Ministry of Construction explains 3 consecutive fire prevention and fighting standards, how to solve them

QCVN 06:2022 is low average

At the regular press conference of the first quarter of 2023 of the Ministry of Construction , Mr. Vu Ngoc Anh - Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (Ministry of Construction) said that through reviewing and promulgating standards 06:2020; 06:2021; 06:2022 to meet practical requirements. The standards all have clear inheritance, the regulations are systematic and continuous.

“Experts say that any project that meets the requirements in QC 06:2010 will also meet the requirements of QC 06:2020, 06:2021 and 06:2022. In the process of promulgating standards, the Ministry of Construction always pays attention to issuing transitional provisions to guide organizations, businesses and people to easily implement the regulations, without causing difficulties in the implementation process,” said Mr. Ngoc Anh.

Mr. Vu Ngoc Anh - Director of Department of Science, Technology and Environment. (Photo: Hong Khanh)

In a further discussion with VietNamNet reporters , Mr. Ngoc Anh said that the amendments and supplements to promulgate QCVN 06:2020 are based on the foundation of QCVN 06:2010, not the construction of a new standard. The valid contents of the current QCVN 06:2010, if there are no problems and are still being applied smoothly in practice, will be kept intact.

QCVN 06:2021 mainly expands the scope of application of the standard to apartment buildings from 75m to 150m high to suit the reality of urban development. In essence, this content is only transferred from QCVN 04:2019/BXD to QCVN 06:2021 to unify regulations on fire safety for houses and buildings into one standard. Other regulations are basically kept the same.

Regarding the content of QCVN 06:2022, the representative of the Ministry of Construction acknowledged that there are many points that aim to remove difficult-to-implement regulations on fire prevention and fighting that businesses are still stuck with. These include reducing the requirements on fire resistance limits for fire curtains, glass walls, and glass doors.

While the old regulation required using fireproof curtains reaching EI 60; glass doors and glass walls must ensure the fire resistance limit EI, QCVN 06:2022 allows fireproof curtains reaching EI 60, EI 30, EI 15 (3 types); glass doors and glass walls only require the fire resistance limit EW, which is easier to achieve and suitable for glass products.

In addition, the requirements for fire resistance levels for houses are reduced; regulations on fire resistance limits of non-load-bearing exterior walls are reduced when previously, all constructions required exterior walls (glass) to have fire resistance limits, causing difficulties in construction investment in construction and investment costs.

Currently, QCVN 06:2022 has specific regulations, significantly reducing the cases requiring fire resistance limits. At the same time, when constructions have ensured fire safety distances, fire resistance limits are not required for this structure; reducing regulations requiring fire safety distances...

More than 8,110 projects that have not been accepted for fire prevention and fighting have been put into use.

According to the Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment, QCVN 06:2022 has been effective since January 16, about 3 months so far and "no project has been put into operation since QCVN 06:2022 took effect".

The problems here mainly exist in projects that have been in use since 2001. There are problems in projects that have not been approved or accepted but have been put into use," he informed.

Citing information from the report of the Ministry of Public Security , Mr. Ngoc Anh informed that up to now, nationwide, there are more than 8,110 works in 51 provinces and cities that have not been accepted for fire prevention and fighting and have been put into use (these works were built before the time when the standard 06:2022 took effect).

Mr. Ngoc Anh said that through collecting opinions from the Ministry of Public Security and localities, when implementing QCVN 06:2022, there were some difficulties such as a lack of consensus on the understanding of transitional conditions and some specialized terms that were difficult to understand.

The Ministry of Construction issued Official Dispatch 1397 dated April 11 to the Fire Prevention and Fighting and Rescue Department (Ministry of Public Security) for guidance.

For problems with individual houses with a floor area larger than 30% used for production and business, it is necessary to ensure fire prevention and fighting requirements according to standard 06:2022. Repairs and renovations that change the function of the room must ensure fire prevention and fighting requirements according to standard 06:2022. Requirements for fire fighting water supply outside the house...

The Ministry of Construction is researching to have a suitable plan.

Regarding the reflection that the number of facilities qualified for testing fire prevention and fighting materials is low, the Director of the Department said that together with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Construction will have policies to encourage the development of testing laboratories including testing refractory materials, and publicize refractory materials that meet fire prevention and fighting requirements...

According to the representative of the Ministry of Construction, specialized units of the Ministry of Public Security have researched and proposed a number of groups of additional and alternative solutions suitable to the nature and characteristics of the project. The Ministry of Construction is researching to unify appropriate solutions, on the principle of complying with current legal regulations related to fire prevention and fighting.

What does the Ministry of Construction say about coal companies' 'world's highest' fire prevention standards? The Ministry of Construction representative said that the standards have been researched and referenced from many countries around the world such as Russia, the US, Singapore... and are based on the reality of Vietnam. The Ministry regularly monitors the feedback from businesses to handle them promptly.

Fire police remove obstacles in the style of 'firefighting', businesses want to fix the root cause . The Deputy Head of the Fire Police Department and Rescue Department of Ho Chi Minh City said that the Ministry of Construction's hasty issuance of standards recently not only made it difficult for businesses but also for the fire prevention agency.

The Ministry of Construction responded to the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department about 17 contents of standard 06. The Ministry of Construction has just sent a document to the Fire Prevention and Fighting Police Department and Rescue (Ministry of Public Security) to agree and add 17 additional contents of guidance QCVN 06:2022/BXD.

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