The Fire Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China (2021) Article 10: For construction projects that require fire protection design according to national engineering construction fire protection technical standards, a fire protection design review and acceptance system shall be implemented. Article 11: For special construction projects as specified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the construction unit shall submit the fire protection design documents to the Ministry for review, which is responsible for the results of the review according to law. Article 12: Construction units and construction companies shall not commence construction without fire protection design review or if the review is not qualified. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Order No. 58 “Interim Provisions on the Management of Fire Protection Design Review and Acceptance of Construction Projects” (2023) applies to the fire protection design review and acceptance of special construction projects, as well as the filing (hereinafter referred to as filing) and spot checks of fire protection acceptance for other construction projects. The special construction projects referred to in these provisions are those listed in Article 14 of these provisions. Article 14: Construction projects that meet any of the following conditions are special construction projects: (7) High-rise residential buildings of Class I as specified by national engineering construction fire protection technical standards; (9) Factories, warehouses, and dedicated stations and docks for the production, storage, and unloading of flammable and explosive hazardous materials. According to GB 50016-2018 “Code for Fire Protection Design of Buildings” Article 5.1.1, Class I high-rise residential buildings refer to residential buildings with a height exceeding 54 meters. GB 50016-2018 Fire Protection Design Code for Buildings states that electric bicycle garages belong to Class III warehouses as per Article 3.1.1. Class I high-rise residential buildings and underground garages (electric bicycle garages) must meet the first-level fire resistance standards, with wall and column components having a fire resistance limit of 3 hours. The General Code for Fire Protection of Buildings (GB 55037-2022) Article 5.1.2 states that the fire resistance rating of underground and semi-underground buildings (rooms) should be at least Class I. Article 5.3.1 states that the fire resistance rating of the following civil buildings should be Class I: 1. Class I high-rise civil buildings; Article 6.1.1 states that firewalls should be directly set on the foundation of the building or on load-bearing structures with corresponding fire resistance performance, and should extend from the floor base to the bottom surface of structural beams, slabs, or roof panels. Article 6.1.3 states that the fire resistance limit of firewall columns should not be less than 3.00 hours. The fire resistance limit of firewall columns in Class III warehouses (electric bicycle garages) should not be less than 4.00 hours. Article 13: For construction projects that should apply for fire acceptance as specified by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, upon completion, the construction unit shall apply to the Ministry for fire acceptance. Construction projects that are required by law to undergo fire acceptance but have not been accepted or have failed acceptance shall be prohibited from being put into use. Article 14: The specific methods for fire protection design review, fire acceptance, filing, and spot checks of construction projects shall be prescribed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development. If the applicant chooses not to use the notification commitment method, the fire rescue agency shall conduct an inspection of the site within ten working days from the date of acceptance of the application, based on fire protection technical standards and management regulations. If the inspection meets fire safety requirements, permission shall be granted. Public gathering places shall not be put into use or operate without permission from the fire rescue agency. The Jinjiang District Fire Rescue Brigade refused to perform fire administrative licensing duties based on “garage attributes” and may file for reconsideration based on Article 6, Paragraph 9 of the Administrative Reconsideration Law for “administrative licensing inaction”; or file a lawsuit based on Article 12, Paragraph 3 of the Administrative Litigation Law for failure to perform statutory duties. The electric bicycle garage serves 2,370 households in the community, with an average daily charging volume of over 250 vehicles, and the average daily charging of electric bicycles far exceeds 30 vehicles, complying with the fire safety management regulations for crowded places (GB/T 40248-2021) Article 3.2. The electric bicycle garage is operated by property management and is open to the public for all 2,370 households, which is a commercial indoor space, meeting the definition of a public gathering place (open to the public and having commercial nature, including hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, markets, passenger station waiting rooms, passenger terminal waiting halls, civil airport terminals, sports venues, auditoriums, and public entertainment venues). Article 15 of the Fire Protection Law states that fire safety inspections for public gathering places before they are put into use or operate shall be managed by notification commitment. Before public gathering places are put into use or operate, the construction unit or user unit shall apply to the fire rescue agency of the local people’s government at or above the county level for a fire safety inspection, making a commitment that the site meets fire technical standards and management regulations, submitting the required materials, and being responsible for the authenticity of their commitment and materials. The fire rescue agency shall review the materials submitted by the applicant; if the application materials are complete and meet the legal form, permission shall be granted. The fire rescue agency shall promptly verify the public gathering places that have made commitments based on fire technical standards and management regulations. If the applicant chooses not to use the notification commitment method, the fire rescue agency shall conduct an inspection of the site within ten working days from the date of acceptance of the application, based on fire technical standards and management regulations. If the inspection meets fire safety requirements, permission shall be granted. Public gathering places shall not be put into use or operate without permission from the fire rescue agency. The specific methods for fire safety inspections shall be formulated by the emergency management department of the State Council. Fire safety