What does the Swiss tragedy tell us? – ÉVOSZ on the state of fire prevention in Hungary

The communication also points out that, in the case of new facilities, the authorities typically only carry out acknowledgement procedures. While this reduces bureaucracy, it also increases the responsibility of designers, contractors and operators. According to ÉVOSZ, even if they are aware of their own obligations, customers and operators cannot assume the responsibility arising from legislation and official controls.

A comprehensive review of community facilities is needed

The association believes that there are numerous community facilities in Hungary that do not comply with modern, up-to-date legislation or even current fire safety regulations. For this reason, they consider it justified to conduct a comprehensive investigation of community buildings, learning from the tragic experiences of other countries.

ÉVOSZ asks whether there are sufficient designers, experts, contractors and authorities available to prepare a national „inventory”, draw conclusions and carry out the necessary interventions. The association's answer is cautious but clear: not at present. In light of this, they consider it particularly important to strengthen the fire safety training of responsible technical managers and technical inspectors.

The announcement recalls that the experiences of targeted engineering training and adult continuing education programmes launched jointly with the National University of Public Service also show that the pool of suitably trained professionals needs to be further expanded. The effective application of modern, professionally demanding fire prevention and fire protection solutions requires an up-to-date legal and procedural environment, a high level of knowledge and appropriate authorisations.

Based on the above, ÉVOSZ considers a comprehensive review of domestic fire safety legislation and authorisation regulations to be justified.