Korean fire protection design, installation and maintenance standards are somewhat less stringent from those of the United States, and not performance based. Fire protection systems, such as detectors, sprinkler systems, gaseous suppression systems, fire barriers, and smoke control systems look similar, but, are performance is limited, even though in compliance with local regulatory requirements. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the fire risk and damage potential in entirety for facilities located in Korea.

Korean fire protection regulation consists of Fire Protection Act (FPA), Presidential Decree, Ministerial Ordinance, and Notification. The FPA and its sub-statutes include the entire basic legal requirement, enforcement and technical codes. But, none of these statutes include the detailed technical guidelines for fire protection design, installation and maintenance. Furthermore, there is no other fire protection code, such as National Fire Codes in the US. Even though most of the technical codes embedded in the FPA and its sub-statutes are modified versions from Japanese Fire Protection Regulation, which was developed based on the National Fire Codes of the States, the necessary detailed performance related requirements references are missing. Thus, the intention and purpose of fire protection regulations is not clear.

In a study presented at the International Symposium on Fire Science and Technology, 1997, it was demonstrated that the design density of Korean sprinkler system could only handle the Ordinary Hazard Group 2 through Extra Hazard Group 1 of NFC13, which excludes other industry level fire hazards. Furthermore, there exists only one fixed response time for sprinkler head, which cannot adjust the fire escalation speed of combustible materials. Thus fire in industry facilities is a major concern that is not well managed by the existing regulatory and agency inspection systems in Korea. The report, written by one of EEIC consultants, is attached for more details.

Fire safety is a major issue for facilities in Korea. Compliance with local legal requirements does not correctly assess the risk and damage control. Even when same type of fire protection systems used in the States is implemented in Korea, there is still the unresolved risk of locally designed, installed and maintained fire protection system which will not perform as in the US.

EEIC Consultant in Fire Risk Management is a registered and experienced fire protection engineer, certified both in the States and in Korea, with full comprehension of the risk issues in Korean environment. This type of fire safety risk assessment should be included in all corporate audits, but also should be performed independently, as a baseline, and with any modification of plant operation.