 RA 9514 repeals PD 1185 (Old Fire Code of the Philippines)

Repealing Clause & IRR

 Latest IRR of the fire code is 2019 IRR
RULE 3 – DEFINITION OF TERMS
Integrated piping system connected to a source of extinguishing
Automatic Fire
agent which suppresses fires when actuated by its automatic
Suppression System
detecting device
Fire Marshall The head of the city fire station / the municipal fire station
Fires involving ordinary combustible materials such as wood,
Class A Fires
cloth, rubber, & plastics
Class B Fires Fires involving flammable liquids & gases
Class C Fires Fires involving energized electrical equipment
Fires involving combustible materials, such as sodium,
Class D Fires
magnesium, potassium, & other similar materials
Fires in cooking appliances that involve combustible cooking
Class K Fires
media (vegetable / animal oils & fats)
Type of standpipe system in which the pipes are normally not
Dry Standpipe filled w/ water. Water is introduced into the system thru fire
service connections when needed.
Pipeline system filled w/ water & connected to a constant water
Combination Standpipe supply for the use of the BFP & the occupants of the buildings
solely for fire suppression purposes
Any visual / audible signal produced by device / system to warn
Fire Alarm the occupants of the building / firefighting elements of the
presence or danger of fire
Fire resistive door prescribed for openings in fire separation walls
Fire Door
/ partitions
Any condition / act which increases / may cause an increase in
the probability of the occurrence of fire, or which may obstruct,
Fire Hazard
delay, hinder / interfere w/ firefighting operations & the
safeguarding of life & life property
Time duration that a material / construction can withstand the
Fire Resistance Rating
effect of a standard fire test
Wall designed to prevent the spread of fire, having a fire
resistance rating of not less than four hours with sufficient
Fire Wall
structural stability to remain standing even if construction on
either side collapses under fire conditions
Building that is unsafe in case of fire because it will burn easily or
Fire Trap
because it lacks adequate exits
High-Rise Building Buildings 15 m or more in height
Passageway from one building to another, or through / around a
Horizontal Exit
wall in approximately the same floor level
A continuous & unobstructed route of exit from one point in a
Means Of Egress
building to public way
The maximum number of persons that may be allowed to occupy
Occupant Load
a particular building or space
Mechanical device consisting of linkages & horizontal bars across
Panic Hardware a door, which when pushed from the inside will cause the door to
open & facilitates exit from the building, structure or facility
Integrated network of hydraulically designed piping system
installed in a building, structure / area w/ outlets arranged in a
Sprinkler System
systematic pattern which automatically discharges water when
activated by heat / combustion products from a fire
RULE 8 – FIRE SAFETY ENFORCERS
 Fire Safety Inspectors
Fire Safety Enforcers  Plan Evaluators
 Chief Of Fire Safety Enforcement Section/Unit
Fire Safety Inspector  Inspection of buildings to assess/ensure compliance w/ the
fire code & its fire safety requirements & other related laws &
ordinances
  Recommendation of corrective actions for violations & defects
 Preparation of documents
 Review of plans & specifications including the fire protection
system to determine compliance w/ the fire code, building
Plan Evaluator code, & other life & safety standards
 Inspection of building during construction to determine
compliance w/ approved plans & specs
 Review reports of Fire Safety Enforcers & recommended
approval to Fire Marshall
 Assist the fire marshall in fire code implementation
Chief Of FSES
 Supervise the fire safety inspectors
 Recommended to fire marshall filing of appropriate charges
against violators
RULE 9 – ENFORCEMENT & ADMINISTRATION OF FIRE SAFETY MEASURES
 All buildings must be inspected
 Fire safety inspection is required for:
 Certificate of occupancy
General  Business permit
 Permit to operate
 Evaluation of plans is required for:
 Building permit
1) Building plan review
Fire Safety Evaluation & 2) Inspection during construction
Inspection 3) Inspection after completion of construction
4) Business inspection & routine/annual inspection
A. BUILDING PLAN REVIEW
 The building plans & specifications are endorsed to the fire
department. The plan evaluator will review these plans to
determine compliance w/ the requirements of the fire
code.
 Based on the findings FSEC (Fire Safety Evaluation
Clearance) / Notice of disapproval will be issued
 Important notes:
 FSEC is a requirement for the issuance of the
building permit
 No building plan will be evaluated w/o the FSCR
(Fire Safety Compliance Report)
Evaluation & Inspection
Process B. INSPECTION AFTER COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION
 After the completion of construction & prior to the
occupancy of the building, a fire safety inspector must
inspect the building to determine conformance with the
fire code & the approved plans
 Based on the findings, an FSIC or NOTICE OF
Disapproval will be issued
 Important notes:
 FSIC is required for the issuance of the certificate of
occupancy
 FSCCR is required for the issuance of the FSIC
 Testing & commissioning of the fire protective &
warning system must be witnessed by the FSI.
During construction, renovation, modification, alteration, the fire
Inspection During marshall shall inspect the project to determine whether the plans
Construction & specifications are being followed & fire safety precautions are
being observed
Business Inspection & A. BUSINESS INSPECTION (Applicable to Industrial,
Routine/Annual Commercial, & Business Operations)
Inspection  FSIC is required for the issuance of the business permit,
Mayor’s permit, & PEZA Certificate of Annual Inspection
  Inspection will be conducted, after which either an FSIC or
an NTC will be issued
 Note: FSMR is required for issuance of FSIC

