From “Meeting Inspection Requirements” to “Proactively Managing Risks”

Major General Duong Duc Hai, Director of the Fire and Rescue Police Department, said that after more than a year of implementing the Law on Fire and Rescue, the most important change is that the responsibilities of each party for safety fire and rescue have been defined more clearly. Fire prevention, firefighting and rescue are not solely the responsibility of the police; local authorities, heads of agencies, project owners, facility owners, households and every individual must take direct responsibility for safety within their respective areas of management.

For the business community, thinking is gradually shifting from “meeting inspection and acceptance requirements” to “proactively managing risks” throughout the investment, production and business process. This also means that fire safety does not stop at completing paperwork or putting a facility into operation, but must be maintained throughout the facility’s operation.

However, the changes have not been uniform. There are still cases of formal compliance, attempts to circumvent requirements, or failure to fully maintain safety conditions after investment. Turning changes in legal regulations into a genuine sense of responsibility and voluntary compliance therefore remains an ongoing process.

This requirement has become even more urgent in the face of new risks from lithium-ion batteries, energy storage systems, high-rise buildings and underground facilities, alongside traditional fire and explosion risks.

Amid rapid urbanization and industrialization, together with the rapid development of technology and new energy sources, fire and rescue management needs to shift more decisively toward data-based risk management, stronger early warning and greater use of new technologies.

Fewer Procedures, Greater Responsibility

Along with clearer responsibilities for each party, the Law on Fire and Rescue No. 55/2024/QH15 and the Government’s Decree No. 105/2025/ND-CP have also introduced changes to the management approach by strengthening decentralization and delegation of authority while reducing and simplifying administrative procedures. Many procedures and required documents have been eliminated; electronic processing and delegation to local authorities have been expanded, helping reduce compliance time and costs for companies.

The reform agenda was given concrete form in the Government’s Resolution No. 66.18/2026/NQ-CP dated May 18, 2026, with changes related to fire safety inspection and acceptance, simplified design appraisal documents, and reduced procedures for fire and rescue equipment and fire-resistant and fire-prevention materials and components.

Subsequently, the Government’s Decree No. 347/2026/ND-CP, dated September 8, 2026 (effective September 15, 2026), further simplified administrative procedures. Notably, requirements for public security authorities to inspect fire safety acceptance work were abolished. However, abolishing this procedure does not mean eliminating acceptance requirements or lowering safety standards.

Specifically, project owners must still organize acceptance, take responsibility for the results, and only put a facility into operation when all fire safety requirements have been met. After completing fire safety acceptance, project owners and facility owners are responsible for reporting through the Database System on Fire Prevention, Firefighting and Rescue and Fire Alarm Transmission before putting the facility into operation.

Another significant change is that the procedure for “Issuing permits for the circulation of fire prevention, firefighting and rescue vehicles and equipment” has been replaced by an electronic information declaration mechanism, effective at the same time as the amended Law on Fire and Rescue takes effect (under Clause 2, Article 41 of Decree No. 347/2026/ND-CP).

Abolishing the circulation permit procedure does not mean reducing management requirements. It represents a fundamental shift in the management approach: from management based primarily on administrative procedures and pre-inspection to management through standards, technical regulations, conformity assessment, electronic databases and risk-based post-inspection. This helps reduce compliance time and costs for individuals and companies while ensuring strict quality control of fire and rescue equipment.

Along with this change in the management approach, greater responsibilities are also being placed on all parties involved. As some pre-inspection requirements are reduced, project owners and facility owners must take greater responsibility for self-inspection, self-acceptance and maintaining safety conditions.

Major General Duong Duc Hai affirmed: “Reducing pre-inspection requirements does not mean reducing management responsibility; facilitating companies does not conflict with ensuring safety. For this management approach to work effectively, standards must be transparent, guidance must be clear, and post-inspection must focus on key risk areas.”

“Good reform must reduce unnecessary costs while also increasing genuine responsibility,” Major General Duong Duc Hai stressed. This is also necessary to ensure that reform genuinely facilitates individuals and companies while continuing to protect lives and property and improve the effectiveness of fire and rescue work.