Legislation and regulations for fire safety

Fire safety and prevention in B.C. is governed by the following legislation and regulations.

Legislation

As of August 1, 2024, the Fire Safety Act has replaced the Fire Services Act. With the Fire Safety Act the Office of the Fire Commissioner will be enabled to:

• Support local governments in the designation of inspectors and investigators
• Implement better processes for fire orders, evacuation orders and the appeal process
• Enable and augment the local authority to evacuate premises either in an emergency or for preventative reasons
• Collaborate with the Ministry of Housing in the adoption of the BC Fire Code
• Implement and manage a new administrative penalty enforcement framework

Regulations

These regulations are under the Fire Safety Act:

• Fire Safety Regulation is the regulation that sets limitations for the specific sections of the Fire Safety Act, including:
  • Sets the maximum that can be recovered under Section 15 for securing evacuated premises by the local authority
  • Sets the maximum administrative penalty that can be issued for failure to provide information to a designated Inspector or Investigator performing their duties
  • Sets the maximums for a daily administrative penalty resulting from ongoing non-compliance.
  • Supports any monitoring entities with setting up their required compliance monitoring systems based on a risk assessment. The risk assessment enhances the British Columbia Building Code and the BC Fire Code as it incorporates more factors that can affect the susceptibility of a premises to a fire hazard.