B. ROUTINE/ANNUAL INSPECTION (Not for Business

Permit purposes)
For building not classified as industrial, commercial, or business
operations, routine inspection will be conducted to determine
compliance w/ the IRR
 Used to be called FALAR 1,2,3
 FALAR: Fire & Life Safety Assessment Report
 The three FALARs are now known in the 2019 IRR as:
FSCR, FSCCR, FSMR  FALAR 1: FSCR (FIRE SAFETY COMPLIANCE REPORT)
 FALAR 2: FSCCR (FIRE SAFETY COMPLIANCE &
COMMISSIONING REPORT)
 FALAR 3: FSMR (FIRE SAFETY MAINTENANCE REPORT)
For building that are required to install a wet standpipe system /
an automatic fire suppression system or an automatic fire
detection & alarm system:
 FSCR when obtaining FSEC for Building Permit
Applicability of FSCR,
 FSCCR when obtaining FSIC for Certificate of
FSCCR, FSMR
Occupancy
 FSMR when obtaining FSIC for Business Permit,
Certificate Of Annual Inspection for PEZA, DOH License to
Operate, etc.
A. FSCR – detailed design analysis of the fire safety features to
be installed in the building (design)
B. FSCCR – certification that the approved plans & specs were
The Three Reports
duly implemented (construction)
C. FSMR – report on conducted annual maintenance on fire
safety & protection system ( maintenance)
 Fire Safety Compliance Report
 Report submitted by the engineer-of-record / architect-of-
record containing a detailed design analysis of all fire safety
features to be installed & certifying that the design complies
w/ fire code
 Required for the FSEC for building permit

Content samples:
FSCR
 Codes & standards used in the design
 Project description, building classification, occupancy,
hazards of contents
 Descriptions of exits, travel distances, fire suppression,
FDAS evacuation systems, smoke control management,
emergency power supply, emergency lighting, fire
department access
 Basis of design, calculations, design criteria, etc.
  Fire Safety Compliance & Commissioning Report
 Report submitted by Contractor/CM certifying that:
 The plans & specs prescribed in the FSCR were duly
implemented
 All the fire protection & life safety features were properly
installed, &
 The completed building complies w/ the requirements of
the fire code
 Required for the FSIC for Occupancy

For buildings that are required to install a wet standpipe system /

FSCCR
an automatic fire suppression system or an automatic fire
detection & alarm system

