Act · 2022 Revised Edition · 6 parts
Fire Safety Act
Fire safetyPart
Preliminary
Official textFrom Attorney General's Chambers, unchanged
s 1Citation
This Act may be cited as the Fire Safety Act.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires —
“authorised officer” means any person appointed as such under section 4;
“building” has the same meaning as in the Building Control
Order, 2014 (S 69/2014);
“building works” has the same meaning as in the Building Control
Order, 2014 (S 69/2014);
“class of petroleum” means any petroleum prescribed to be a class of petroleum for the purposes of this Act;
“Director” means the Director of Fire and Rescue;
“fire hazard” means any matter or circumstance which materially increases the likelihood of fire or the danger to life or property that would result from the outbreak of fire and includes —
any alteration to any building in contravention of any written law relating to building works or fire safety works such as might render escape in the event of fire more difficult;
the overcrowding of any public building or any building used occasionally or regularly for public worship or religious ceremonies such as might render escape in the event of fire more difficult;
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any removal from any building of any fire safety measure which was provided in such building in accordance with plans approved by the Director under section 26;
the presence in any building of any fire safety measure which from lack of proper maintenance or for any other reason is not in efficient working order;
the obstruction of escape routes, passageways, common property or limited common property of any building such as might render escape in the event of fire more difficult; and
any other matter or circumstance which would materially hamper the Force in the discharge of its duties in the event of fire;
“fire hazard abatement notice” means a notice in writing issued by the Director under section 16(1);
“fire protection system” includes any installation, equipment or works manufactured, used or designed to be used for the purposes of —
extinguishing, attacking, preventing or limiting a fire and its by-product; or
giving warning of a fire;
“fire protection works” means the provision, extension or alteration of any fire protection system;
“fire safety measures” includes any installation, equipment or works manufactured, used or designed to be used for the purposes of —
extinguishing, attacking, preventing or limiting a fire and controlling the spread of smoke resulting from the fire;
giving warning of a fire;
providing access to any premises or place for the purpose of extinguishing, attacking, preventing or limiting a fire;
providing means of escape; or
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providing a means of communication to facilitate fire-fighting operations or the evacuation of persons in the event of fire;
“fire safety works” means any fire protection works, fire safety measures, relevant pipeline works or minor works;
“flammable material” means any substance prescribed to be a flammable material for the purposes of this Act;
“member” means a person who is either a senior officer, a subordinate officer, or of the rank and file of the Fire and Rescue;
“minor works” means —
the addition, alteration or repair of a building that involves the use of combustible materials or that affects the means of escape or the effectiveness of fire safety measures; or
the provision, extension or alteration of any air-conditioning service or ventilating system in or in connection with a building;
“occupier”, in relation to any premises, means the person in occupation of the premises or having the charge, management or control thereof and, in relation to any part of any premises different parts of which are occupied by different persons, means the person in occupation or having the charge, management or control of that part;
“owner” —
in relation to any premises, includes any mortgagee in possession and any person for the time being receiving the rent of the premises whether on his own account or as agent or trustee or as receiver, or who would receive the same if the premises were let to a tenant:
in relation to the common property of any building erected on land comprised in a strata subdivision plan approved by the competent authority, means the management corporation having control of the building;
in relation to the limited common property of any building erected on land comprised in a strata subdivision plan approved by the competent authority, means the subsidiary
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management corporation having control of that limited common property;
in respect of any fire safety measure, includes the occupier or the owner of the premises in or on which the fire safety measure is installed or kept;
in relation to an aircraft or a vessel, includes the charterer of the aircraft or vessel, as the case may be; and
in relation to a vehicle, means the registered owner of the vehicle;
“petroleum” includes crude petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas and other naturally occurring hydrocarbon liquid derived from crude petroleum, coal, shale, peat or other bituminous substances;
“pipeline” includes any section of a pipeline;
“pipeline owner”, in relation to any section of a relevant pipeline, means —
a person who owns or leases the piperack or pipetrack and manages that section of the relevant pipeline; or
if paragraph (a) does not apply, a person who owns or leases that section of the relevant pipeline and uses that section of the relevant pipeline for the conveyance of any class of petroleum or any flammable material:
“piperack” means a multi-tiered rack supporting one or more pipelines above the ground;
“pipetrack” means an area where one or more pipelines are supported on sleepers on the ground;
“premises” includes messuages, houses, buildings, lands, tenements, easements and hereditaments of any tenure, whether open or enclosed, whether built or not, whether public or private, and whether or not maintained under statutory authority;
“public building” means a building or part of a building —
used as a hospital or a nursing home;
used ordinarily or occasionally to provide residential care to aged persons or child care for groups of children;
