Problems With the Current Firefighting Facility Inspection System and Actionable Countermeasures

Contemporary firefighting facilities follow the installation and legal standards applicable to the 35 firefighting facility categories recognized by the National Fire Safety Standards of 2019. All facilities are monitored for compliance with the Fire Services Act, which contains items on manpower, duration, frequency, and inspection. An additional function of monitoring is to identify problems and areas for improvement. Under the Fire Services Act, firefighting facilities are inspected and managed once or twice a year. This process is divided into operational function checks and comprehensive precision checks, which are conducted based on the size and purpose of specific fire extinguishing objects. One of the problems with the firefighting facility inspection system is the assignment of the responsibility of inspecting an excessively large area to a single firefighting facility manager and two auxiliary personnel. Another problem lies in the relationships between building owners and firefighting facility management companies. A third problem is that inspection targets implement a bidding process that selects the lowest bidder who can render services in the best interest of the affected persons. A fourth problem is that firefighting facility managers, who are the main personnel concerned with firefighting facilities, are selected based on candidates’ performance on a memorization-based test that includes only some practical work. The fifth problem concerns the professionalism of inspection assistants. These auxiliary personnel are placed in the field immediately following basic training, providing they have attained a certain qualification or higher; consequently, inspections are conducted according to the degree to which the assistants are qualified, which is often inadequate. This necessitates the provision of more specialized training before such personnel inspect firefighting facilities.