Content samples:
 Certification that the fire safety features in the FSCR were
implemented & that the completed building complies w/
the fire code
 As built plans
 Testing & commissioning certificates
 Description of changes made in the design, if any.
Standards used for these changes, if any.
 Fire Safety Maintenance Report
 Report submitted by the building owner / his authorized
representative on the conducted annual maintenance of fire
safety & fire protection systems, certifying that all the fire
safety systems are installed & maintained in operational
condition
 Required for the FSIC for Business Permits

For buildings that are required to install a wet standpipe system /

an automatic fire suppression system or an automatic fire
FSMR detection & alarm system

Content samples:
 Building classification , occupancy, hazards of contents,
number of active exits
 Maintenance & testing records for fore pumps, sprinkler
system, portable extinguishers, standpipes, FDAS, smoke
management system, pressurization fans, emergency
power supply
 Results of annual fire pump flow test, annual main drain
test, standpipe water flow test
 Fire Safety Evaluation Clearance
 Prerequisite for building permit
FSEC  Requires review of the plans by the plan evaluator. Issued by
the Fire Marshall upon determination that the design & plans
are in accordance w/ fire code
 Fire Safety inspection certificate
 Prerequisite for certificate of occupancy, business permit,
permits to operate, etc.
FSIC  Requires inspection of the building by the fire safety
inspector. Issued by the fire marshall based on the findings
from the inspection

