Improvement of Submission Period for 'Firefighting Facility Inspection Result Report'... Enforcement Rule Amendments Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The National Fire Agency announced on the 8th that it will promote the revision of the Enforcement Rules of the Firefighting Facilities Act to clarify the submission period for self-inspection result reports of firefighting facilities and the notification period for the deployment of inspection personnel.

According to the Firefighting Facilities Act, when a person responsible for a specific firefighting target conducts an inspection of firefighting facilities, they must submit the self-inspection result report to the head of the fire department or fire station chief within 7 days. If the responsible person has the firefighting facilities inspected through a management contractor, a deployment confirmation letter of the inspection personnel must be attached to the self-inspection result report, and the deployment confirmation letter must be notified to the Firefighting Facilities Management Association within 10 days from the completion of the inspection and obtained.

While the submission period for the self-inspection result report is within 7 days, the notification deadline for the deployment status of inspection personnel, which is a necessary procedure when submitting the result report, is rather longer at within 10 days from the completion of the inspection. This has caused confusion in the interpretation of the law and left room for controversy.

Accordingly, the National Fire Agency is promoting the revision of the Enforcement Rules of the Firefighting Facilities Act to eliminate interpretive confusion and clarify the submission and notification periods related to self-inspection. The notification of the deployment status of inspection personnel, which had to be done within 10 days from the completion of the inspection, will be changed to either before the inspection or within 3 days from the completion of the inspection.

In cases where the deployment status of inspection personnel is notified before the inspection, the self-inspection result report must be submitted within 7 days from the completion of the inspection. If the inspection is conducted first, the deployment status must be notified within 3 days from the completion of the inspection, and the self-inspection result report must be submitted within 7 days from the notification date.

Additionally, the revision introduces a new calculation method for the submission period of the self-inspection result report, excluding holidays and Saturdays, thereby effectively securing the 7-day submission period.

Goh Min-ja, Director of the Fire Analysis System Division, said, "With this improvement in the submission period for self-inspection reports, it is expected that transparency in the notification of deployment of inspection personnel and the realistic preparation period for inspection result reports will be secured, thereby ensuring the reliability of self-inspections."

Meanwhile, the National Fire Agency plans to conduct a legislative notice for this revision of the Enforcement Rules of the Firefighting Facilities Act in June.