New circular on the Fire Protection Regulation for properties in or near forest areas

The Ministry of Environment and Energy issued a new circular with instructions for the implementation of the Fire Protection Regulation for properties in or near forest areas by municipalities and citizens of properties falling within its scope.

The text of the circular states the following:

Α. General:

The regulation aims to increase the resilience and enhance the degree of fire safety of properties located in or near forested areas. The goal is to protect the life and health of the public, the natural environment and forest ecosystems, and properties by limiting their contribution to fire transmission. An important parallel objective of the regulation is to inform, raise awareness and prepare the public to deal with the risks of forest fires, which have intensified due to climate change.

Β. Scope:

The regulation applies to structured properties located within forests, woodlands, suburban green, declared forested, reforested and grassland areas, and within a three hundred (300) meter radius of the boundaries of these areas. It also concerns buildings within parks and alpine meadows of towns and residential areas.

It should be noted that in the case of groves, the regulation applies only to buildings located within the grove and not to properties adjacent to the grove, nor to those facing the grove. This is due to the ability to control, limit transmission, access and intervention of the forces in the event of a fire within a grove or park which are surrounded by residential buildings. Individual small forest pockets in urban areas surrounded by buildings may be treated in the same way. On the other hand, in settlements, as well as in residential densities surrounded as a whole by woodland, the risk of fire spreading from the woodland to the settlement or vice versa is increased and less controllable, so that the Regulation provides for a different procedure (Article 4 of Chapter Two), which is explained below. It is also clarified that the regulation does not apply to cultivated land, nor in the case where there is an accessory building within it for the storage of equipment, tools and materials required to serve agricultural activity.

Γ. Procedure:

It is noted that technical regulations in general, and in this case the subject regulation, apply to all properties with buildings that fall within its scope as a requirement of planning legislation and specificity of regulation of building construction issues that improve the health and safety of occupants, residents and buildings and protect the environment, without the possibility of exemption due to other factors, such as any insurance of the building.

In particular, the study procedure according to the provisions of the regulation, includes three stages: the assessment of the property's risk, the preparation of a technical report of measures and actions, and the declaration of their implementation by the property owner.

1. The assessment of the risk of the property is based on the six groups of criteria set out in Article 5 of Chapter One of the Regulation. This assessment is carried out for the area of influence of the property and is reflected in the Risk Assessment Form, from which the property's classification (low, medium, high and very high) is derived. The Regulation contains data, links and annexes to facilitate the work of the authors of the assessment.

The assessment form is drawn up once and its re-compilation is required only if the parameters taken into account during the assessment are modified (such as, for example, any change in the width of the access road to the property, the addition of a water intake point for a fire engine, the construction of new buildings on neighbouring properties with an impact on the density index of the built environment) if they result in a change in the risk category of the property.

The Evaluation Form is prepared by a technical scientist with training in topography, vegetation, infrastructure and networks. By way of example and without prejudice to the professional rights of all technical scientists, the evaluation form may be drawn up by engineers (surveyors, architects, civil engineers, mechanical engineers, environmental engineers, etc.) as well as foresters, agronomists or geotechnical scientists.

By way of exception to the above, in in the case of settlements, whether or not delimited, and of agglomerations of settlements surrounded in their entirety by forest, grassland, reforestation and other areas, the risk assessment is drawn up for the whole settlement on a single form, on the responsibility of the competent local authority.

2. The technical report includes:

A. Description:

- of the property, with particular reference to its location in relation to the forest, reforestation, etc. area and the critical points of the evaluation form that led to its classification in terms of risk,

- of the building or buildings within the property, with reference to their geometric characteristics, structural elements and materials,

- the surrounding area, its structures (location and materials) and installations, as well as the type, size and location of plants,

- the neighbouring properties, any buildings within them and their surroundings as described above,

- any other element which is relevant and relevant to the subject matter of the Regulation.

B. Determination:

- the required preventive measures, passive fire protection measures and active fire protection means, and any recommendations to owners on the evacuation preparation plan,

- the works and actions to be taken in the case of properties with existing buildings to comply with the above measures,

- the administrative acts required in each case for the execution of construction works under Article 28 of Law 4495/17, as in force.

and is accompanied by a plan of the property showing the necessary details, such as, but not limited to, the positions of the buildings of primary and secondary use, access to the property, the protection zones, the positions and distances of trees, the distances of adjacent buildings, etc.

It should be noted that an administrative act is issued only for those works that are of a construction nature (mostly works provided for in the passive and active fire protection requirements) if they do not fall under the works of article 30 of Law 4495/17, for which no building permit or approval of small-scale building works is required. With regard to the application of preventive measures such as clearing of vegetation on the side of the building, clearing of the basement, cutting of branches of standing trees, no permit or approval is required.

With regard to any requirement to cut down trees within private properties, if it concerns properties within planned areas and, within a settlement or even outside planned areas with buildings erected on the basis of a building permit, for the application of the protection zones, this is carried out by issuing an approval for small-scale building works, where instead of item aa) of case g) of no. Ministry of the Environment/DAOKA/43266/1174/2020 (B’ 1843), the technical report of this Regulation shall be submitted. Pursuant to Article 36 of Decision No. YPEN/DAOKA/66006/2360/2023 Decree (B’ 3985), the provisions of the Fire Protection Regulation for properties in or near forest areas take precedence over the provisions of Article 19 of the Building Regulation in the event that their application does not make it possible to ensure the minimum mandatory number of trees.

