Stricter penalties for fire safety non-compliance
23.12.2024
On January 26, 2021, the Verkhovna Rada adopted in the first reading two draft laws to strengthen liability for non-compliance with industrial and fire safety requirements and to impose penalties for obstructing relevant inspections.
Under the draft law on strengthening liability for violations of industrial and fire safety regulations, supported by 317 MPs, it is proposed to increase the penalties for the following violations:
- non-compliance with established industrial and fire safety requirements set by law;
- operating a business without a declaration of compliance of the material and technical base with fire safety regulations;
- failure to follow orders, directives, and resolutions of officials from the central executive authority responsible for government policy in industrial and fire safety supervision (control).
- intentionally false reporting to emergency services.
- Violations of industrial and fire safety regulations are subject to penalties between UAH 510 and UAH 8,500. The penalty for intentionally false reporting to emergency services is proposed to increase from UAH 3,400 to UAH 10,200.
For the first violation of industrial and fire safety regulations and emergency service standards, the penalty is proposed to be half the amount of that for non-compliance with orders or resolutions of officials to correct the detected violations.
Current legislation faces significant challenges in holding accountable individuals who ignore fire service inspectors’ orders. At present, the penalty for fire safety violations can be as low as UAH 8.50, with the maximum penalty reaching UAH 119.
The draft law also provides for a penalty ranging from UAH 17,000 to UAH 34,000 for hindering industrial and fire safety inspections.
Furthermore, the draft law proposes to authorize police officers and officials of state oversight (control) bodies in industrial and fire safety to file administrative offense reports.
If violators interfere with law enforcement activities, police officers may be allowed to administratively detain such individuals until their identity is verified.
As reported by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 30,000 cases of fire service inspectors being denied access to premises have been documented in the past two years.