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used wholly or mainly as or in connection with a hotel, shop or restaurant; or
where the public or any part thereof or numbers of persons occasionally or regularly assemble for —
civic or social (but not religious or educational)
purposes;
entertainment, recreational or sporting purposes;
or
business purposes;
“qualified person” means a person who is registered as —
an architect under the
Architects,
Professional
Engineers and Quantity Surveyors Order, 2011 (S 33/2011) and has in force a practising certificate issued under section 26 of that Order; or
a professional engineer under the
Architects,
Professional Engineers and Quantity Surveyors Order, 2011
(S 33/2011) and has in force a practising certificate issued under section 26 of that Order;
“rank and file” means a member of the Fire and Rescue below the rank of a subordinate officer;
“regulations” means regulations made under section 63;
“relevant pipeline” means a pipeline used, or to be used, for the conveyance of any class of petroleum or any flammable material, and includes the piperack or pipetrack for the management of the pipeline but does not include such a pipeline located in licensed premises;
“relevant pipeline works” means the construction, alteration or repair of a relevant pipeline;
“senior officer” means a member of the Fire and Rescue of the rank of Superintendent or above;
“street” includes —
any road, bridge, underpass, tunnel, square, footway or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not, over which the public has a right of way; and
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any road, footway or passage, open court or open alley, used or intended to be used as a means of access to two or more holdings, whether the public has a right of way thereover or not, and all channels, drains, ditches and reserves that are deemed to be part of the street;
“subordinate officer” means a member of the Fire and Rescue of the rank of Station Officer or Assistant Station Officer;
“vessel” includes —
any ship or boat or air-cushioned vehicle; and
any rig or platform, whether floating at sea or fixed to the sea bed, used in any form of operations at sea.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to premises or building includes a reference to a part of such premises or building, as the case may be.
For the purposes of the definition of “pipeline owner” in subsection (1), the owner of the land on which any piperack, pipetrack or pipeline is located shall not be regarded as the person who owns or leases the piperack, pipetrack or pipeline (as the case may be) by reason only that the piperack, pipetrack or pipeline is a fixture annexed to that land.
Subject to subsection (2), this Act binds the Government.
For the avoidance of doubt, this Act shall be read subject to
Article 84C of the Constitution of Brunei Darussalam, and nothing in this
Act shall be construed as conferring on any court any jurisdiction or power to entertain any proceedings referred to in Article 84C of the Constitution of
Brunei Darussalam.
The Minister may, with the approval of His Majesty the Sultan and
Yang Di-Pertuan, appoint any person to be an authorised officer to carry into effect any specific provisions of this Act or of any regulations made thereunder.
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In the exercise of his powers and in carrying out his duties under this Act, an authorised officer shall comply with such directions as may be given to him by the Director.
The powers conferred and the duties imposed on the Director under this Act, except sections 5, 6, 7, 8 and 50, may be exercised and carried out by any rank and file generally or specially authorised by name or office by the Director subject to his directions.
s 5Powers in event of fire
The Director or any authoriscd officer may, in the event of a fire or a suspected fire, by himself or with other members under his command —
enter, break into or through and take possession of or demolish or cause to be taken possession of or demolished any premises or structure for the purpose of extinguishing or preventing the spread of the fire;
enter, break into, take possession of, remove or destroy, or cause to be taken possession of, removed or destroyed, any aircraft, vehicle, vessel or thing for the purpose of extinguishing or preventing the spread of the fire;
take any equipment required to be used into, through or upon any premises, aircraft, vehicle or vessel where he thinks it necessary for the purpose of carrying out his duties;
remove from any building, structure, aircraft, vehicle or vessel which is on fire or is in the vicinity of the fire, any flammable, combustible, explosive or dangerous material found therein without responsibility for any consequent loss or damage;
for the purpose of extinguishing or preventing the spread of the fire, cause any building or structure which is on fire, or which is adjacent to or in the vicinity of any building or structure which is on fire, to be pulled down, either wholly or partially, or otherwise destroyed or damaged;
cause water to be shut off from, or turned into, any main or pipe in order to obtain a greater pressure and supply of water for the purpose of extinguishing the fire in consultation with the Department of Water Services;
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shut off or disconnect, or order any person having the control thereof to shut off or disconnect, the supply of gas, petroleum, flammable material or electricity to any premises which is on fire or which is in the vicinity of the fire;
close or cause to be closed any street in the vicinity of the fire or calamity;
remove any aircraft, vehicle, vessel or thing impeding the operation of the Fire and Rescue and, where reasonably necessary for that purpose, he may use force or break into any such aircraft, vehicle, vessel or thing;
remove, using reasonable force if necessary, any person who, by his presence or otherwise, interferes with the fire-fighting operations or who is, in his opinion, endangered by the fire;
control and direct all operations for the extinguishing of the fire and all fire services present and all persons present there who place their services at his disposal;
use any convenient supply of water; and
generally do all other things that are reasonably necessary for protecting life or property or for extinguishing the fire or for preventing the spread thereof.
