As a large-scale industry that is deeply involved in all aspects of social life, property management related enterprises are closely related to all aspects of daily life, and the compliance management of property management companies should also be paid attention to, and "fire compliance" is a very important and necessary part of their compliance management.
Text | Lu Yang, Yang Min, Jian Weiyan*
Source | Manager Magazine
In recent years, the scale of the property management industry in mainland China has continued to expand. According to the relevant data of the China Property Management Industry Association, the number of domestic property service enterprises has exceeded 200,000, with nearly 10 million employees, a property area of 37 billion square meters under management, and a market size of 1.4 trillion yuan.
According to the relevant data of the China Index Property Research Institute, taking the area under management of various types of projects with contract expiration in Beijing in 2023 as an example, residential properties account for the highest proportion of all types of area under management, reaching more than 50%, followed by office properties and commercial properties, in addition to industrial park properties, school properties, public properties, hospital properties and other types of properties.
The property management industry is huge in scale and closely related to all aspects of daily life, and the compliance management of property management companies should also be paid attention to, and "fire compliance" is a very important part of their compliance management.
"Fire compliance" refers to the compliance of an enterprise's fire safety management system. Specifically, the relevant system shall comply with national laws and regulations, industry standards and relevant normative requirements. Fire safety is the lifeline of an enterprise and the red line of its compliance operation.
In the actual production and operation, there are often many fire safety hazards, which have led to a number of heart-wrenching fire accidents:
On January 19, 2024, a fire broke out in a dormitory of Yingcai School in Yanshanpu Village, Dushu Town, Fangcheng County, Nanyang City, Henan Province, killing 13 people and injuring 4 others.
On January 24, 2024, a fire broke out in a frontage shop in Yushui District, Xinyu City, Jiangxi Province, killing 39 people and injuring 9 others.
On May 16, 2024, a fire broke out at the Yifa Market at No. 93 Renmin South Road, Liwan District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, killing one person. Fire accidents have caused huge losses to the lives and property safety of the people, and in order to eliminate fire hazards, it is a must for property management companies to strictly carry out fire safety compliance work.
Fire compliance measures
Property management companies shall, in accordance with the current laws and regulations of the mainland, establish a sound fire safety management system to clarify fire safety responsibilities and implement the fire safety responsibilities of personnel at all levels. In the current legal system of the mainland, laws and regulations related to fire safety mainly include the Fire Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, the Work Safety Law of the People's Republic of China, the Fire Safety Management Regulations of Organs, Groups, Enterprises and Public Institutions, the Interim Regulations on the Management of Fire Protection Design Review and Acceptance of Construction Projects, the Fire Safety Management Regulations on High-rise Civil Buildings, and the Regulations on Social Fire Safety Education and Training. These regulations specify in detail the fire safety requirements for all types of buildings and places, and property management companies should formulate specific fire safety management systems in accordance with these regulations to ensure that each link has rules to follow and laws to follow.
In terms of the establishment of specific systems, property management companies should set up a special fire safety management department to be responsible for formulating and implementing various fire safety systems. The fire safety system can include a responsibility system for clarifying the fire safety responsibilities of internal personnel at all levels, an inspection system for clarifying the regular inspection plan to discover and eliminate hidden dangers in a timely manner, a training system for regularly organizing employees to conduct fire safety-related knowledge and skills training, and an emergency plan system for clarifying the response measures in the event of a fire. Through the establishment and implementation of these systems, property management companies can effectively improve the overall fire protection level.
First of all, in the decision-making process, the property management company should hold regular fire safety special meetings. Combined with the relevant provisions of Article 16 of the People's Republic of China Fire Protection Law, the property management company may hold special decision-making meetings on issues such as the development of regular inspections and the activation of emergency plans.
Secondly, according to the law, enterprises should regularly organize inspections and maintenance of fire-fighting facilities and equipment to ensure that they are in good condition and effective. The property management company can hold a regular inspection meeting every quarter, which is organized by the fire safety management department to summarize the fire safety work of the previous quarter, put forward the existing problems and formulate improvement measures, and combine the characteristics of different times and seasons (such as the characteristics of dry weather in winter and the characteristics of more hidden dangers in the masses for heating) to formulate targeted and focused prevention plans. In the event of a fire or other emergency, the property management company shall immediately activate the emergency plan and convene an emergency meeting. The emergency plan meeting should be presided over by the company's senior leaders, and the heads of relevant departments should be convened to discuss and accurately implement the emergency treatment plan to ensure a rapid and effective response to the emergency.
In addition to the above two types of situations, property management companies should also actively hold meetings on other fire safety-related matters based on their own scale and the needs of the type of land under management, and strive to form implementable decisions through the meetings.
In addition, fire safety equipment is an indispensable key link in fire safety assurance, and should also become a necessary basic link for enterprises to carry out fire safety compliance. There are many types of fire safety equipment, and there are usually laws, regulations and local rules, and the property management company should be based on the requirements of the local fire department to carry out complete equipment support, such as fire pipes and trigger systems, fire extinguishing equipment, fire prevention materials and fire doors, fire escapes, etc.
