Vietnam’s fire safety regulations burden investors: Kocham

There have been complaints about new and increased investments in firefighting among businesses due to stricter regulations, according to the Korean Chamber of Commerce (Kocham) in Vietnam.

In particular, difficulties related to obtaining firefighting permits in Vietnam take prominence, especially in Vinh Phuc and Bac Ninh provinces, Hong Sun, chairman of the association told the Vietnam Business Forum (VBF) last Sunday.

Following some property damage and loss of life due to recent fires at local companies and liquor stores in downtown areas, the government has instructed relevant agencies to strengthen firefighting-related tasks, leading to stricter requirements in factory construction and issuance of firefighting permits.

For example, Hong Sun said, in the past, it was not difficult to obtain permission even if a simple gypsum board or fire-resistant paint was used for factory fire walls, but recently, new regulations require that fire-resistant gypsum boards be used.

As a result, when a company builds new factories or expand facilities, the construction cost increases and the company is forced to comply with current regulations even for the factory that was built and used in the past.

"In applying the regulations, there are many cases where local fire authorities' arbitrary interpretation is applied, and because of this, it takes up to 50 days or more to obtain firefighting authorization and permission.

As advized by actual firefighting contractors, there is a view that gypsum boards have their own fire resistance, but the regulation to use a separate fire-resistant gypsum board is an over-interpretation," he argued.

Previously, speaking with The Investor, the Kocham chairman noted an example that for establishment of a factory, some anti-fire materials are required but they are not available in Vietnam, so construction cannot be finished. He suggested authorities should hold seminars to instruct investors how to overcome such issues.

In the first two months of this year, Vietnam recorded 303 cases of fire and explosions, with eight deaths and 11 injuries, according to the General Statistics Office. The economic losses from those cases went down 63.8% year-on-year to VND16.7 billion ($710,300).