Illustrative photo (Photo: VNA)Minister of Construction Nguyen Thanh Nghi has issued an urgentdecision to conduct a comprehensive review of all fire safety issues inconstruction activities.
The Institute of Construction Science and Technology of theMinistry of Construction is to coordinate with the Fire Prevention,Firefighting, Rescue and Emergency Department of the Ministry of PublicSecurity, as well as other relevant units.
A review of the content of national technical standards for firesafety in buildings and construction projects is being conducted to identifythe specific obstacles and causes.
Based on the review, proposals will be made to amend the contentsof the technical standard for fire safety, named QCVN 06:2022, aiming tocomplete the system of standards and technical regulations for fire preventionand firefighting in buildings and construction projects.
The Minister of Construction has also assigned the task ofcompiling and revising the QCVN 06:2022, ensuring the standards based onscience and compliance with relevant laws and regulations in Vietnam’spractical conditions.
According to the representative of the Department of Science,Technology, and Environment, the decision of the Minister of Construction isbased on the proposal of this unit.
According to the decision, the specialised agencies of theMinistry of Construction will rely on feedback documents to review and approvefire prevention and firefighting aspects for project evaluation, designevaluation, as well as inspection and acceptance of construction works from2013 to the present.
Recently, the Department of Science, Technology, and Environment,together with a working delegation from the Fire Prevention, Firefighting,Rescue and Emergency Department, visited production facilities to gatherinformation.
Most of the existing obstacles are found in projects constructedbefore 2021. Some construction works were built several decades ago, and overtime, the buildings and workshops have been expanded. However, the standardsapply only to newly constructed projects.
For such old construction works, there are confusions whether thenew standards should be applied to the entire project or to related sectionsduring repairs or renovations.
According to QCVN 06:2022, this standard is only applicable withinthe scope of renovation and repair and specifically in cases where the renovationor repair increases the fire risk of the facility. The standard does not applybeyond the scope of renovation and repair.
Regarding the regulations on the use of fire-resistant buildingmaterials, including fire-resistant paint, the representative of the Departmentof Science, Technology, and Environment also mentioned that there were opinionsstating that QCVN 06:2022 requires fire-resistant paint types that are notavailable in Vietnam.
However, in reality, QCVN 06:2022 and its previous versions only providefire safety requirements for building materials without specifying the use ofspecific materials.
If the components or structures do not meet the fire resistancelimits corresponding to the fire rating of the building or constructionproject, additional fire protection measures must be implemented.
The fire protection solutions recommended by experts include usingfire-resistance paint, tile cladding, concrete, using ordinary mortar includingcement mortar, fire-resistant mortar, or encasing with concrete to form acomposite structure, or replacing it with other materials such as steel insteadof concrete./.
VNA
