New fire prevention and fighting standards have been in effect for half a year and have been proposed to be revised.

Vietnam Construction Consultant Association (VECAS) in collaboration with the Institute of Construction Science and Technology (IBST) organized a workshop to collect opinions on amending the National Technical Regulation on Fire Safety for Houses and Constructions (QCVN 06: 2022/BXD).

Mr. Vu Ngoc Anh, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Environment (Ministry of Construction) said that on April 5, 2023, the Prime Minister issued Official Dispatch No. 220/CD-TTg on removing difficulties and obstacles in fire prevention and fighting (PCCC), accordingly assigning the Ministry of Construction to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security and ministries, branches and localities to urgently review and promptly detect difficulties and obstacles, clarify the causes to have solutions to supplement and amend within the authority immediately the technical standards and regulations to ensure they are suitable to the reality of Vietnam.

The new fire prevention standards have been in effect for half a year and have been proposed to be revised. — The new fire prevention and fighting standards have been in effect for half a year and have been proposed to be revised. (Photo: BXD)

Implementing the direction of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Construction, on the basis of being receptive, listening to the opinions of ministries, businesses and individuals to record and synthesize difficulties, and directing the Institute of Construction Science and Technology to review and revise QCVN 06:2022/BXD.

Strict regulations and requirements need to be reviewed to ensure fire safety while still being suitable for practical conditions; at the same time, promoting smooth capital construction investment activities.

Mr. Nguyen Hong Hai, Director of IBST, the unit directly assigned to draft amendments to Standard 06, said that some contents need to be adjusted according to the Prime Minister's instructions as well as practical requirements.

The purpose is to remove obstacles and difficulties and apply them to more suitable and practical subjects. IBST has organized many seminars, reported on the implementation process, proposed solutions and plans to remove difficulties and obstacles but did not lower the regulations on fire safety.

The national regulation on fire safety for new houses and constructions will take effect from January 16, 2023, but there are still many opinions that this regulation has some problems, affecting construction activities.

At the workshop, most experts expressed their views that adjusting and amending Regulation 06 is necessary, but focusing on removing obstacles should not mean overlooking fire safety factors.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tu, Deputy Head of Technical Management Department of Construction Technology, Equipment and Inspection Consulting Joint Stock Company (CONINCO), said that when comparing economic and technical factors, it is necessary to consider carefully. Technical standards should not be lowered because during construction investment, it is possible to spend a little more money but still ensure safety, but when an incident occurs, the consequences can be much greater; even losing all property and more seriously, it is related to the safety of human life.

Mr. Tran Tuan Anh, General Director of Vietnam Construction Design and Investment Consulting Joint Stock Company (CDC), expressed his opinion that in fire prevention, "prevention" is better than "fire fighting" and Standard 06 should focus on this content.

In foreign countries, fire prevention is highly valued, so when a fire occurs, property and human damage is always kept to a minimum. If prevention is good, the safety of human life in the construction works will be ensured. Accordingly, fire prevention should be the top priority in the revised standards.

According to this expert, when working with a number of foreign consulting units, they all commented that the standards related to Vietnamese materials are too high, for example, fireproof paint, causing the economic problem and construction costs to increase a lot. Or the same goes for glass used for social housing projects, the type of glass is heat-resistant but the gaskets and accessories do not meet the requirements...

Therefore, to meet fire prevention standards, the cost of construction and completion of the project is too high, causing difficulties for investors. Therefore, according to Mr. Tuan Anh, it is necessary to strengthen fire prevention factors rather than the current regulations requiring meeting fire fighting factors.

Representative of the Drafting Committee for the revision of Standard 06, Dr. Cao Duy Khoi - Deputy Director of IBST also pointed out some difficulties and shortcomings when most of the comments on the revision of Standard 06 came from an economic perspective and not from the perspective of human safety in fire prevention.

At the same time, the implementation of standards also has certain problems. Typically, standards stipulate that users can do everything that the standards do not prohibit. But in reality, when applying them to practice, many units, management agencies, localities... "impose: the subject can only do what the standards allow. This is a wrong and incorrect understanding - Mr. Khoi emphasized.

Another difficulty in amending Standard 06 cited by Mr. Khoi is that Standard 06 was issued by the Ministry of Construction but is enforced by the Ministry of Public Security. During the implementation process, there are inconsistencies between the promulgation intention and the enforcement phase that cannot be fully resolved in this standard. Not to mention, the enforcement capacity, from the inspection and testing stages... also lags behind the requirements to meet standards and regulations.

“Standard 06 is a difficult standard, heavily technical and specialized, especially in the context that Vietnam does not have proper training on fire safety for houses and public works as well as the requirement to strengthen fire prevention and fighting management. This requires all relevant parties to carefully study and grasp the provisions of Standard 06 to understand and apply correctly” – Mr. Khoi emphasized.

From that reality, the Drafting Committee also recommended that the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Public Security compile documents on the application of Regulation 06, compile new or amend satellite standards; and abolish outdated standards to build a system of synchronous and appropriate technical regulations.

At the same time, ministries, branches, localities, organizations and individuals are requested to contribute specific, objective, multi-dimensional and within-scope opinions for the Drafting Committee to absorb and complete. In particular, project investors need to pay attention to fire prevention and fighting issues right from the beginning of the design; choose a qualified consulting and construction unit with appropriate expertise.

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