Fire Safety Manager




	e-Fire Safety Manager System (eFSM)

	e-Fire Safety Manager Portal e-Fire Safety Manager System (eFSM) Certification/Update Instructions to Appoint/Terminate Fire Safety Managers (FSM) (, 4.34 MB) New eFSM system for appointment, termination of FSM, and updating of building information

	Proposed Amendments to Fire Safety (Fire Safety Managers) Regulations
	Proposed Amendments to Fire Safety (Fire Safety Managers) Regulations: Summary of Public feedback/comments received and SCDF’s Response (, 47 KB)

	Download slides of FSM Briefing conducted during 26th May 2009 to 9th July 2009
	Download Briefing Materials All materials are in pdf format. Paper 1 : Sharing Of FSMs' Encounters (, 1.46 MB) Speaker : Maj Winson Cheung Paper 2 : E-FSM system (, 7.01 MB) Speaker : CPT George Chow Paper 3 : Overview Of Fire Alarm Systems And Maintenance (, 1.48 MB) Speaker : Mr David / Mr Matthew (FSMAS) Paper 4 : What FSM Needs To Know About Means Of Escape (, 1.06 MB) Speaker : MAJ Choh Choon Jin Paper 5 : Sharing Of Enforcement Cases (, 1.17 MB) Speaker : LTA Nicholas Tang


	Background
	The Fire Safety Manager (FSM) Scheme aims to ensure and enhance the fire safety standard within buildings. Through the Fire Safety Manager, fire safety activities and fire prevention measures are also implemented to promote fire safety awareness among the building occupants. Engagement of a Fire Safety Manager will help owners of buildings prevent substantial monetary and life losses resulting from fires. The scheme was given wide publicity since 1989 and with the passing of the Fire Safety Act 1993 and the Fire Safety (Fire Safety Manager) Regulations 1994, it has become mandatory for owners of designated buildings to appoint Fire Safety Managers. The amended FSM regulations which was gazetted on 13 Apr 2007 aims to make further improvements to the FSM scheme.


	Building Requiring A Fire Safety Manager
	All Commercial or Industrial Buildings which satisfy at least one of the following conditions, are required to appoint a fire safety manager: a. Public Building (inclusive of Commercial Building) • is of 9 storeys or more (including any basement) in height; • is used, constructed or adapted to be used as a hospital; • has a floor area of 5000 square metres or more; or • has an occupant load of 1000 persons or more b. Industrial Building • has a floor area or site area of 5000 square metres or more; or • has an occupant load of 1,000 persons or more


	Duties Of Fire Safety Manager
	The main duties of a Fire Safety Manager (FSM) are: • To conduct checks and remove or cause to remove any fire hazard that is found in the premises; • To oversee the maintenance of the fire safety systems in the premises; • To test the fire safety systems to ensure that they are in good operating condition; • To educate the occupants in establishing a fire safe environment; • To train the occupants in basic fire fighting and rescue; • To conduct fire drills, table-top exercise (TTE) and to evaluate the evacuation procedures; • To supervise the operation of the Fire Command Centre (if available); • To set up a fire safety committee made up of suitable staff from the occupants; • To put up reports to the owners on the fire safety of the premises. • To be familiar with the various procedures of applications, submission processes and enforcement matters. • To liaise and co-ordinate with SCDF on all matters relating to fire safety and its requirements. • To conduct at least two Table-Top Exercises and two fire drills within the specified premises within 12 months period (calendar year - Jan to Dec) and evaluate the effectiveness of such exercises and drills. • To prepare and implement the Arson Prevention Plan (APP) • To notify the SCDF immediately of any occurrence of fire incidents in the premises.