Building Permit Building Permit > FSEC > Building Plan Review > FSCR
Certificate Of Occupancy > FSIC > Fire Safety Inspection +
Certificate of Occupancy
FSCCR
Business Permit Business Permit > FSIC > Fire Safety Inspection + FSMR
 RULE 10 - SAFETY MEASURES
 Provide sufficient exits for all buildings
 Protect escaping occupants from fire, smoke, vapor, & fumes
 Exits must provide free & unobstructed egress from all parts
of the building
 Gen rule: no lock or fastening device subject to certain
exceptions, like penial institutions
 Exits should be clearly visible & the route to an exit should be
conspicuously marked to make the direction of escape
Gen. Requirements
obvious
 Provide adequate illumination
 Vertical openings between floors should be suitably enclosed
or protected
 For buildings of such size or occupancy such that the
reasonable safety of a number of occupants may be
endangered by blocking of only one means of egress due to
fire or smoke: provide at least two means of egress
Classification Of 13 occupancy classifications in fire code:
Occupancy 1) Assembly – buildings used for gathering 50 / more persons;
used as special amusement buildings
2) Educational – used for gathering of 6 / more persons for the
purposes of instruction
3) Day care – 4 more clients receive care, maintenance, &
supervision by people who are not relatives / guardians for
less than 24 hrs per day; ex. Child day care center
4) Health care – medical / other treatment / care of persons
who are mostly incapable of self-preservation because of age,
physical / mental disability
 Hospitals
 Nursing homes
 Birth centers
5) Residential board & care – lodging & boarding of 4 / more
residents, not related by blood / marriage to the owners, for
the purpose of providing personal care services (no nursing
care)
 Group housing for physically / mentally handicapped
persons who attend school in the community
 Group housing for the elderly providing personal care
services but not providing nursing care
 Assisted living facilities
 Rehabilitation facilities for alcoholism, drug abuse
6) Detention & correctional – house 1 / more persons under
varied degrees of restraint / security. Occupants are mostly
incapable of self-preservation because of security measures
not under their control
7) Residential – sleeping accommodations are provided for
normal residential purposes & include buildings designed to
provide sleeping accommodation
 Single & two-family dwellings, & the like
 Apartments, lodging houses, dormitories
 Condominiums
 Hotels, motels, apartelles, pension houses, inns
8) Mercantile – stores, markets, & other buildings used for the
display & sale of merchandise
 Malls, supermarkets, department stores, shopping
centers
 Dry & wet markets, flea markets
 Restaurants w/ capacity of less than 50 persons
(otherwise assembly)
 Office, storage, & service facilities incidental to the
 sale of merchandise
9) Business – transaction of business other than that covered
under mercantile
 Gen. offices, offices for professionals
 City & municipal halls,
 Call centers, BPO, internet shops
 Massage parlors, beauty parlors, barbershops (less
than 50)
10) Industrial – factories of all kinds, dry cleaning plants,
power plants, pumping stations, smokehouses, gas plants,
sawmills, laundries
11) Storage – buildings used primarily for the storage of
goods, merchandise, products, vehicles, animals
 Warehouses
 Cold storage
 Truck & marine terminals
 Bulk oil storage
 Parking garage
 Hangar
 Barns, stables
12) Mixed – two / more classes of occupancies in the same
building so intermingled that separate safeguards are
impracticable
13) Special structures – buildings which cannot be properly
classified in any of the preceding occupancy groups
1) Low hazard – low combustibility that no self-propagating
fire can occur in the building
2) Moderate hazard – liable to burn w/ moderate rapidity;
give off a considerable volume of smoke
Classification of Hazard
 No poisonous fumes
of Contents
 No explosions
3) High hazard – liable to burn w/ extreme rapidity;
poisonous gases / explosions are to be expected in the
event of fire
 A continuous, unobstructed route of exit from any point in the
building to a public way
 Composed of 3 parts:
 Exit access – part leading to the exit
Means of Egress
 Exit – part separated from the rest of the building to
provide a protected way of travel to the exit discharge
 Exit discharge – part between the end of the exit &
public way
a) Doors
b) Stairs
c) Outside stairs
d) Horizontal exits
Permissible Exit e) Ramps
Components f) Exit passageways
g) Escalators & moving walkways
h) Fire escape stairs, ladders, & slide escapes
i) Illumination
j) Exit markings
 Intended to separate the exit from the other parts of building
 Fire resistance rating of the exit enclosure
 1 hr if exit connects 3 storeys / less
Protective Enclosure of
 2 hrs if exit connects 4 / more storeys
Exit
 But never less than required for the stairways inside the
enclosure
 All openings within the enclosure: self-closing fire resistive
 door
 But limit openings to those necessary for exit access
 The max. number of persons that may occupy any space at
any time
 Computed by dividing the floor area by the occupant load
factor indicated per occupancy type in div. 8-20 of rule 10
Occupant Load chapter 2
 Where exits serve more than one floor, only the occupant
load of that floor needs to be used in computing the capacity
of the exits of that floor, but the exit capacity shall not be
decreased in the direction of exit travel
For any storey, mezzanine, balcony, etc:
 0-500 occupant load: 2 exits
Number of Exits
 501-999 occupant load: 3 exits
 1000 / more: 4 exits

 Depends on the occupant load

 For any storey, mezzanine, balcony, etc:
Minimum Number of Exits  1-500 occupant load: 2 exits min
 501-999 occupant load: 3 exits min
 1000 / more: 4 exits min

 Exits must be readily accessible at all times

 Corridors shall provide exit access w/o passing through
intervening rooms
 When 2 exits are required; shall be located not less than ½ of
Arrangement of Exits the legth of the maximum overall diagonal dimension
of the building / area
 For buildings w/ an automatic sprinkler system; should not
be less than 1-/3 of the length of the maximum overall
diagonal dimension of the building / area
Dead End Limits 6 meters max.

