Fire Safety

Punjab Fire and Emergency Services Act 2024: What Changed for Factories

Name: Secured Engineers Private Limited — Noida (Delhi NCR)
Address: Supertech, Astralis Supernova, Sector 94, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, 201301, IN
Telephone: +91 70099 85817

23 October 2026 · 6 min read · by Secured Engineers Editorial Team

Title card reading Punjab Fire and Emergency Services Act 2024, What Changed for Factories. — Title card. Not a photograph of a Secured Engineers site.

The Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act, 2024 (Act 12 of 2024 of Punjab) replaced the 2012 fire safety Act. For a factory, it makes a Provisional Fire Safety Certificate a condition of building plan approval and a Final Certificate a condition of the completion certificate. It also adds risk classes, Nominated Authorities, licensed Qualified Agencies, periodic returns and graded penalties. As of October 2026.

What did the 2024 Act replace?

The Act was published in the Punjab Government Gazette (Extra) on 26 November 2024. Section 79(1) repeals the Punjab Safety Measures for Prevention and Control of Fire Act, 2012 (Punjab Act 8 of 2013). Section 79(2) adds that anything done under the repealed Act "shall be deemed to have been done or taken under the corresponding provisions" of the new one. The Act does not spell out a separate transition procedure for existing factories, so ask the fire office how your older certificate is treated at renewal.

Section 78 also matters for a factory. A fire approval is not deemed done only because another law's approval was obtained. A building sanction does not stand in for the fire scheme approval.

Which new definitions affect a factory?

Building: section 2(1)(a) covers any structure used for any purpose, including storing explosives and dangerously inflammable substances, and sheds and outhouses. It applies whether or not the structure was built with authorisation.
Occupier: section 2(1)(o) includes a tenant, a rent-free tenant and a licensee. A leased shed in an industrial estate can therefore put duties on both owner and occupier.
Nominated Authority: section 2(1)(n) is a Fire Officer with prescribed qualifications, recognised by gazette notification. The certificate comes from this officer.
Qualified Agency: section 2(1)(t) is a person or entity licensed by the Government for fire prevention and life safety activities.
Undefined terms: section 2(2) gives words the Act does not define their meaning in the National Building Code of India, 2016.

What does the certificate regime require?

Chapter III is the core. The table summarises the sections a factory owner meets, in the order the project meets them.

Section	What it says, as read from the Act	What it means for a factory
22(1)	Sites, premises and buildings may be classified as low, medium or high risk; the classification is notified by the Government.	Ask the fire office for your class in writing.
23(1)	Provisional Fire Safety Certificate before building plan approval; Final Certificate before the completion certificate. Authorities may not grant either approval without it.	The fire scheme is needed before the structure is sanctioned, not after.
23(2)	Certificates come from a Nominated Authority, on a complete application, after compliance with fire prevention and life safety measures, on payment of a prescribed fee.	An incomplete file is not a pending file.
23(3)	Decisions within the time notified under the Punjab Transparency and Accountability in Delivery of Public Service Act, 2018, or written reasons.	Ask which period is notified.
23(4)	Validity as prescribed, ordinarily not less than three years unless prescribed otherwise for specific risk categories.	Renewal falls on the rules, not on a fixed year.
23(5)	After the Final Certificate, periodic returns to the Government confirming compliance with the approved plan and operational equipment, in the prescribed form and periodicity.	Keep inspection and maintenance records ready.
23(6)	The Government, the Director or local authorities may audit certification activities through auditors with prescribed qualifications.	Certificates can be audited after issue.
24(2)	Firefighting scheme approval is applied for with the building plan; for industrial buildings, height up to 21 m is allowed for NBC groups G-1 and G-2, with no regular human habitation beyond 18 m.	Height limits are in the Act for these groups.
26	Owners and occupiers of high-risk buildings appoint a Private Fire Safety Manager and inform the Fire Officer; default after thirty days is joint and several.	A high-risk factory needs a named person.

Validity rules were notified after the Act. Rules reported in July 2025 (notification No. 06/05/2025-2LG1/401, as summarised by TeamLease RegTech) give five years for low risk, three for medium and one for high risk. We have not read the notification itself. Our Punjab Fire NOC page carries the same caveat.

What do third-party agencies do under the Act?

