Hospital-Level Medical Institutions Required to Install Sprinkler Systems by End of Next Year

National Fire Agency Urges Retrofitting of Sprinkler Systems in Medical Institutions
"Retrofitting to Be Completed by December 2016"

By the end of next year, all hospital-level medical institutions will be required to install either sprinkler systems or simplified sprinkler systems. This mandate applies to all types of medical institutions, including dental and Korean medicine hospitals, and also covers facilities where construction has already been completed.

On the 22nd, the National Fire Agency announced that it will work with relevant agencies to encourage the retroactive installation of sprinkler systems in order to strengthen initial response to fires in medical institutions and to minimize casualties, especially among patients with limited mobility.

The National Fire Agency announced on the 22nd that it will support and encourage the installation of sprinkler systems in all hospital-level medical institutions. National Fire Agency.

In the past, only nursing hospitals among hospital-level medical institutions were required to install sprinkler systems if the facility was 600 square meters or larger, and simplified sprinkler systems if it was smaller than 600 square meters. In contrast, most general hospitals were excluded from this requirement because they were subject to the same standards as general buildings. However, following the large-scale casualties caused by the fire at Miryang Sejong Hospital in January 2018, the Enforcement Decree of the Fire Services Act was revised, making it mandatory for all hospital-level medical institutions?including general hospitals, hospitals, dental hospitals, and Korean medicine hospitals?to install sprinkler or simplified sprinkler systems. Hospital-level medical institutions that have already completed construction must also finish retrofitting sprinkler systems by December 31, 2026.

Currently, for facilities where sprinkler systems have not yet been installed, the government is encouraging installation through the National Fire Agency, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, local governments (fire departments and medical institution departments), the Hospital Association, and the Small and Medium Hospital Association. For small and medium-sized hospitals that have already opened but have not yet installed sprinkler systems, support is being provided for the installation of sprinkler facilities.

Hong Younggeun, Director of the Fire Prevention Bureau at the National Fire Agency, stated, "As seen in the Miryang Sejong Hospital fire, medical institutions with many critically ill, bedridden, and elderly patients are particularly vulnerable, and fires can easily lead to large-scale casualties and property damage. Sprinkler systems, which can detect fires and automatically extinguish them in the early stages, are essential for medical institutions."