National Fire Agency eases review deadline on fire-goods certification rules

The National Fire Agency said it had revised a rule governing fire-goods quality control so that the criteria for cancelling performance certification are no longer subject to a periodic review deadline, part of a two-ordinance cleanup aimed at making regulatory reviews more efficient.

The revision, issued as part of a bundled amendment to two ordinances of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, took effect the same day it was issued, Oct. 19. The change touches Article 44-2 of the Rules on the Quality Control of Fire Goods, which now requires the fire agency chief to examine the standard for judging serious defects under Article 40, paragraph 2, once every three years, measured from Jan. 1, 2016, with any improvements to be made before Jan. 1 of each third year.

Previously that review clause was attached to the cancellation criteria for performance certification. The amendment removes that requirement while keeping the defect-judgment standard under review.

The same bundle shifted the review base date, rather than abolishing it, for the provision setting qualifications for technicians who conduct in-house checks of fire facilities under the Enforcement Rules of the Act on Installation and Management of Fire Facilities.

The change carries no new obligation for fire-goods manufacturers, whose certification requirements are unchanged; it affects only when and whether the government re-examines the rules themselves. The three-year cycle for the serious-defect standard remains in place.