The procedure and features of interaction with regulatory authorities.
The fire inspection is a structure that owners of all enterprises with working areas have to communicate with. If electricity is supplied to them and people work, then regardless of the type of activity of the enterprise, approval from the State Fire Inspectorate is required.
In accordance with Art. 6 of the Federal Law of 21.12.1994 No. 69-FZ «On Fire Safety», state fire supervision in the territory of the Russian Federation is carried out by state fire supervision bodies, which are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation. The regulatory basis for the activities of firefighters are Federal Law-69 and the Regulation on state fire supervision, approved by the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 21.12.2004 No. 820 «On state fire supervision».
The requirements of the State Fire Supervision bodies and the frequency of communication with their employees depend on various factors: the type of construction, form of ownership, area, type of activity of the enterprise and much more.
New construction
During new construction, the project of the facility must undergo an expert examination. This project includes all decisions on the facility, including decisions responsible for fire safety. After a positive assessment by experts, installation is carried out according to the project. A scheduled inspection of the fire supervision service at such facilities is carried out no earlier than three years later. The identified violations must be eliminated by the contractor company that carried out the installation. In addition to scheduled inspections, firefighters can carry out unscheduled inspections. An application received from vigilant citizens can serve as the basis for an unscheduled inspection. The owner of the enterprise can also submit an application for an unscheduled inspection at his enterprise.
Repurposed facility
If the facility does not have an APS and SOUE or does not function, the owner hires a contractor company to install these systems. All work is carried out according to the project, which is required even for an office the size of a small apartment.
After completion of the work, at the discretion of the State Fire Supervision authorities, the fire inspector checks the quality of installation and compliance with fire safety standards at the facility. If violations are detected, the owner is issued an order with comments that must be corrected within the allotted time.
If the owner agrees with the comments (usually this happens when eliminating the comments does not require significant material costs), he eliminates them and after the next visit of the inspector receives the coveted signature.
If the owner disagrees with the comments, the State Fire Supervision Authority sends a copy of the order to the prosecutor's office, and the issue is subsequently resolved in court.
Sometimes it makes sense to challenge the fire department's order in court. This applies to cases where the requirements set out in it are too costly and difficult to implement, for example, entail a major redevelopment of the building.
If the installation is carried out in accordance with the project, in which errors were made, then the design organization is responsible for them. If there are no claims to the project, but the installation was carried out with violations, then the owner has the right to demand compensation for damages from the contractor company that carried out the installation. If the contractor refuses to pay, but has an SRO certificate, then compensation for damages can be obtained from the SRO reserve fund.
Neither the contractor company nor the SRO will compensate for lost profits during the forced downtime while the litigation was ongoing.
To protect themselves from such troubles, the owner can contact Rostekhnadzor, whose specialists will supervise the process of installing the APS and SOUE at the facility. It is clear that it is cheaper to avoid mistakes during installation or to correct them immediately than to eliminate them when the work is completed and the facility is handed over.
Rostekhnadzor services also require financial costs. Here the customer must decide what is more profitable for him:
Contact a large contractor, a member of the SRO, who has a good reputation in the security market.
The advantages of such companies: reliability, quality and timeliness of work. But the cost of their services may seem too high.
Save money and contact a simpler contractor, without an SRO certificate and reputation.
In this case, there is a high risk of overpaying twice or even three times: for poor quality, error correction, problems with firefighters and, in the worst case, for the consequences of a fire.
Contact a small, little-known contractor and monitor its work with the help of Rostekhnadzor.
This option allows you to get by with little money for installation, but you should not forget that you will have to pay for the services of Rostekhnadzor. Thus, the quality of installation is insured, but the deadlines for completing the work and compliance with obligations remain on the contractor's conscience.
Change of owner
Before the start of the enterprise's activities, the new owner fills out a fire declaration (or issues a fire passport), in which he indicates that there are no fire safety violations at the facility, and sends it by mail to the State Fire Supervision Authority. The owner is not obliged to understand all the intricacies of the set of rules of the fire protection system and may not notice obvious violations. Ensuring that the fire safety requirements are observed at the facility in operation is the task of the State Fire Supervision Authority.
The fire department conducts the inspection at their discretion — immediately after the new owner announces the start of the enterprise's activities or after some time, but no later than three years. As a rule, if the facility was previously in good standing with the fire department and did not cause any problems, then the new owner will not be immediately called to a meeting with the fire inspector. If violations are found during the inspection, the owner is obliged to eliminate them within the allotted time.
To understand how fair the fire department's demands are, it is better to contact a specialist. Fire departments often recommend companies that deal with this issue. As a rule, they have close ties based not only on friendship, but also on mutual financial benefit. The advantages of cooperation with such organizations are a guarantee of easy and quick receipt of permission, as well as ease of passing further checks.
If the cost of the recommended company's services does not exceed the market price, then you can safely conclude a contract with it. Prices can be checked by comparison. For example, contact several other companies that will draw up a commercial offer for free. Or determine the cost yourself using special reference books. The second way is more difficult and requires knowledge in the field of pricing.
When to expect an inspector
Scheduled inspections are conducted according to a pre-approved schedule, with prior notification of the inspected person no later than three working days in advance, in agreement with the prosecutor's office. Scheduled inspections in relation to one organization may be conducted no more than once every three years.
Entrepreneurs must be notified of unscheduled inspections one day before they are conducted, with mandatory notification of the prosecutor's office.
In addition, inspections may be carried out unexpectedly in the following cases:
the emergence of a threat of harm to the life and health of citizens, animals, plants and the environment, state security, as well as the threat of emergency situations of natural and man-made nature;
harm to the life and health of citizens, animals, plants and the environment, violation of state security, as well as the emergence of emergency situations of natural and man-made nature;
violation of consumer rights (in the event of an appeal from citizens whose rights have been violated).
What you need to stock up on
In accordance with paragraph 6 of PPB 01-03, each organization, regardless of its organizational and legal form, is required to have instructions on fire safety measures.
All employees of the organization are allowed to work only after completing a fire safety briefing (paragraph 7. PPB 01-03). This must be reflected in the log of familiarization with fire safety rules.
In buildings and structures where more than 10 people are on the same floor at the same time, plans for evacuating people in the event of a fire must be posted in prominent places, and a system for warning people about a fire must be provided.
These documents are provided for by the Technical Regulations on Fire Safety Requirements, approved by Federal Law No. 123-FZ of 22.07.2008 and the fire safety standards «Systems for Warning and Control of Evacuation of People in Case of Fires in Buildings and Structures» (NPB 104-03), approved by Order of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia No. 323 of 20.06.2003.
In places of mass gathering of people (50 people or more), in addition to the schematic plan for evacuating people in the event of a fire, there must be instructions for personnel on safe and rapid evacuation.
In each room, signs indicating the telephone number for calling the fire department must be posted in prominent places (clause 13 of PPB 01-03). Doors on evacuation routes must open freely and in the direction of exit from the building, with the exception of doors, the opening of which is not regulated by fire safety documents (clause 52 of PPB 01-03).
According to clause 33 of PPB 01-03, standard safety signs must be posted near equipment that has an increased fire hazard.
It is also necessary to provide the organization's premises with fire extinguishers and other primary fire extinguishing equipment (clause 108 of PPB 01-03). The quantity, types and kinds of fire extinguishing equipment depending on the area and types of premises are defined in Appendix 3 to PPB 01-03.