The Director or any authorised officer on producing, if so required, an authenticated document showing his authority, shall have a right to enter any premises at all reasonable hours for the purpose of —
ascertaining whether there is or has been, on or in connection with the premises, any contravention of any of the provisions of this
Act;
obtaining information required for fire-fighting purposes with respect to the character of the premises, the availability of water supplies and the means of access thereto and other material circumstances relating to fire-fighting purposes;
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conducting fire-drills and exercises, provided prior reasonable notice in writing is given to the owner or occupier of such premises;
ascertaining whether there exists in the premises any fire hazard;
ascertaining whether or not any place of public assembly or premises used for purposes of entertainment or recreation are being used to accommodate a larger number of persons than is permitted under any regulations made under this Act;
checking and testing fire safety measures; and
performance by the Director of his powers under this or any other written law.
Subject to subsection (3), the Director or any authorised officer under subsection (1) shall not exercise the right of entry conferred by subsection (1) unless 24 hours’ notice in writing of the intended entry has been given to the occupier.
Subsection (2) does not apply in respect of any entry into a place of public entertainment or public assembly, factory, workshop or workplace or premises otherwise used for business purposes.
The Director or any authorised officer on producing, if so required, an authenticated document showing his authority shall have a right to board any vessel at all reasonable hours for all or any of the following purposes —
obtaining information required for fire-fighting purposes with respect to the character of the vessel, the availability of water supplies and the means of access thereto and other material circumstances relating to fire-fighting purposes;
conducting fire-drills and exercises;
performance by the Director or the member of his or its powers under this Act or any other written law.
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The Director or any authorised officer shall not exercise the right to board any vessel conferred by subsection (1) unless prior reasonable notice in writing has been given to the owner of a vessel.
For the purposes of investigating the cause or origin of any fire which has occurred in or on any aircraft, vessel or vehicle, or in or on any premises, the Director or any authorised officer —
may enter and inspect those premises or any adjacent premises, or may board the aircraft, vessel or vehicle, as the case may be; and
may seize or detain the aircraft or vehicle.
The power conferred under subsection (l)(a) on the Director or any authorised officer may be exercised —
without notice within a period of 48 hours after the fire on the premises, aircraft, vessel or vehicle, as the case may be, has been put out; and
in any other case, only after giving notice in writing of the intended entry to the occupier of the premises or intended boarding to the owner of the aircraft, vessel or vehicle, as the case may be.
However, this section does not authorise the Director or any authorised officer, to enter any part of premises, or to board any part of an aircraft, vessel or vehicle, as the case may be, without first producing, if so required, an authenticated document showing his authority to so enter or board.
For the avoidance of doubt, nothing in this section shall limit the powers of any authority to investigate accidents under any written law for the time being in force relating to air navigation or merchant shipping.
The Director or any authorised officer exercising the powers under section 6, 7 or 8 may (so far as may be reasonably necessary for the purpose to which his exercise of the powers relates) do all or any of the following in the premises, aircraft, vehicle or vessel, as the case may be —
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take with him any assistance or equipment;
search the premises, aircraft, vehicle or vessel;
take photographs or video recordings of and conduct any inspection, measurement or test on the premises, aircraft, vehicle or vessel or any thing found therein;
take, without payment, for the purpose of examination reasonable samples of any description from the premises, aircraft, vehicle or vessel;
seize or detain any thing found in the premises, aircraft, vehicle or vessel that he believes on reasonable grounds to be connected with the commission of any offence against this Act or to be otherwise relevant to the administration or enforcement of this Act:
do any other thing reasonably necessary for carrying out the purpose to which his exercise of the powers relates.