In addition, according to Article 17 of the Fire Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, key fire safety units shall conduct pre-job fire safety training for employees, and regularly organize fire safety training and fire drills. In fact, fire safety training is very important for all companies and individuals. As a property management company, employees should be organized to learn the content of relevant laws and regulations to enhance their legal awareness and compliance awareness; Learn the operation methods and skills of various fire-fighting equipment and facilities to ensure that employees can correctly operate and maintain fire-fighting equipment; Learn the emergency response measures in the event of a fire, including alarm, extinguishing the initial fire, personnel evacuation, etc., to improve the emergency response ability of employees. In addition, the way of fire safety training carried out by property management companies should be as diverse as possible, combining theoretical teaching, practical method teaching and simulated practical exercises, so as to truly achieve the training effect and achieve the purpose of training. Property management companies can hire fire experts or professional training institutions to conduct centralized training, comprehensively and systematically explain fire protection knowledge and skills, and can also regularly organize simulated fire drills to simulate real fire scenarios and test and improve employees' emergency response capabilities. Through comprehensive training and learning, enhance the fire safety awareness and skills of the company's employees, in order to truly lay a solid foundation for the company's fire safety work.
As mentioned above, the law stipulates that the unit shall formulate fire extinguishing and emergency evacuation plans, and organize regular drills. As a property management unit, the property management company shall perform this duty to ensure that the properties under its management meet fire safety requirements.
According to the current relevant laws and regulations, the property management company shall regularly inspect and maintain the fire-fighting equipment, and the aging and damaged equipment shall be replaced in time to ensure that it is in normal working condition. At the same time, the national and local governments will continue to update and improve the relevant technical standards and regulations according to the actual situation, and the property management company shall follow up and implement them in a timely manner. In addition to the above-mentioned alarm system, fire extinguishing system, and emergency system update, pipeline renewal is also an important component. After long-term use, pipelines are prone to aging, corrosion and other problems, which will affect their normal use. The property management company shall regularly inspect and maintain the pipeline, and replace it in a timely manner when problems are found, so as to ensure the smooth flow and durability of the pipeline. The operation of the fire safety system can only be ensured through regular equipment renewal and maintenance.
According to the relevant laws and regulations, the unit shall formulate fire extinguishing and emergency evacuation plans, and organize regular drills. The emergency plan is an important means for the unit to deal with emergencies such as fires, and its content and implementation are directly related to the fire fighting and evacuation of personnel. As the main body of the specific work of the government emergency plan preparation unit, the property management company should pay more attention to the implementation of specific measures. In terms of fire safety, corresponding emergency plans and measures should be formulated for fire alarm, initial stage of fighting, personnel evacuation, and emergency rescue.
Finally, according to the relevant laws and regulations, the unit shall carry out fire safety publicity and popularize fire safety knowledge. For property management companies, in addition to carrying out fire safety publicity and education for their own employees, as managers who go deep into people's living areas and production areas, they should also assume the responsibility of popularizing and publicizing fire safety knowledge to the public.
Fire compliance implications
First, fire compliance is an important means to protect the safety of people's lives and property, and property management companies implement fire compliance measures, not only for their own safety, but also to fulfill their social responsibilities and protect the safety of people's lives and property. Through strict fire safety management system, perfect fire protection facilities, effective fire drills and publicity, we can prevent and reduce the occurrence of fire accidents, reduce the threat of fire to the lives and property of the people, and provide real "protection" for the people. In addition, perfect fire safety qualification can also effectively protect the property safety of the property management company and the life safety of employees, and ensure the legal compliance and safe development of the enterprise itself.
Second, according to the law, the unit shall regularly inspect and maintain the fire-fighting equipment, and the aging and damaged equipment shall be replaced in time to ensure that it is in normal working condition. The implementation of fire protection compliance by property management companies will prompt enterprises to continuously update and upgrade fire protection equipment and promote the development of the equipment market. By implementing fire protection compliance measures, regularly updating and maintaining fire-fighting equipment, and purchasing a large number of fire-fighting equipment that meets the latest standards, enterprises will promote the renewal and circulation of equipment, produce positive effects in the market, and promote the development of the equipment market.
Third, fire compliance can not only improve the fire safety level of enterprises, but also promote the establishment of compliance and legal awareness of enterprises as a whole, and promote the development of enterprises in accordance with laws and regulations. And fire compliance is not only a requirement of the law, but also a requirement for the safe development of enterprises. The implementation of fire compliance measures by property management companies can also enhance the safety awareness and management level of the enterprise as a whole, produce a positive effect within the enterprise, and promote the shaping of corporate culture and the improvement of corporate management level.
To sum up, it is a necessary way for property management companies to carry out fire protection compliance under the dual requirements of enterprise safety and corporate efficiency. Property management companies should prevent and reduce the occurrence of fire accidents, protect the safety of people's lives and property, promote the renewal and circulation of equipment, revitalize the equipment market, promote the establishment of compliance and legal awareness of enterprises as a whole, and enhance the safety awareness and management level of enterprises.
*The authors, Lu Yang, are the director of Guangdong Zhaoguang Law Firm, Yang Min is a full-time lawyer, and Jian Yuyan is a trainee lawyer.
Bibliography:
(1) Zeng Yan (China Research Institute of Puhua Industry Research Institute): "Analysis of the Market Development Status and Future Development Prospects of the Property Management Industry in 2024", accessed on June 4, https://www.chinairn.com/news/20240529/090930924.shtml,2024.
(2) Zhongyan Property Research: "China's Property Management Industry 2023 Summary & 2024 Outlook", accessed June 4, https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tcooDD5SeZ5WtpYH_0NWAw,2024.
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