A new mechanism for approval and renewal of fire safety certifications for buildings has been introduced in Gujarat by bringing the process online through a portal called Fire Safety COP, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Sunday.
The system, which will be in place from January 26, comes after recent fire incidents at COVID-19 facilities in which several patients died, including in Rajkot on November 27.
Under the new system, the government has approved the process of training and appointing private “Fire Safety Officers (FSOs)” to carry out periodic inspections, testing and maintenance of fire safety systems in buildings. and the renewal of certificates, Mr. Rupani said. journalists.
‘First of its kind’
“We have approved a fire safety certification process modernization system, which I believe is the first of its kind in the country. It was approved today and will be implemented from January 26. Gujarat will be the first state to do so,” he said.
“For the regular inspection of fire safety measures in buildings, we decided to train young people with certain minimum qualifications and certify them. If they are caught breaking the rule, criminal sanctions will be taken against them. We empower qualified private individuals to carry out fire safety audits of buildings, factories, shopping malls, hospitals, etc. “, he added.
A new post of fire warden will be created for each of the four zones of the new system, which has been designed by the Gujarat Institute of Disaster Management under the guidance of its chief executive PK Taneja.
The approval and renewal of fire safety certification will be done entirely on the portal called Fire Safety COP, or Fire Safety Compliance Portal, and this will provide complete solutions ranging from facilitating and constituting FSOs to approving and renewal of the FSC as well as the provision of online services. Payment.
“Monitoring Compliance”
The portal will help the state government monitor the compliance level of FSC approval and renewal and ensure transparency, according to an official statement.
He said the validity of fire safety certificate approval for new buildings will be three years, while that of regularization will be two years. The SFO will be required to check fire safety measures every six months during this period and upload a report to the online system, he said.
“Given the scope of the work, fire safety officers will be trained and recruited, and they will play an important role in the periodic inspection, testing and maintenance of fire safety devices and systems in buildings, and renewal of FSCs,” he said.
3 types of FSOs
The FSOs will be of three categories namely General, Advanced and Specialist and will undergo training at the Gujarat State Institute for Fire Safety Training. The new system provides for criminal prosecution of FSOs, owners, builders, occupants, etc. if it turns out that the work has not been carried out as planned or that negligence is detected, according to the press release.