For the purposes of section 6, 7 or 8 or subsection (l)(b), the
Director or any authorised officer may —
require the owner or occupier of the premises, or the owner or person having charge of the aircraft, vehicle or vessel, as the case may be, to provide all reasonable assistance to the Director or authorised officer; and
if the circumstances so warrant, with such assistance as he thinks necessary, break open any door, window, lock, fastener, hold, compartment, box, container, receptacle or any other thing.
Any person who fails to comply with any requirement made under subsection (2)(a) is guilty of an offence.
Where the Director or any authorised officer seizes any thing under subsection (l)(e), he shall —
immediately give notice in writing of the seizure to the owner of the thing seized or to the agent of such owner; or
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if the name and address of the owner or agent of the thing seized are not known, affix a notice prominently at the place where the thing was seized.
Any person aggrieved by the seizure of any thing under subsection (l)(e) may, within 48 hours after the seizure, complain thereof to the Minister, whose decision is final.
Upon considering such complaint, the Minister may —
confirm the seizure wholly or in part;
disallow the seizure wholly or in part; or
order that any thing seized be restored to its owner, subject to any condition which the Minister may think fit to impose to ensure that the thing is preserved for any purpose for which it may subsequently be required.
Any thing seized under subsection (l)(e) may be kept or stored at the place where it was seized or may, at the direction of the Director or authorised officer, be removed to any other place to be kept or stored.
The Director or any authorised officer may mark, seal or label any thing being detained under subsection (l)(e) in such manner as he thinks fit for the purpose of indicating that the thing is under detention and may lock or seal the place (or any part thereof) in which the thing is being detained.
Any person who, without the authority of the Director or an authorised officer —
interferes with, removes or otherwise disposes of any thing seized or detained under section 6, 7 or 8 or tampers with, alters or removes any mark, seal or label placed under subsection (6); or
opens, breaks or otherwise tampers with the lock or seal placed under subsection (6), is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.
Subsections (4) to (9) apply to any aircraft or vehicle seized under section 8 as if they were seized or detained under subsection (l)(e).
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Nothing in this section shall be taken to prejudice any right to retain or dispose of property which may exist in law apart from this section.
s 10Exemption of Royal Brunei Armed Forces
Sections 5 to 9 do not apply to any aircraft, vehicle or vessel belonging to or exclusively employed in the service of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces or of any visiting force lawfully present in Brunei Darussalam.
Upon giving 7 days’ notice in writing to the owner or occupier of any property situate in the vicinity of a fire hydrant or water supply, the
Director may thereafter cause a plate indicating the location of such fire hydrant or water supply to be fixed to any part of the property as may, in the opinion of the Director, be best suited to indicate such location.
Any person who refuses to allow the fixing of any such plate referred to in subsection (1), or obstructs any person in the course of the fixing thereof or removes or defaces any such plate after it has been so fixed is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1,000
and, in the case of a second or subsequent conviction, to a fine not exceeding $3,000 and imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months.
s 12Power to install fire hydrants
The Director may place or cause to be placed fire hydrants as he may think necessary at convenient places in streets or roads.
Any person who —
not being a member, takes water from a fire hydrant other than for the extinguishment of a fire without the consent of the
Director;
covers up, encloses, or conceals any fire hydrant so as to render its location difficult to ascertain;
wilfully damages a fire hydrant; or
tampers with any fire hydrant,
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is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.
Any person convicted of an offence under subsection (l)(b) shall, in addition to the fine imposed on him under that subsection, also be liable to pay compensation to the Government for any expenses reasonably incurred in repairing or replacing such fire hydrant.
Any person who knowingly gives or causes to be given a false alarm of fire to the member or to the police is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 months or both.
For the purposes of this section, “false alarm of fire” includes a false call for the ambulance or other services provided by the member.
s 15Damage etc. to fire protection system
Any person who damages, conceals, or activates or deactivates, any fire protection system without reasonable excuse is guilty of an offence and liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.
Part
Fire Hazard in Premises
Part
Fire Prevention in Buildings
Part
Control of Fire Safety Works
Part
Control of Petroleum and Flammable Materials
Part