SINGAPORE - Fire safety checks for some non-complex infringements will be outsourced to an external organisation from next month, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said on Friday (April 30).
Examples of such infringements include the unauthorised change of use of premises such as basement carparks as storage areas, obstruction of escape paths and fire engine accessways, non-maintenance of firefighting equipment, and non-functioning exit signs and emergency lights.
SCDF said by outsourcing the role, it can better focus on its other operational demands such as fighting fires and attending to accidents.
A consortium comprising the Singapore First Aid Training Centre and ERCM Consultancy - a specialised international service provider in crisis and emergency preparedness - will provide the staff to play the role of supplementary enforcement officers.
SCDF said the appointed officers will only conduct fire safety enforcement checks and site inspections involving straightforward fire safety infringements that can be verified visually.
SCDF had conducted about 13,600 enforcement checks each year since 2016, and issued about 2,600 notices each year for infringements, with the majority being non-complex infringements.
About 27 per cent of these notices were for non-functioning exit signs and emergency lights.
"In view of the increasing operational demands, coupled with manpower constraints, SCDF has decided to outsource straightforward enforcement checks to a third-party provider," it said in a media release.
"This will allow SCDF officers to focus on more complex enforcement checks that require a higher level of fire safety knowledge and expertise."
The supplementary enforcement officers will begin supporting the SCDF from May 3.
Members of the public are still encouraged to report any fire safety infringements they come across to the SCDF, by submitting photographs and a brief description of the fire safety infringements using the myResponder mobile application, by calling 1800-280-0000, or by sending an e-mail to [email protected]
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