To everyone who has installed carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment

Amendment of Regulations for Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Equipment

From December 2020 to April 2021, a series of accidents involving carbon dioxide fire extinguishing systems occurred, leading to amendments in the law aimed at preventing the recurrence of such incidents.
In accordance with the legal amendments, building stakeholders are required to implement the following items 1 to 4.

• Regarding the formulation of guidelines for the installation of carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment (PDF 213.5KB)
• Guidelines for the Installation of Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Equipment (PDF 599.4KB)
• About the Properties of Carbon Dioxide (PDF 146.5KB)
• Results of the Study on Measures to Prevent Recurrence of Accidents Related to Carbon Dioxide Fire Extinguishing Equipment (PDF 11.6MB)
• Manual for implementing accident prevention measures when conducting construction or work in areas where carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment is installed or nearby (PDF 3.8MB)
• Additional materials for the accident prevention measures implementation manual (summary version leaflet) when conducting construction or work in areas where carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment is installed or nearby (PDF 36.3MB)

1 Installation of Shut-off Valve [Related to Article 19, Paragraph 5, Item 19 (i) of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Regulations]

Note: Until March 31, 2024

In places where carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment is installed, to ensure safety during construction or maintenance, if it is not installed, it is necessary to install a shut-off valve to close the piping to prevent the release of carbon dioxide.
Note: In the Inagi City area, shut-off valves are installed on all applicable objects that have carbon dioxide fire extinguishing equipment.

2 New Sign Installation [Related to Article 19, Paragraph 5, Item 19 (i) of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Regulations]

Note: Until March 31, 2023

It is necessary to install signs that raise awareness of the dangers of carbon dioxide in visible locations such as entrances and exits of the following places.

1. Location of containers that store carbon dioxide (fire extinguisher storage)
2. Places where carbon dioxide is emitted (hereinafter referred to as "protection area")

Note: Two types of signs will be installed: illustration type (A3) and text type (A4).

• Illustration Type (A3 Size) (PDF 29.8KB)

• Document Type (Notes) (A4 Size) (PDF 47.6KB)

3 Matters that building personnel must maintain and manage have been added [Related to Article 19-2 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Regulations]

Note: Until March 31, 2023

1. If a person enters the protective area, make sure that the shut-off valve is in the closed position.
2. If no one enters the protective area, keep the shut-off valve in the open position.
3. For objects that automatically start, if a person enters the protective area, set the automatic manual switch device to manual mode.
4. If extinguishing agents are released, ensure that no one enters the protective area.
5. Near the control panel of the carbon dioxide fire extinguishing system, provide documents that specify the specific content and procedures to be taken during construction and inspection (equipment configuration diagrams, system diagrams, protective area layouts, and floor plans of storage locations for storage containers, flowcharts for automatic/manual switching operations).

4 Implementation of Inspections by Fire Equipment Technicians, etc. [Related to Article 36, Paragraph 2, Item 4 of the Fire Service Act Enforcement Order]

Regarding carbon dioxide fire extinguishing systems (limited to total release method), it has become mandatory to have inspections conducted by qualified individuals such as fire equipment engineers or certified fire equipment inspectors, regardless of the total floor area of the building.