requirements for public gathering places — Emergency [2021] No. 34 Attachment: 1. Key points of fire technical standards for public gathering places 2. Key points of fire safety management for public gathering places. The national standard “Rules for Fire Safety Inspection of Public Gathering Places Before Use and Operation” GB 46034-2025 includes 74 key items; if any one is unqualified, the site cannot be put into use. c) Spot checks on fire compartments and fire separations to see if they meet fire technical standards, whether cable wells, pipe wells, etc., use fire-blocking materials for sealing. If the fire separation settings of the site do not meet fire technical standards; h) If the firewalls, fire curtains, fire doors, fire windows, and other fire separation facilities are dismantled, damaged, or unable to achieve fire separation functions; if there are other fire safety issues at the site that may constitute major fire hazards or violate mandatory provisions of fire technical standards; b) If there are other violations of fire laws and regulations that may seriously threaten public safety. Article 19 of the Fire Protection Law states that places for the production, storage, and operation of flammable and explosive hazardous materials shall not be located in the same building as residential places and shall maintain a safe distance from residential places. Places for the production, storage, and operation of other items located in the same building as residential places must comply with national engineering construction fire protection technical standards. The General Code for Fire Protection of Buildings (GB 55037-2022) GB 50016-2018 Fire Protection Design Code for Buildings. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Order No. 58 “Interim Provisions on the Management of Fire Protection Design Review and Acceptance of Construction Projects” (2023) Article 26: Construction, design, and construction units shall not arbitrarily modify the fire protection design documents that have been reviewed and approved. If modifications are necessary, the construction unit shall reapply for fire protection design review according to these provisions. The fire safety management regulations for high-rise civil buildings (Emergency Management Department Order No. 5, 2021) Article 37 states that fire separations that must be set in high-rise civil buildings shall be separated from other parts of the building. Compliance with the General Code for Fire Protection of Buildings (GB 55037-2022) GB 50016-2018 Fire Protection Design Code for Buildings. The Technical Guidelines for Fire Protection of Electric Bicycle Parking Spaces in Residential Communities in Sichuan Province (2024) Electric Bicycle Centralized Charging Facilities Part 1: Technical Requirements (GB/T 42236.1-2022) Sichuan Province Fire Protection Regulations (2024) Implementation Rules for Fire Protection Design Review and Acceptance Work of Construction Projects in Sichuan Province (2025) Attachment 1. Electric bicycle garages belong to special construction projects. Article 9: Factories, warehouses, and dedicated stations and docks for the production, storage, and unloading of flammable and explosive hazardous materials, filling stations, supply stations, and pressure regulating stations for flammable and explosive gases and liquids; electric bicycle garages also belong to Attachment 2. Changing the use nature of the building, changing the fire hazard level of the building, and involving changes to the main body and load-bearing structure of the building are not classified as “general projects” but as special construction projects. Article 2. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the Fire Department of Chengdu Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau’s official response: The construction of electric bicycle garage areas should comply with Article 11.58 of the Fire Protection Law and accept fire design review and acceptance from the District Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Order No. 52 (2021 version of the “Management Measures for Construction Permits”) Illegal construction: Violating the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Order No. 52 (2021 version of the “Management Measures for Construction Permits”) Article 2, Article 3 “Construction projects with an investment amount of less than 300,000 yuan or a building area of less than 300 square meters may not apply for a construction permit, but no unit or individual may decompose projects that should apply for a construction permit into several projects below the limit to evade the requirement for a construction permit”; the property management has split the construction of electric bicycle garages with a total investment exceeding 300,000 yuan into multiple sub-projects, installing charging piles in batches, which constitutes illegal behavior of “evading permits by decomposing projects”. They also did not entrust a qualified design unit to carry out fire protection design, have no design drawings, and fire facilities were not constructed simultaneously, using the Chengdu Guhai Technology Co., Ltd. Wochong WL5000 charging pile, which does not meet the national standard “Electric Bicycle Centralized Charging Facilities Part 1: Technical Requirements” (GB/T 42236.1-2022) requirements, – Short circuit protection is missing: National standards require short circuit protection response time ≤ 150 microseconds, but the measured value is > 3 seconds, exceeding the standard by 20,000 times; 2. GB 50058-2014 Design Specifications for Electrical Devices in Explosive and Fire Hazard Environments, which applies to the classification of explosive hazardous areas and electrical device design for new, expanded, and reconstructed projects where explosive hazardous environments may occur during production, processing, handling, transshipment, or storage. 3. Electric bicycle safety technical specifications (GB17761-2018/2024). 4. Product Quality Law (2018) Article 18.40.49. Article 36 of the Administrative Penalty Law of the People’s Republic of China [Administrative Penalty Accountability Period] If illegal acts are not discovered within two years, no administrative penalty shall be imposed; if it involves the safety of citizens’ lives and health, financial safety, and has harmful consequences, the above period is extended to five years. Unless otherwise provided by law. The period specified in the preceding paragraph is calculated from the date of the illegal act; if the illegal act has a continuous or ongoing state, it is calculated from the end of the act. Jian Ke Han [2019] No. 52 “Notice on Proper Transfer of Responsibilities for Fire Protection Design Review and Acceptance of Construction Projects” Sichuan Province Fire Acceptance On-Site Assessment Technical Standards is a local standard for engineering construction in Sichuan Province (DBJ51/T 257-2024)