Punjab Fire Safety Certificate: Rules and Fines

Last reviewed: 3 September 2026.

Punjab replaced its fire services framework with a single statute that ties fire clearance directly to the building approval chain. The important shift is that the certificate is no longer something you chase after construction. It is now a gate that sits in front of plan approval and in front of your completion certificate, and a separate authority is barred from clearing you without it.

Section 42 treats the three risk classes differently. Low risk gets a warning stage first. Medium and high risk are fined at the very first instance.

In every class, if the failure is to obtain a Provisional certificate, the notice must also direct that no construction activity is carried out until a valid Provisional Fire Safety Certificate is obtained. That direction is the one that actually stops a project.

Section 23(1) requires owners and occupiers of any low, medium or high risk building, either individually or jointly, to obtain a Provisional Fire Safety Certificate before obtaining a building plan approval, and a Final Fire Safety Certificate before obtaining a completion certificate.

The proviso to section 23(1) is the part that changes behaviour. Notwithstanding anything in any other Punjab law in force, no authority empowered to grant a building plan approval, or a completion or occupancy certificate, may grant it unless satisfied that the owner or occupier has obtained the appropriate Provisional or Final Fire Safety Certificate under this Act. So the municipal or development authority is itself barred from clearing you.

Section 23(2) says the certificate is procured from a Nominated Authority, in the manner and on payment of the fee that is prescribed. It is granted only after the application is complete in all respects and the applicant has complied with all fire prevention and life safety measures. Section 23(4) leaves the validity period of the Final certificate to be prescribed by rules.

We are not printing a fee figure, a form number or a validity period on this page, because those sit in subordinate rules that we did not verify for this article. Ask for the current ones in writing using the RTI route below.

Section 22(1) says sites, premises, buildings and pandals may be classified as posing a low, medium or high risk of fire, and that the risk classification shall be notified by the Government. Section 22(2) requires buildings and pandals to comply with all fire prevention and life safety measures applicable to them.

This matters because your entire penalty exposure depends on your class, and the class comes from a government notification rather than from the Act. Do not guess it. Ask the Fire Officer or the Nominated Authority in writing which class your building falls in, and keep the reply.

The Act defines a building or building premises very widely. Section 2(1)(a) covers any structure or any part of it, whether built with or without authorisation under any Punjab law, used for any purpose, and expressly includes outhouses, sheds, stables, garages and other appurtenant structures. An unauthorised structure is therefore not outside the Act.

Section 26(1) requires owners and occupiers of high risk buildings to appoint a Private Fire Safety Manager to ensure compliance with all fire prevention and fire safety measures, and then to inform the Fire Officer in whose jurisdiction the building is located, in writing, of that appointment.

Section 26(2) sets the clock. If they fail to appoint the Private Fire Safety Manager within thirty days of the requirement becoming applicable to them, each of them is deemed to be in default jointly and severally. Joint and several default means the department can proceed against any one of them for the whole default, not a proportionate share.

Section 26(3) allows employers to facilitate periodic training for the Private Fire Safety Manager at the National Fire and Emergency Service College, Nagpur, at a fire training institute established under this Act, or at another equivalent recognised institution.

The Act repeatedly deals with pandals alongside buildings. Section 22(1) includes pandals in the risk classification. Section 25(3) requires all erectors of pandals who must obtain a Fire Safety Certificate to display it at a prominent place in the pandal. If you organise a marriage, religious or event pandal in Punjab, this is a live compliance duty, not a building owner's problem alone.

1. Establish your risk class in writing. Section 22(1) leaves classification to a government notification. Ask the Fire Officer or Nominated Authority which class applies to your site and keep the written answer.
2. Apply for the Provisional certificate before you seek plan approval. Section 23(1) puts it ahead of plan approval, and the approving authority cannot clear you without it.
3. Complete the application properly the first time. Section 23(2) allows grant only where the application is complete in all respects and all fire prevention and life safety measures are complied with.
4. Get the Final certificate before you ask for a completion certificate. Same gate, later stage.
5. If high risk, appoint a Private Fire Safety Manager and notify the Fire Officer in writing. Do it within 30 days of the requirement applying, or every owner and occupier is in default jointly and severally.
6. If you get a notice, diarise both clocks. The notice gives 15 days to apply and 45 days to obtain, and the sealing stage is triggered at 60 days from the notice. Use the Timeline Tracker to keep the dates straight.
7. Keep the acknowledgement of every application. Your protection at the fine stage is proof that you applied within the notice period.

• The written intimation of your risk class under section 22(1).
• The Provisional Fire Safety Certificate and the Final Fire Safety Certificate, with their dates.
• The complete application you filed with the Nominated Authority and its acknowledgement.
• Proof of the fire prevention and life safety measures installed, with bills and test reports.
• For a high risk building, the appointment letter of the Private Fire Safety Manager and the written intimation to the Fire Officer.
• Any notice received under section 42, with the date of receipt recorded.

