire prevention requirements for each type of housing, specifically: “Housing with technical regulations and standards cited in legal documents or in technical regulations on fire prevention, firefighting, and rescue shall comply with those standards and technical regulations.”
Apartments are a type of housing subject to the National Technical Regulations on Fire Safety for Houses and Buildings issued together with Circular No. 06/2022/TT-BXD (“QCVN 06:2022/BXD”) and the National Technical Regulations on Apartments issued together with Circular No. 03/2021/TT-BXD (“QCVN 04:2021/BXD”). Therefore, apartments are required to comply with fire safety regulations stated in these regulations.
2. Technical regulations on fire prevention for apartments
2.1. National technical regulations on fire safety for houses and buildings
According to the provisions of item 1.1.2.a and item 1.1.3 of QCVN 06:2022/BXD amended and supplemented by item 1 of the amended regulation 1:2023 issued together with Article 1 of Circular No. 09/2023/TT-BXD, residential apartments fall under the scope of QCVN 06:2022/BXD, including:
- Apartments having a fire safety height of no more than 150 meters and no more than 3 basement levels;
- Apartments subject to the fire hazard group according to function F1.3 Table 6 having fire protection height greater than 150 meters or 4 or more basement levels, in addition to complying with the QCVN 06:2022/BXD regulation, shall also supplement technical requirements and organizational and technical solutions that are appropriate to the specific fire prevention characteristics of apartments, based on applicable standard documents.
The content of technical regulations for apartments (house of group F1.3) specified in QCVN 06:2022/BXD including:
- Design, area of escape exits, and emergency exits, escape paths, stairways, and stairwells on escape paths, fire safety requirements for construction materials for houses;
- The number of floors (the allowed fire safety height of the house), the fire compartment area and the limit floor for the arrangement of auditoriums, lecture halls, conference rooms, seminar rooms, meeting rooms, sports halls, and similar rooms shall comply with the regulations in Appendix H of QCVN 06:2022/BXD;
- Construction materials, designs, and equipment to prevent fire spread;
- Technical specifications of the outdoor firefighting water supply system, the indoor fire hydrant system, and the firefighting water supply pump station; and
- Layout – space, engineering – construction and solutions for organizing firefighting and rescue, fire truck roads and parking lots, designing access from above to serve firefighting and rescue.
2.2. National technical regulations on fire prevention for apartments
In addition to the general regulations on fire safety for houses and buildings specified in QCVN 06:2022/BXD mentioned above, apartments shall also comply with the regulations in the National Technical Regulations on Apartments issued together with Circular No. 03/2021/TT-BXD (“QCVN 04:2021/BXD”) as follows:
- For apartments and mixed-use apartments with a fire protection height greater than 50 meters or buildings with a depth of the lowest basement floor (considering the height of the emergency exit) greater than 9 meters, each fire compartment of the house shall have at least one elevator that meets the requirements for transporting forces, firefighting equipment, and rescue tools according to TCVN 6396-72:2010 and TCVN 6396-73:2010;
- The indoor firefighting water supply system and the outdoor firefighting water supply system meet the requirements specified in item 2.5.3 of QCVN 04:2021/BXD;
- The waste collection system ensures regulations on fire and explosion safety as required in item 2.7 of QCVN 04:2021/BXD;
- Design requirements for transformers installed indoors; electrical technical rooms; diesel generator rooms and fuel storage rooms, and backup generators for buildings with fire protection height of 28 meters or more, with a minimum capacity to ensure the operation of the priority power network as specified in item 2.8.4 of QCVN 04:2021/BXD.
According to provisions of item 1.1.2 of QCVN 04:2021/BXD, for apartments taller than 150 meters or with 4 or more basement levels, in addition to complying with this regulation, it is necessary to supplement technical requirements and organizational and technical solutions that are suitable for the specific fire prevention characteristics of those apartments, based on the standard documents permitted for application according to legal regulations.
The above is not official advice from BLawyers Vietnam. If you have any questions or suggestions about the above, please contact us at info@blawyersvn.com. BLawyers Vietnam would love to hear from you.
Date: 16 January 2025
Writer: Tuyen Duong
