What you will be able to do after this lesson
You will be able to state the applicable fire safety requirements in the spec with a reference to the clause, the list of documents and the procedure for approving substitutions.
Why it matters
A line reading "fire alarm — required / not required" on a supplier's questionnaire is dangerous: the presence of an alarm, evacuation routes, fire resistance rating and finishing materials are set by codes and by the design according to the facility's purpose, not by the client's preference. The spec lists the applicable documents and clauses and names who confirms compliance.
Documentation is the second half of acceptance. Product passport, drawings, material quality documents, test reports, as-built installation documentation: the list is fixed before the contract, so that acceptance does not turn into a debate over what exactly the supplier was supposed to hand over.
Replacing materials and details with equivalents is permitted only under a procedure: who proposes, who approves, and which characteristics are compared. Without it, an "equivalent" becomes a way to cheapen the product after the price has been signed.
How to apply this on a project
- Step 1. State the applicable requirements and who is responsible for confirming compliance.
- Step 2. Fix the required documentation: drawings, passports, quality documents, test reports and as-built records.
- Step 3. For material substitutions, define an equivalent approval procedure before procurement.
- Step 4. Compare confirmed characteristics and compatibility, not brand names.
Fire safety requirements: what to refer to
Block containers and prefabricated modular buildings in Kazakhstan are governed by the Fire Safety Rules (Order of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan No. 55 dated 21.02.2022) and the technical regulation "General Fire Safety Requirements" (Order of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Kazakhstan No. 405 dated 17.08.2021). As of September 2026, the Fire Safety Rules in particular provide that: clause 60 limits groups of block containers to ten units and two storeys and requires a fire alarm system where there are two or more residential or office modules; clause 194 limits the escape route in prefabricated modular buildings to 20 meters; clause 27 allows 50 or more people in buildings of fire resistance rating IV–V only on the ground floor.
Editions change: before including a clause in the specification, check it in the current edition and state its number. The fire resistance class and the materials of the enclosing structures are set by the design, not by the supplier's questionnaire.
Typical mistake
Writing "fire alarm — required / not required" with no link to the design and the applicable requirements.
Check before the next step
- Fire safety requirements set by the design
- Document list in place
- Substitution procedure defined
- Acceptance criteria stated
Related materials and tools
Apply the lesson to your project
Gather the input data and record the unknown parameters as questions for approval. We prepare a calculation based on the questionnaire within 1 working day.