	Qualifications of Fire Safety Manager
	Fire Safety Managers are required to attend the courses conducted by SCDF at the Civil Defence Academy. Any person who wishes to become a Fire Safety Manager should possess any of the following qualifications: Ngee Ann Polytechnic a. Certificate in Fire Safety Manager Course (Commercial) b. Certificate in Fire Safety Manager Course (Industrial) c. Certificate in Fire Safety Manager Course (17th Batch onwards) d. Certificate in Fire Engineering Course e. Advanced Diploma in Fire & Safety Management f. Diploma in Building Services Engineering in & after 1991 - For Commercial Buildings & Industrial Buildings. g. Advanced Diploma in Safety, Health & Environmental Management – Year 2001 Onwards h. Diploma in Building & Real Estate Management – Year 2001 Onwards i. Diploma in Building & Real Estate Management j. Diploma in Facilities Management for Business k. Diploma in Technology (Building Services) Temasek Polytechnic l. Diploma in Security and Fire Safety Management Civil Defence Academy m. Certificate in Fire Safety Manager Course n. Certificate in Fire Safety Manager Course (Conversion Course) – Commercial to Industrial o. Certificate in Fire Safety Manager Course (Conversion Course) – Industrial to Commercial For those interested in applying for FSM related courses conducted in Civil Defence Academy, you may contact CPT June Lee (6794 5606). For further information on the list of courses conducted, please click here. Minimum entry requirement Criteria to sign up for Fire Safety Manager Course - 3 GCE 'O' level passes in English, Mathematics and a Physical Science subject. **Note: Any building owner who wants to appoint a FSM for his / her building is strongly recommended to nominate a suitable staff who is in the higher management to attend and pass the course.


	Certification of Fire Safety Manager
	As from 13 April 2007, all FSMs holding the relevant FSM qualification need to be certified by Commissioner in order to be able to be appointed and practice as a FSM. Qualified FSMs needs to register with FSSD to be certified. Upon completion of the registration, a Certification Letter will be issued to the FSM via by post. All existing qualified FSM (Appointed or Non-appointed) who have obtained their FSM’s qualifications before the start of the 1st CPD cycle on 1 Jan 2008, they will be given a grace period from now till 31 Dec 2007 to apply to SCDF via the SCDF’s website for certification. Newly graduated FSMs who have just passed out within any of the CPD cycle will be given a grace period of 3 years from the date of his graduation to register with SCDF (FSSD) to be certified. FSMs who are not certified after the grace period will be barred from registering with SCDF (FSSD) and cannot be appointed by building owners as FSMs subsequently. Building owners or occupiers are reminded to note that FSMs who are not certified will not be allowed to be appointed and practice. FSMs who wish to be certified can log in to the e-fsm portal: http://www.scdf.gov.sg/Building_Professionals/E_Services/index.html


	Continual Professional Development (CPD) For Fire Safety Manager
	The CPD program has been instituted for FSMs to upgrade their knowledge and skills and to keep abreast with the new developments in the fire safety domain. The CPD program may be organised by the SCDF or other organisations in the form of refresher courses, workshops, seminars or dialogues and briefings. However, such activities must be accredited by the SCDF and allocated with points. Please click on the hyperlink to view the list of courses approved for CPD programme. FSMs who have been certified by SCDF are required to participate in the Continual Professional Development (CPD) programme. Certified FSMs will be awarded the specified CPD points upon completion of any CPD programme. FSMs are to accumulate a minimum of 30 points within the 3 years cycle in order to remain as a Certified FSM. By the last month before the end of the CPD cycle, FSM is required to submit all the relevant documents to SCDF to prove that she/he has successfully met the CPD requirement. The 1st CPD cycle will commence on 1 Jan 2008. However, FSMs can actually start accumulating the CPD points (from 01 June 2007 to 31 Dec 2007), before the actual commencement of 1st CPD cycle (from 1 Jan 2008 till 31 Dec 2010).


	Concession for Appointed Fire Safety Manager
	FSMs who have been appointed continuously for the 3 years cycle and have attended at least one FSSD FSM’s yearly briefings within the cycle; they will be deemed as fulfilling the CPD requirement.


	Re-certification of Fire Safety Manager
	At the end of the 3-year fixed CPD cycle, FSMs will need to be re-certified in order to be able to be practise in the coming CPD cycle. FSMs need to make application for their re-certification at least 30 days before the end of each CPD cycle. If they have not met the minimum requirements of 30 points within the 3-year cycle, their recertification will not be approved. They will be deregistered and cannot be certified for that coming cycle. FSM who is not certified will not be allowed to be appointed and practised as FSM.


	Appointment and Termination of Fire Safety Manager
	New premises which require FSM need to be appointed with a FSM within 90 days. In the event that the FSM terminates his appointment, the owner or occupier of the premises needs to re-appoint a new FSM within 14 days. They are to notify SCDF within 14 days via SCDF’s website on either appointment or termination of FSM. You can obtain the following services for FSM at the following link: • Appointment/Termination of FSM


	Status Of Fire Safety Manager Scheme Implementation
	As of Dec 2004, there were more than 660 commercial and 1259 industrial buildings that have appointed FSMs. Owners of new commercial and industrial buildings that have been completed, are required by law to appoint FSMs if their buildings fall into the criteria for having FSMs.