Gen. rule: measure along the natural path of travel, from the
Measurement of Travel
most remote point subject for occupancy, ending at the
Distance to Exits
center of the door way or the point at which the exit begins
 Doors from a room to an exit or to a way of exit acess shall
swing with exit travel
 Gen rule: the access to exit CANNOT be through a bathroom,
Access to Exits bedroom, or any other room subject to locking
 Exit access shall be configures in such a way that it will not be
necessary to travel toward any area of high hazard occupancy
to reach the nearest exit
Gen rule: all exits shall terminate directly at a public way / at an
Discharge from Exits exterior exit discharge (yard, courts, open space that lead to a
public way)
 Depends on occupancy
Travel distance to exits  For individual rooms w/ max occupant load of 6: 15 m from
any point in the room

Headroom Min. of 2.00 m

  Provide self-enclosing mechanism for exit doors
 Must swing in the direction of exit travel (swing-out)
 When serving a room or area w/ an OL of 50 / more
persons
Doors
 When used in an exit enclosure
 When serving a high hazard contents area
 Clear opening: at least 710mm wide
 Max. door leaf width: 1220mm

 All stairways designated as a means of egress should be

continuous from the uppermost floor level to the ground floor
 Two sets of requirements:
 New stairs
 Existing stairs

Minimum dimension Minimum dimension

Feature
Stairs (mm) (in)
Minimum width 915 36
Maximum riser
205 8
height
Minimum tread
230 9
depth
Minimum headroom 2000 80
Maximum height
between landings 3660 114
Minimum dimension Minimum dimension
Feature
(mm) (in)
Minimum width See table
Maximum riser
180 7
height
Minimum riser
Dimensions of New Stairs 100 4
height
Minimum tread
280 11
depth
Minimum headroom 2000 80
Maximum height
3660 114
between landings
Total Cumulative Occupant
Minimum Width
Load Assigned to Stair
Minimum Width for New 0-49 915 mm
Stairs 50-1999 1120 mm
2000 & above 1420 mm
Reminder: no width reduction in the direction of exit travel
Feature Dimensional criteria
Minimum width clear of all obstructions,
except projections not more than one
1,120 mm
Dimensional Criteria for hundred fourteen mm (114mm) at or
New Ramps below handrail height on each side
Maximum slope 1:12
Maximum cross slope 1:48
Maximum rise for a single ramp run 760 mm
Ladders Not allowed as fire escape / means of egress
 A. FIRE ALARMS - Notifies occupants of the building & when
required, emergency forces
 Automatic fire department notification is required for:
 High rise buildings
 Hospitals
 Schools, hotels, apartments 4 storeys or taller
 Malls
B. WET STANDPIPES
Features of Fire  Required for the following:
Protection  Assembly occupancies w/ at least 1,000 OL
 Schools, hospitals, businesses, hotels, etc. 4 storeys /
taller
 Hazardous occupancies exceeding 1,860 sqm / floor
 Exceptions:
 Buildings w/ an approved sprinkler system
 All portions of the building must be w/in 6 meters of a nozzle
attached to a 22.0m long hose
 Minimum of 64mm dia
 Items to pick-out from each occupancy
 Gen. requirements
Occupancy-Specific  Occupant load factors
requirements  Maximum travel distances to exits
 Exit details
 Unique requirements applicable to each occupancy
 Used to determine the occupant load (max. number of
persons that may be allowed to occupy a particular building
or a space)
Occupant Load = Floor Area/ Occupant Load Factor
OCCUPANT TYPE OCCUPANT LOAD (SQM/PERSON)
Place of assembly
Concentrated use 0.65
Less concentrated use 1.40
Standing room 0.28
Educational
Classrom 1.90
Shops, laboratories,
4.60
vocational rooms
Dry nurseries w/ sleeping
3.30
facilities
Day care 3.30
Health care
Sleeping departments 11.10
Occupant load factors Inpatient healthcare
22.30
treatment
Residential board & care
Large facilities 18.60
Detention & correctional 11.10
Residential (except single &
18.60
two-family dwellings)
Mercantile
Street floor 2.80
Below street floor 2.80
Upper floors 5.60
Any floor used for offices,
storage, not open to gen 9.30
public
Business
Default 9.30
Concentrated use (bpo, cc) 4.60
Industrial 9.30
Storage No occupant load factor
provided. Determine on the
basis of max. probable
population