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FSD

Enhancement of fire safety measures in old-style composite buildings, domestic buildings and commercial buildings/premises required by the Fire Services Department

Introduction

In the 1990s, several tragic fires broke out in Hong Kong, resulting in severe fatalities and injuries. These included the fires that occurred at (i) the Shek Kip Mei branch of the Hongkong Bank on 10.1.1994; (ii) Mei Foo Sun Chuen on 8.4.1997; (iii) Golden Court, North Point on 6.1.1998; and (iv) On Hing House, Kwun Tong on 4.2.1998. In view of this, the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance (Cap.502) and the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap.572) were implemented in 1997 and 2007 respectively for enhancing fire safety of buildings.

 


The Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance

The Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance (Cap.502) was implemented on 2.5.1997. The purpose of the Ordinance is to provide better protection from the risk of fire for occupants and users of, and visitors to, certain kinds of commercial premises and commercial buildings. For the purpose of this Ordinance, the enforcement authorities are the Director of Fire Services and the Director of Buildings. The former is responsible for the provision of or improvement on fire service installations and equipment (FSI) in commercial premises or buildings, while the latter is responsible for the provision of fire safety measures in the planning, design and construction of such buildings. Please refer to the relevant pamphlet via the following link for key points of this Ordinance.
An Introduction to the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance

 

 

The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance

The Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance (Cap.572) was put into implementation on 1.7.2007. For the purpose of this Ordinance, the enforcement authorities are the Director of Fire Services and the Director of Buildings. The former is responsible for the provision of or improvement on fire service installations or equipment (FSI) in composite buildings and domestic buildings, while the latter is responsible for the provision of fire safety measures in the planning, design and construction of such buildings. The purpose of the Ordinance is to ensure better protection from the risk of fire for occupants and users of, and visitors to composite buildings and domestic buildings that fall within the following criteria by requiring the owners and/or occupiers concerned to implement fire protection measures up to modern standards through the issuance of Fire Safety Directions:

1. With its plans of the building works first submitted to the Building Authority for approval on or before 1 March 1987; or
2. Constructed on or before 1 March 1987 where no plans of the building works were submitted on or before that date to the Building Authority for approval.

Please refer to the relevant pamphlet via the following link for key points of this Ordinance.
An introduction to the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance

To facilitate better public understanding of this Department’s implementation of the fire safety requirements as stipulated in the said Ordinance, the Department has compiled a “Guidebook for the Compliance of Fire Safety Directions Issued by the Fire Services Department”, which lists out the FSI requirements for buildings of different heights, potential problems encountered by owners, cases of compliance through the flexible and pragmatic approaches adopted by the Department and the introduction of the Integrated Building Rehabilitation Assistance Scheme. Please visit the following link for details.
Guidebook for the Compliance of Fire Safety Directions

We understand that owing to structural or spatial constraints for certain buildings, some building owners may encounter difficulties in complying with the requirement, including the installation of water tank for the fire hydrant/hose reel system.  For the purpose of facilitating building owners to comply with Fire Safety Directions, the Department had provided different relaxation measures to buildings of different height as following:
 
Phase I: Improvised Hose Reel System (direct-feed type) for target composite buildings of 3-storeys of below.
FSD Circular Letter No. 2/2016

Phase II: Revised Supply Tank Requirement for Hose Reel System, allowing target buildings of six storeys or below or less than 20 metres in height, to reduce the effective supply tank capacity of the hose reel system from 2000L to 500L - 1500L.
FSD Circular Letter No. 5/2016 

Phase III Part I: Reduced supply tank capacity requirement for fire hydrant/hose reel system.  Target buildings of seven storeys or above are only required to provide a fire service supply tank of 4,500L. 
Phase III Part II: Pilot scheme on the incorporation of the fresh water supply system into the fire hydrant/hose reel system.
FSD Circular Letter No. 3/2017 

 


Supplementary Information

To facilitate owners and occupiers to obtain information of contractors qualified for carrying out fire safety improvement works, the Department has uploaded onto its website for public information all registered fire service installation contractors (RFSICs) in the territory, with a dedicated list of those RFSICs who have indicated their intention to undertake fire safety improvement works under the Ordinances. The Department has also compiled the “Checklist for Major Defects of FSI Drawings Submission under Cap. 502/Cap. 572” and “Processing of FSI Drawings under Cap. 502/Cap. 572” to assist owners in complying with Fire Safety Directions/Fire Safety Improvement Directions. Please visit the following links for details.
“List of Registered Fire Service Installation Contractors Interested in Undertaking Fire Safety Improvement Works as Required by Law” 」
 “Checklist for Major Defects of FSI Drawings Submission under Cap. 502/Cap. 572” 」
“Processing of FSI Drawings under Cap. 502/Cap. 572” 」

「Fire safety in composite building」

「Fire safety in commercial premises」

 

For enquiries, please contact staff of the Fire Services Department at 2272 9112.