Chapter IV creates Qualified Agencies. Section 27(2) lets the Government prescribe the activities they undertake, and the proviso says the power to issue a Fire Safety Certificate "shall not be delegated to the Qualified Agency". A consultant can prepare and support your file. Only the Nominated Authority signs the certificate.

The Act puts weight on agency honesty. Under section 44(5), an agency that caused or took part in a misrepresentation is fined ₹3,000 for each instance, and its licence can be revoked for two years if a fire attributable to the misrepresentation renders property unusable. Section 27(4) says an owner whom an agency liaised for incurs no penalty, including cancellation, except where the Act warrants it.

What are the penalties and what must an existing factory do now?

Section 42 sets a ladder for a missing Provisional Certificate, Final Certificate or renewal. The maximum first fine is ₹15,000 for low and medium risk and ₹25,000 for high risk, followed by sealing if the certificate is still not obtained. High-risk buildings also face ₹10 per square metre of covered area on sealing. Section 44 adds cancellation and fines where a certificate was obtained by misrepresentation, and section 45 fines late returns.

For an existing factory, the Act supports this checklist:

Find your certificate, its date and its validity, and check which Act it cites.
Get the risk class from the Fire Officer in writing.
Compare the as-built fire installation with the sanctioned plan. Section 23(2) ties the certificate to compliance, and section 23(5) asks for returns on the approved plan.
Calendar the renewal and apply before expiry. One March 2026 certificate from the Bathinda fire station asks for renewal at least one month before expiry; check the same condition on yours.
Add or change fire equipment only through the approved scheme, since certificate conditions bar changes to area, height or occupancy without approval.
Check each document you file. Misrepresentation, not delay, draws the harshest penalty.

The Fire NOC document readiness checklist shows which documents are missing, and the NBC 2016 guide explains the engineering the officer tests. This is a reading of the Act, not legal advice. The rules, forms and fees are separate from the Act, so confirm each with Punjab Fire and Emergency Services.

How Secured Engineers helps

We design the fire scheme in-house and file the approvals in-house, including Fire NOC, CEIG and DISCOM net-metering. MEPF and solar can sit under one contract, so the fire scheme, the electrical load and the rooftop plant are drawn by one team. We work from offices in Noida and Ludhiana, with 535+ projects across 18+ states and an 89.77% repeat-client rate.

For an existing Punjab factory, we start by reading your current certificate and as-built drawings against the sanctioned plan, then list what the department will ask for at renewal. Our Fire NOC assistance covers the scheme, the online filing and the inspection, and the fire fighting systems team installs what the scheme shows.

If you want the fee, risk class and document list checked against your drawings, WhatsApp us, call +91 70099 85817, or ask for a free quote. The state-specific process is on our Punjab Fire NOC page.

Frequently asked

Does the 2024 Act apply to existing factories or only new ones?

The Act applies to buildings generally. Section 23(1) ties the Provisional and Final Certificates to plan approval and completion, section 23(5) requires returns after the Final Certificate, and section 42 penalises a building that lacks a certificate or its renewal. Section 79(2) treats actions under the repealed 2012 Act as taken under the new one. Ask the fire office how your existing certificate is handled.

What is a Nominated Authority under the Punjab Fire Act?

Section 2(1)(n) defines a Nominated Authority as a Fire Officer with prescribed technical qualifications and experience, recognised by a gazette notification of the Government. Under section 23(2), the Provisional and Final Fire Safety Certificates are procured from this officer, on a complete application and payment of the prescribed fee.

Can a private consultant issue the fire safety certificate in Punjab?

No. Section 27(2) lets Qualified Agencies undertake prescribed fire prevention and life safety activities, but its proviso says the power to issue a Fire Safety Certificate shall not be delegated to them. Only the Nominated Authority issues the certificate. A consultant can prepare drawings and support the application.

Does a high-risk factory need a Private Fire Safety Manager?

Yes. Section 26(1) requires owners and occupiers of high-risk buildings to appoint a Private Fire Safety Manager and inform the Fire Officer in writing. If they fail to appoint one within thirty days of the requirement applying, each is deemed in default jointly and severally. Ask the fire office whether your building falls in the high-risk class.

What penalties does the 2024 Act set for a missing certificate?

Section 42 sets fines up to ₹15,000 for low and medium risk buildings and up to ₹25,000 for high risk, followed by sealing if the certificate is still not obtained. High-risk buildings also face ₹10 per square metre of covered area on sealing. These are maximums read from the Act, as of October 2026.