	Fire Safety Report
	As of December 2004, Arson Prevention Plan (APP) should be included into the Annual Fire Safety Report. A sample copy of the report is available at the following link: • Fire Safety Report For further clarifications on the FSM scheme, you may contact WO Azmi Md Hashim (6848 1434) or LTA Md Nurelfi (6848 1411).


	Penalty
	Failure to appoint a FSM will result in the owner of the building / premises being fined $10,000 or sentenced to a prison term of 6 months or to both.


	Amendments To Fire Safety Manager (FSM) Regulations
	In an effort to improve the FSM scheme , some changes have been made to the regulations since April 2007. The proposed changes were surfaced for public comments via the SCDF website; and their feedbacks were taken into consideration in the changes made to the regulations. FSMs have undertaken additional roles in the current security climate such as implementing the Arson Prevention Plan and conducting table-top exercises. Under the amended scheme, these roles will be formalised. Also, there are approximately 4000 qualified FSMs in the scheme who have not been appointed as FSM. Hence, in order to ensure their knowledge and competency is kept current, all FSMs will be required to attend Continual Professional Development programmes before they can be appointed to undertake this appointment. The key amendments to the FSM regulations are as follows:- i. Mandatory for all FSMs to participate in Continual Professional Development (CPD) programme if they wish to be appointed as FSM The CPD program has been instituted for FSMs to upgrade their knowledge and skills and to keep abreast with the new developments in the fire safety domain. The CPD program may be organised by the SCDF or other organisations in the form of refresher courses, workshops, seminars or dialogues and briefings. However, such activities must be accredited by the SCDF and allocated with points. All existing FSMs who may be appointed or not, must register with SCDF before the start of the first CPD cycle, on 01 January 2008, to become a certified FSM. The FSM will be issued with a Certification Letter to indicate the period of certification once he/she successfully completes the registration. FSMs who wish to be certified can log in to the e-fsm portal: http://www.scdf.gov.sg/Building_Professionals/E_Services/index.html Once certified, the FSM is required to participate in the CPD program, where they are required to accumulate a minimum 30 points within a 3-year period to remain as a certified FSM regardless of his appointment status. At the end of the 3-year CPD cycle, FSMs will need to be re-certified. If they had not met the minimum requirements of 30 points within the 3-year cycle, their recertification will not be approved. They will be deregistered and not be certified for that coming cycle. Building owners or occupiers are reminded that FSMs who are not certified will not be allowed to be appointed and practise as a FSM. ii. Reduction of grace period for re-appointment of FSM from 44 days to 14 days The existing FSM Regulations allow a 44-day grace period for the owner or occupier of the designated building to appoint a new FSM to replace the one who has resigned. This results in a long lapse of time that a building is without a FSM to assist the owner with key fire safety functions. As the FSM plays a vital role in keeping a close watch on the safety of the building, it is important that a FSM is available at all times. Therefore, the grace period for building owners or occupiers to re-appoint a FSM has been revised to 14 days. iii. Expanding and formalising the duties of FSM to include Arson Prevention Plan (APP) and conduct of table-top exercises in addition to emergency drills The role of the FSM has taken on a bigger dimension, in relation to today’s security climate. Since 2003, all FSMs are required to implement APP and conduct table-top exercises in addition to emergency drills. The objective of the APP is to enhance protection for the building’s fire safety systems against possible sabotage whilst table-top exercises enable members of the Fire Safety Committee to practice the procedures of dealing with emergencies. Formalising these additional tasks ensures that necessary changes are carried out to improve the overall fire safety in the premises. iv. Withdrawal of the minimum age criteria of 30 years for a person to be appointed as FSM The existing regulations stipulate the minimum age criteria for a person to be appointed as an FSM as 30 years. However, on a case-by-case basis, SCDF had allowed FSMs below 30 years of age to be appointed predominantly because they possess the relevant qualifications and competencies. They have since proven themselves capable of discharging the duties of an FSM just as well as their older counterparts. Thus, under the amended regulations, the age criteria for appointment of FSMs will be removed. Members of public who have further queries or clarifications to make on the amendments to the FSM Regulations may contact MAJ Winson Cheung (6848 1433) or LTA Md Nurelfi (6848 1411).