Under Section 26 of the Fire Services Act and Section 36, a municipal council must provide for a regular system of inspection of “hotels” and “public buildings” in the municipality. Life safety inspections of buildings not in a municipality, or buildings not defined as a “hotel” or ”public building”, such as a private dwelling house, may still occur under Section 21.

The BC Fire Code establishes minimum standards for fire prevention and life safety in existing buildings, including standards for the conduct of activities causing fire hazards, maintenance of fire safety equipment and egress facilities, standards for portable extinguishers, limitations on building contents and the establishment of fire safety plans, including the organization of supervisory staff for emergency purposes.

In addition, the BC Fire Code establishes the standard for prevention and containment of fires originating outside buildings which may present a hazard to a community. The Fire Code also set standards for the storage and handling of flammable and combustible liquids.

The BC Fire Code places the responsibility on the owners to ensure their buildings and their safety systems are regularly inspected and maintained in accordance with the provisions of the code.

To tie this all together, under the umbrella of fire prevention, the primary role of a Local Assistant is to provide guidance to the municipal council on how to establish the acceptable criteria on an inspection program and effectively communicate the results to the owner.