30/09/2026
Who Inspects Fire Compliance - What Happens During a Fire Compliance Inspection — and How do I Pass it ???
All good question and we are here to help –
Fire compliance involves three main parties: municipal fire departments, insurance companies, and the Department of Employment and Labour. Their responsibilities overlap, but their powers, inspection criteria, and consequences differ.
Municipal authorities assess building fire protection under the Fire Brigade Services Act 99 of 1987, the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977, and applicable municipal by-laws. Insurers assess risk against policy conditions, while Labour inspectors enforce workplace safety under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993 (OHSA) and its regulations.
Businesses must address building compliance, insurance requirements, and workplace fire safety together. A municipal certificate does not automatically satisfy an insurer or fulfil an employer’s OHSA duties.
1. Municipal Fire Department Inspections
Inspections may follow routine scheduling, a certificate application or renewal where required, a complaint, a fire incident, or changes to a building’s use or layout. Higher-risk premises, including factories, warehouses, hospitals, schools, shopping centres, and public assembly venues, may receive closer attention.
Authorised officers exercise inspection and entry powers subject to the applicable legislation and municipal by-laws. Inspections may be unannounced; entry and enforcement powers should not be assumed to be identical in every municipality.
What officers typically check
• Fire extinguishers: suitable type and quantity, compliance with applicable product standards and approval requirements, correct positioning, unobstructed access, intact seals, and current service records. Maintenance must follow applicable requirements, including SANS 10105 and SANS 1475, using appropriately registered servicing personnel.
• Hose reels and hydrants: appropriate coverage, access, operational condition, water availability, and maintenance records.
• Detection and alarms: suitable system design and category under SANS 10139, operational detectors and sounders, no unresolved panel faults, and commissioning and maintenance records.
• Emergency lighting and exit signs: functional, visible, correctly positioned, and supported by test records.
• Escape routes and doors: clear passages and stairs, with exit doors easily openable from inside. National Building Regulation T2(2) makes obstructing or reducing the effectiveness of an escape route in a way that hinders emergency escape an offence.
• Fire doors: suitable ratings, functioning self-closers and specified seals, and no unauthorised alterations or wedging open. SANS 1253 is relevant to fire-door assemblies where applicable.
• Escape plans: current, legible, correctly positioned plans, using SANS 23601 where applicable.
• Smoke ventilation, including automatic opening vents (AOVs): operational equipment and recorded testing where installed.
• Gas suppression: appropriate commissioning, agent condition, and maintenance records, with reference to SANS 14520 where applicable.
• Fire compliance certificates: available and current where the municipality requires them.
• Housekeeping and fire loading: controlled combustible waste and storage, with detectors, sprinklers, equipment, and exits unobstructed.
SANS 10400-T provides a deemed-to-satisfy route for the fire-protection requirements of the National Building Regulations. An approved rational design may apply instead. Requirements must therefore be assessed against the building’s occupancy, approved design, and local by-laws.
Non-compliance may result in corrective notices, prosecution, or restrictions on use under applicable legal procedures. Serious danger can justify urgent action, but closure powers and certificate procedures depend on the relevant legal authority.
Please Note - Authorised municipal and Labour officers may conduct unannounced inspections under applicable statutory powers. Ask for identification and confirm the authority relied upon; entry conditions depend on the governing law.
2. Insurance Fire Risk Surveys
Insurers or appointed risk consultants may survey premises when cover is requested or renewed, operations change, or a fire claim occurs. Their underwriting requirements may exceed minimum statutory standards.
Surveyors commonly assess:
• Fire equipment suitability, quantity, servicing, and accessibility.
• Detection categories, alarm monitoring, and maintenance.
• Sprinkler coverage, inspections, and water supply adequacy.
• Fire-rated walls, floors, doors, and measures limiting fire spread.
• Hot-work controls, including welding and cutting permits.
• Housekeeping, waste storage, and combustible loading.
• Staff preparedness, fire action plans, and business continuity arrangements.
• Municipal certificates where required, and completion of previous survey recommendations.
Findings may lead to remedial deadlines, additional policy conditions, higher premiums, exclusions, or changes to cover. Non-compliance does not automatically invalidate insurance. Whether a claim can be rejected depends on the policy wording, relevant facts, and applicable law. Outstanding survey requirements should be addressed promptly, with written confirmation from the insurer where necessary.
3. Department of Employment and Labour Inspections
Labour inspectors enforce OHSA 85 of 1993 and its regulations, including workplace fire precautions and safe escape arrangements. Their role extends beyond noting obvious equipment defects: workplace fire safety falls within their occupational safety mandate.
Employers should maintain:
• Fire risk assessments: documented hazards, affected work areas, controls, and reviews following relevant changes.
• Management responsibilities: clear allocation of safety duties. Under section 16(2), the chief executive officer may assign duties to persons under their control; this does not remove the CEO’s responsibility. Record assignments clearly where used.
• Emergency personnel: sufficient competent fire wardens or marshals for the risk, occupancy, layout, and shifts, with documented responsibilities.
• Training records: evidence of suitable fire safety and evacuation training. HWSETA/QCTO accreditation should be verified where accredited training is required or offered; it should not be presented as a universal statutory requirement for every warden course.
• Drill records: dates, participants, evacuation times, observations, and corrective actions. Frequency should reflect risk and applicable legal, municipal, and insurer requirements; annual drills are a useful baseline where no stricter requirement applies.
• Evacuation procedures: documented and communicated arrangements covering staff, visitors, and people needing assistance.
• An OHS/fire safety file: accessible assessments, appointments, certificates, equipment records, procedures, and drill reports.
The General Safety Regulations, as amended in 2025, regulation 13J, address fire precautions and means of egress. These workplace duties apply alongside municipal building requirements. A tenant can therefore face enforcement for unsafe workplace arrangements even where the building holds a municipal fire certificate.
Labour inspectors may issue corrective or prohibition notices and pursue enforcement under OHSA, including stopping unsafe activities where legally justified.
For assistance with fire equipment servicing, fire risk assessments, safety inspections, training, and emergency preparedness, contact Ljumeg through www.ljumeg.com.
Relevant guidance topics include building fire compliance, municipal certificates, owner and tenant responsibilities, fire warden arrangements, insurance risk requirements, equipment servicing, hose reels and hydrants, detection categories, fire doors, escape plans, smoke ventilation, and gas suppression.
This article provides general guidance, not legal advice. Applicable standards, approved building designs, municipal by-laws, inspection powers, and insurance conditions must be confirmed for the particular premises.
A private assessment does not replace municipal approval or an insurer’s acceptance.
