Fire safety designs subject to appraisal in Vietnam

Hi, Lawnet would like to answer as follows:

1. What are the regulations on fire safety design appraisal in Vietnam?

According to Clause 2 and Clause 12, Article 13 of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, fire safety design appraisal refers to inspection and comparison of design content and solutions of projects, works and motor vehicles subject to special fire safety requirements with standards and regulations of Vietnamese law related to fire prevention and fighting or foreign and international standards on fire prevention and fighting applicable in Vietnam carried out by competent authorities following the procedure stipulated by law.

Fire safety design appraisal results shall provide a basis for consideration and planning approval, project approval, construction design appraisal and construction permit granting.

The competence in fire safety design appraisal:

- Police Department of Fire Prevention and Firefighting and Rescue has the power to appraise

+ Fire safety designs of projects and works meeting criteria for projects and works of national importance and group A projects and works as per the law on public investment (excluding state-funded projects and works whose investors are provincial governments);

+ Works of more than 100 m in height; works located in 02 or more central-affiliated cities and provinces;

+ Watercrafts of 50 m or more in length carrying passengers or flammable liquids, flammable gases, explosives and chemicals posing fire and explosion hazards;

+ Work investment projects proposed by fire departments (excluding national defense facilities operating for military purpose and motor vehicles subject to special fire safety requirements manufactured or converted for military operations by national defense facilities);

- Fire departments have the power to appraise

+ Fire safety designs of planning schemes for cities, economic zones, industrial parks, industry clusters, export-processing zones, hi-tech parks and other functional zones according to the Law on Planning located in localities under their management;

+ Projects and works fire safety designs of which are not appraised by Police Department of Fire Prevention and Firefighting and Rescue and which are located in localities under their management, and cases authorized by Police Department of Fire Prevention and Firefighting and Rescue;

+ Motor vehicles which are subject to special fire safety requirements and located in localities under their management and fire safety designs of which are not appraised by Police Department of Fire Prevention and Firefighting and Rescue, and cases authorized by Police Department of Fire Prevention and Firefighting and Rescue, excluding national defense facilities operating for military purpose and motor vehicles subject to special fire safety requirements manufactured or converted for military operations by national defense facilities.

2. Fire safety designs subject to appraisal in Vietnam

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 13 of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP,  fire safety designs of the following subjects require appraisal:

- Schemes for or amendments to planning for construction of cities, economic zones, industrial parks, industry clusters, export-processing zones, hi-tech parks and other functional zones according to the Law on Planning;

- Projects and works which are mentioned in Appendix V enclosed with Decree 136/2020/ND-CP and the construction, renovation or repurposing of which affects one of the fire safety conditions provided for in Point b Clause 5 Article 13 of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP;

- Motor vehicles subject to special fire safety requirements which are mentioned in Section 21 of Appendix V enclosed with Decree 136/2020/ND-CP and the manufacturing or conversion of which affects one of the fire safety conditions provided for in Point c Clause 5 Article 13 of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP.

Appendix V: Download

In addition, Official Dispatch 2075/C07-P4 dated August 9, 2022, issued by the Fire Prevention and Rescue Police Department determines the subjects of approval for a number of cases as follows:

(1) For mixed-use buildings (with two or more functions)

Housing combined with business

If the business part of the house has a scale that is subject to approval as prescribed in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, the entire project must be approved.

The house has no residential function.

In the event that the project is less than 7 floors high and has a volume of less than 5,000 m3, the determination of the object of approval is based on the scale (number of floors, volume) of each function, compared with the regulations for that function in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP. In order to be subject to fire protection design approval, the entire project must be compared and approved.

(2) For shophouses, villas, and villas providing resort services

For affiliated traders, villas and villas providing resort services in the same project are arranged in blocks (or rows of buildings) and are independently fire-proofed by fire-blocking walls or ensuring fire protection safety distances, with structures and independent escape solutions for each house. Determine the scale to carry out a fire protection design appraisal for each house in that block without calculating the total volume of the entire block or block.

When these houses share a basement, based on the size and nature of the use of the basement, if included in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, it must be approved for the basement, noting the independent fire prevention solution between the basement and the buildings on the ground that escapes from the basement through separate ladders.

(3) In cases where the subject of approval is considered based on a project name that is not included in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP but the project has works and work items whose scale and nature of use are subject to approval, appraisal and approval must be performed for those projects and project items.

For example, religious buildings (temples, pagodas, etc.) or golf courses are not specified in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, but items such as restaurants and hotels are built within the premises. It is then based on the scale of that restaurant or hotel to determine the subject for approval.

(4) Rooftop solar power system

For works listed in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, when installing solar power systems on the roof, the fire protection design must be approved. Determining the investor requesting approval for a fire prevention design follows the instructions in Section 6 of this part.

Solar power systems installed on the roofs of buildings that are not included in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP do not require fire protection design approval.

(5) An electric vehicle charging station

Electric vehicle charging stations are not subject to design approval for fire protection as prescribed in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP.

However, when placing electric vehicle charging stations in some types of buildings, the determination of subjects for fire protection design approval is prescribed as follows:

For electric vehicle charging stations located in independent garages, in the indoor garage of construction projects, or within the premises of a petrol station, approval is required for subjects such as garages, works, and petrol stations specified in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP.

Determining the investor requesting approval for a fire prevention design follows the instructions in Section 6 of this part.

In the case of additional arrangements of electric vehicle charging stations in independent garages or indoor garages of projects subject to approval specified in Appendix V of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP, but the arrangement does not affect the fire safety conditions specified in Point b, Clause 5, Article 13 of Decree 136/2020/ND-CP (does not change solutions to prevent fire and prevent fire spread; do not change or obstruct roads or escape routes; if you do not adjust the fire alarm or fire fighting system of the building), there is no requirement to approve the fire prevention design.

If the charging station is arranged in an existing petrol station building that ensures a safe distance from the charging station to items in the store, there is no requirement for fire protection design approval.

For electric vehicle charging stations located outdoors (except in cases located within the premises of a gas station), there is no requirement for fire protection design approval.

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