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Fire Safety Act reference documents

Last updated on December 12, 2024

The Fire Safety Act came into force on August 1, 2024. All reference documents related to the new legislation are available below.

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Office of the Fire Commissioner (OFC) communications

Commonly asked questions

Fire Safety Act investigator and Fire Safety Act inspector training standards

The following documents are the minimum training standards for the designated fire inspectors and fire investigators as outlined in section 4 (1)(d) of the Fire Safety Act:

The following Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition forms (PLAR) are provided to help local authorities with confirming that the person, or class of persons, they want to designate as a fire inspector or fire investigator has the required skills and knowledge to meet the requirements of sections 8(2) and 23 (2) of the Fire Safety Act:

Fire inspection information and forms

Local authorities are required to submit all orders issued under the authority of the Fire Safety Act to the OFC monthly. Use the following forms to fulfill this requirement:​

For designated fire inspectors

The following forms and documents support the functions and obligations of fire inspectors.

There may be times when a fire inspector is tasked with inspecting an occupied premises. Although fire inspectors have authority to access any premises, it is good practice for the fire inspector to obtain consent from the occupiers of the premises. Fire inspectors may use the following consent form:

Upon completing an inspection, a fire inspector may find deficiencies and/or circumstances of non-compliance with the Fire Safety Act and the regulations (the B.C. Fire Code). The fire inspector may have to issue a fire inspector order directing the premises owner to correct the deficiencies. To support this, use the following forms:

There may be times that a fire inspector needs to request information or records with respect to a fire safety inspection they are completing. Failure to provide the information may result in the issuance of an administrative penalty to the person or corporation involved. Using the following form will create a record of the request:

Evacuation documents

Preventative evacuations

Local authorities and the fire commissioner may need to exercise their authority to issue a preventative evacuation order. They may also need to recover costs incurred for securing evacuated locations where the owner fails to secure the premises. The following document provides guidance for those procedures:

There may be situations where local authorities or the fire commissioner need to order the evacuation of an area or premises under section 14 of the Fire Safety Act. To support this, use the following evacuation  forms:

Compliance monitoring documents

Risk analysis

A monitoring entity (municipality) is required to implement a risk-based compliance monitoring system for public buildings within its jurisdictional boundaries.

When implementing a risk-based compliance monitoring system, a monitoring entity must conduct a risk-analysis in accordance with the Fire Safety Act and its regulations.

This risk analysis will support monitoring entities’ decisions about the required frequency of physical fire safety inspections and the use of building owner fire safety assessments. The following document provides monitoring entities with guidance on the risk analysis process:

The following supplemental documents provide monitoring entities with examples of risk analysis methods for determining the total risk of a public building and guidelines for determining frequency of associated compliance monitoring activities, fire safety inspection and fire safety assessments:

Fire investigation information and forms

There may be times that a fire investigator needs to request information or records with respect to a fire investigation they are completing. Failure to provide the information may result in the issuance of an administrative penalty to the person or corporation involved. The following form will create a record of the request:

Review process documents

The following document sets the OFC policy and procedures for managing and conducting a review of decisions defined in section 42 of the Fire Safety Act. It explains the process the OFC will implement to maintain a fair and consistent method for administering reviews:

A person who is served with a decision must submit the Request for Review of a Decision form (below) to the OFC if they believe that an error was made in the issuance of an order (fire inspector or preventative evacuation) or a notice of an administrative penalty:

Regional district fire inspections and investigations procedure

The Regional Districts Fire Inspections and Investigations Procedure is specific to regional districts and outlines how the OFC fire service advisors will support regional districts with fire inspections of public buildings and fire investigations, as requested: