What are requirements of fire access and parking lots for fire engines in Vietnam?

Pursuant to Section 6.2.2 of the the national technical regulations on fire safety for buldings and constructions issued together with the Circular 02/2021/TT-BXD stipulating requirements of fire access and parking lots for fire engines in Vietnam as follows:

1. F1, F2, F3 and F4 buildings with fire service height no taller than 15 m are not required to have parking lots for fire engines but are required to have driveways no larger than 60 m to grant fire engines with access to any point on plan projections of the buildings

2. F1.3 buildings with fire service height taller than 15 m must fulfill all following requirements:

- Install fire access no further than 18 m from the furthest point of entrances leading to buffer spaces of fire service elevators or evacuation stairwells equipped with 65 fire hydrants for professional fire brigade (of dry systems).

- Install parking lots for fire engines granting access to at least 1 whole outer side of each building block. Parking lots for fire engines must be positioned no closer than 2 m and no further than 10 m from outer walls of the buildings;

- Design of parking lots and driveways for fire engines must satisfy regulations under Article 14.

3. F1.1, F1.2, F2, F3 and F4 buildings or sections thereof with fire service taller than 15 m must have a parking lot for fire engines at each area where an elevated entrance is situated to provide fire engines with access to doorways of the elevated entrance. Length of parking lots for fire engines must conform to Schedule 15 based on accessible floor area of the storey with the highest accessible floor area. In case of buildings with bi-level floors, the value shall be calculated as follows:

a) With respect to buildings with multi-level floors, including basements merged with above-ground storeys, accessible floor area shall equal sum of area of all accessible floors of all storeys.

b) With respect to buildings with at least 2 groups of multi-level storeys, accessible floor area shall equal sum of area of accessible floors with the highest values.

4. F5 buildings must have parking lots for fire-fighting facilities. Length of parking lots for fire engines must conform to Schedule 16 based on total volume of the buildings (excluding basements).

If manufacturing conditions do not require entrances, may utilize 3.5 m wide driveway as fire access with surface reinforced with materials guaranteeing load-bearing capacity and drainage of surface water.

Distance from edge of fire access to walls of buildings must not exceed 5 m for buildings with fire service height below 12 m, not exceed 8 m for buildings with fire service height ranging from 12 m to 28 m, and not exceed 10 m for buildings with fire service height taller than 28 m.

If necessary, distance from the nearest edge of driveways to the buildings to outer walls of the buildings and construction shall be increased up to 60 m provided the buildings and constructions are led to by dead ends and installed with parking lots for fire engines and fire hydrants. In that case, distance from buildings and constructions to parking lots for fire engines must not be less than 5 m and no larger than 15 m and distance between dead ends must not exceed 100 m.

NOTE 1: Width of buildings and constructions shall be determined based on distances between reference axes.

NOTE 2: Reservoirs used for firefighting must have passages and yards with yards whose each dimension must not be lower than 12 m.

Schedule 15 – Regulations on length of parking lots for fire engines in F1.1, F1.2, F2, F3 and F4 buildings or sections thereof

Schedule 16 – Regulations on length of parking lots for fire engines in F5 buildings or sections thereof

5. Situate fire access and parking lots for fire engines in multi-purpose buildings in a manner that must satisfy following requirements:

a) If non-residential storeys (not included in F1.3) are only situated at the lower sections of buildings, fire service height for determination of requirements for fire access or parking lots for fire engines must be based on non-residential sections of the buildings.

b) In case of multi-purpose buildings that do not have any sections under category F1.3, the required lengths applied to fire access or parking lots for fire engines must be the larger value of the two which are determined based on:

- Total compartment volume of F5 sections of buildings; or

- Schedule 15.

c) With respect to multi-purpose buildings with F1.3 sections, length of parking lots for fire engines must be calculated based on 6.2.2.3 while satisfying requirements in 6.2.2.

6. In case of basements, install fire access no further than 18 m away from all above-ground entrances leading to buffer spaces of fire service elevators or evacuation stairwells equipped with 65 fire hydrants for professional fire brigade (of dry systems).

Best regards!