What you need to know about Fire Safety Audits as a sure way to safeguard against deadly mishaps. The fire at Gulzar House, near Charminar in Hyderabad in May 2025, where 17 members of a family died was a shocking incident that shook the country.
A short circuit that sparked the blaze, a narrow single entry point to the building, and no exhaust for the smoke due to closed windows resulted in the deaths.The old city areas in any city with congested approach roads, houses and shops are fire disasters waiting to happen.
However, as a project manager is your new constructions safe from fire mishaps? As a facility manager are you sure that the building where you work or live has been audited for fire safety? If there is a fire, are there required exits, refuge areas and adequate space for a fire engine to be driven around the premises?
Drawing lessons from incidents like the Hyderabad fire optimum fire protection in new constructions must be a priority for project owners and managers. In most cases a fire is just waiting to happen, which also means that it is completely avoidable if all necessary precautions are taken.
But how do you even know where to start? This is where a Fire Safety Audit comes in picture. It’s a systematic evaluation to identify potential fire hazards. A team of Fire Safety experts inspect the building for anomalies and a detailed report is filed for the client.
Fire Safety in the Pre-Construction Stage
Ideally, planning for fire safety should happen at the pre-construction stage, wherein all the necessary design requirements can be incorporated, like correct staircase widths, separate staircases to the basement and upper floors, fire exits, building separate water tanks for fire fighting etc.
CQRA Fire Safety experts have often found serious design flaws that flout National Building Code of India (NBC) rules in the course of conducting Fire Safety Audits. Hence we urge clients to give importance to fire safety regulations in the planning stage by roping in experts to inspect fire and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) design.
Fire Safety Audits for Existing Structures
If your building or premise is already in use then CQRA’s Fire Safety Audit involves a thorough inspection of the facility. This is done as per National Building Code 2016 norms and National Fire Protection Association guidelines and presenting an actionable report.
The report is broadly classified into 6 categories – Document Management, General fire safety and Housekeeping Management, Active fire protection System, Passive Fire protection System, Electrical Safety Management and Emergency Preparedness and Response. Aspects under each of these are inspected and graded based on their severity. So remarks like ‘Mild’ mean not serious in nature, ‘Moderate’– not negligible but tolerable, ‘Severe’ – Potential hazard, ‘Very severe’ and ‘Critical’ – the issue must be addressed immediately. Clients thus have an assessment of the fire safety factor of their buildings and know where the shortcomings are. Also as most fires find their cause in electrical issues our auditors dive deep into the inspection of all the electrical systems on site.
A Fire Safety Audit is taking the right step to ensure the safety of human life in your premise and a preventive measure to avert devastating accidents. Contact CQRA to know more.
Contact CQRA to know how we can collaborate.
Website: www.cqra.com
Email: marketing@cqra.acts-int.com
Contact: +91 9112232323