To
The Public Information Officer
Punjab Fire and Emergency Service
[Office of the Director / District Fire Office]
[Address]

Subject: Information under Section 6(1) of the Right to Information Act, 2005
regarding the Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act, 2024

Sir/Madam,

Please provide the following information:

1. A copy of the notification issued under Section 22(1) of the Punjab Fire
   and Emergency Service Act, 2024 classifying sites, premises, buildings
   and pandals as low, medium or high risk, with its number and date.

2. The risk classification applicable to the building at [full address /
   khasra or property number].

3. The rules notified under the said Act prescribing the manner of applying
   for a Provisional and a Final Fire Safety Certificate, the fee payable,
   and the validity period of the Final Fire Safety Certificate.

4. The name, designation and office address of the Nominated Authority
   competent to issue Fire Safety Certificates for [your city or district].

5. The number of orders passed under Section 42 of the said Act levying a
   fine, and the number of buildings sealed, in [your district], year wise,
   from the commencement of the Act to the date of this application.

If any part of this request is held by another public authority, please
transfer that part under Section 6(3) of the RTI Act, 2005 within five days.

I enclose the prescribed application fee. Please supply the information
within 30 days as required by Section 7(1).

Yours faithfully,
[Name]
[Full postal address]
[Phone / email]
[Place, Date]

No reply within 30 days is a deemed refusal, and you can file a first appeal under section 19(1). The AI RTI Drafter will format the application, and how to file an RTI in India covers the basics.

• Treating the certificate as a post construction formality. Section 23(1) puts the Provisional certificate before plan approval and the Final certificate before the completion certificate.
• Assuming an unauthorised structure is outside the Act. Section 2(1)(a) covers a structure built with or without authorisation under any Punjab law.
• Guessing your risk class. Classification comes from a government notification under section 22(1). Your fine exposure differs by class, so confirm it in writing.
• Missing the 30 day Private Fire Safety Manager clock. For a high risk building, failure to appoint within 30 days puts every owner and occupier in default jointly and severally under section 26(2).
• Thinking the first notice is harmless. For medium and high risk buildings the Fire Officer levies the fine at the very first instance under section 42(2)(i) and 42(3)(i), alongside the notice.
• Forgetting pandals. Section 25(3) requires an erector who must hold a certificate to display it prominently in the pandal.
• Ignoring the no construction direction. Where the failure is to obtain a Provisional certificate, the notice must direct that no construction activity continue until it is obtained.

Section 1(3) says the Act comes into force on and with effect from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. The text of the Act carries the running gazette reference Punjab Government Gazette Extraordinary, 26 November 2024. India Code records the enactment date as 27 October 2024.

Before, at two separate points. Section 23(1) requires a Provisional Fire Safety Certificate before you obtain building plan approval, and a Final Fire Safety Certificate before you obtain a completion certificate.

No. The proviso to section 23(1) says that notwithstanding any other Punjab law in force, no authority empowered to grant plan approval or a completion or occupancy certificate may grant it unless satisfied that the appropriate certificate has been obtained under this Act.

Under section 42 the order may levy a fine of up to Rs 15,000 for low and medium risk buildings and up to Rs 25,000 for high risk buildings. At the sealing stage for a high risk building there is an additional fine of Rs 10 per square metre of covered area on all floors.

The sealing order is issued after giving a notice of twenty four hours, and it comes only after the earlier notice period has run. For medium and high risk buildings that earlier period is 60 days from the issue of the notice.

Owners and occupiers of high risk buildings, under section 26(1), who must then inform the Fire Officer in writing. Failure to appoint within 30 days of the requirement applying puts each of them in default jointly and severally under section 26(2).

Yes. Section 2(1)(a) defines a building or building premises to include any structure or part of it whether built with or without authorisation under any Punjab law, and expressly includes outhouses, sheds, stables and garages.

Yes. Pandals appear alongside buildings in the risk classification under section 22(1), and section 25(3) requires an erector who is required to obtain a Fire Safety Certificate to display it at a prominent place in the pandal.

• The Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act, 2024 (Punjab Act No. 12 of 2024), full text on India Code - sections 1, 2(1)(a), 22, 23, 25, 26 and 42 as cited above, carrying the running gazette reference Punjab Government Gazette Extraordinary, 26 November 2024.
• India Code item metadata for the same Act, recording the enactment date as 27 October 2024 and the act number as 12 of 2024.
• The Right to Information Act, 2005 - sections 6(1), 6(3), 7(1) and 19(1) used in the sample letter.

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