The technical report is prepared by engineers who have the right to sign fire protection studies in accordance with the provisions of p.d 99/2018 (A’ 187) «Regulation of the engineering profession with definition of professional rights for each specialty» (civil engineers, architectural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, electrical engineers, land surveyors, chemical engineers, mining and metallurgical engineers, shipbuilders, production and administration engineers).

The evaluation form and the technical report may be prepared by the same or different technical experts. In any case, they are interrelated documents whose content must be consistent. The technical report shall also be drawn up once, but shall be resubmitted updated in the event of modification of either the risk assessment form or of its content and elements (e.g. addition of a new building to the property or extension of an existing one).

In the case of settlements or settlement concentrations surrounded by forested areas, after the notification by the local authority to the residents of the risk classification of the Risk Assessment Form of the settlement, which has been carried out by the local authority, the technical reports of the private individuals for their properties are submitted, which relate to all of the above-mentioned elements (description and definition of measures) except those for the creation of protection zones which are applied in addition Since the fire prevention measures for existing buildings vary little according to the risk classification of the property, it is recommended that they be taken even before the notification of the risk assessment form for the settlement by the local authorities.

3. After the preparation of the risk assessment form and the technical report and their submission to the special information system and temporarily to the relevant municipality, the owner is obliged for each year before the start of the fire season to submit to the information system or the municipality, the solemn declaration of taking measures and compliance with the technical report.

It is clarified that the technical report, the risk assessment form and the declaration of implementation of fire safety measures relate to the entire property (buildings and surrounding area) and are submitted once for the entire property, regardless of the existence of any divided properties.

D. Measures:

For this year's fire season of 2024, only the preventive fire protection measures are applied to the properties in the scope with existing buildings, i.e:

(a) ensuring fuel-free access to the property,

(b) regular cleaning which includes regular pruning and clearing of trees and shrubs of any existing deadwood, thinning of non-fire-resistant tree vegetation, cutting of branches that are adjacent to or in close proximity to the external structural elements of the building, ground cleaning (pine needles), grass mowing, regular inspection and maintenance of the irrigation system, cleaning of roofs and gutters from combustible materials.

c) transportation of materials that may be stored freely on the property, such as waste, firewood, fuel cans, paint, etc. in a closed area or fireproof cabinet.

(d) preparation by the owner(s) of the property of an evacuation preparation plan, i.e. a checklist and a list of actions that will increase the degree of preparedness in case of a fire incident, which records the necessary actions before evacuation of the building, as well as the way of evacuation of the users from the property to a safe place. In the case of properties with more than one owner, the evacuation preparation plan shall be drawn up by all the co-owners and posted in a prominent place for the information of occupants and the public.

(e) design of perimeter protection zones, i.e. three levels of graded protection around a building where there is a sequential reduction of combustible materials as we approach the building.

The design of the perimeter protection zones may be applied either for each individual building, or for groups of buildings of the same or another property if they are less than five (5.00) metres apart, after consultation with their owners, by incorporating all of them into the «contour» on the basis of which the protection zones will be determined. Similarly, the «building contour» may also include surrounding structures such as pergolas, canopies, bbq's, etc.

With regard to the provisions of the Regulation on preventive fire protection measures of subpar. 3.1.1, 3.1.2 and 3.1.3 of Article 3 of Chapter 2 of the Regulation, it is noted that these are general, with the possibility of deviations, subject to documentation in the technical report where appropriate.

Specifically, in the case of settlements, whether demarcated or not, as well as settlement concentrations that are surrounded by forested areas as a whole, in accordance with the provisions of Article 4 of Chapter Two of the Regulation, it is provided that instead of their individual application to each property, the whole settlement is treated as a unity-system, with the graded perimeter protection zones being formed around the boundaries of the settlement in consultation and coordination. In particular, a 10 metre wide fire protection zone shall be established around the boundaries of the settlement.

Ε. Controls:

The checks are carried out during the fire season on a random basis, at a rate proportional to the risk of the property and relate exclusively to the verification of compliance with the measures of the technical report as declared by the property owner.

The three-member committees consist of a forester or agronomist, an engineer and one other employee of the Civil Protection Department of the Region. In the event that the municipalities do not have all of these specialisations, the committee may appoint officials of other specialisations relevant to the subject matter of the regulation, but serving in other departments: Technical Department, Environment - Civil Protection Department, Building Department.

F. Responsibilities of Forestry Services (Forestry Offices and Forestry Directorates without Forestry Offices):

As mentioned above, the Regulation on the subject was adopted for the safety and protection of residents, employees and visitors of properties located in or near forest areas in the event of forest fires and to limit the contribution of these properties to the spread of any fire event in order to protect forests and their ecosystems. In this context, no approval from the relevant Forestry Service is required for the execution of the works required by the provisions of the Regulation on properties within planned areas or within settlements, whether or not demarcated, or outside planned areas with buildings erected with a building permit (cases of paragraph 7 of Article 3 of Law 998/79, as amended).

Approval from the relevant Forestry Service is required in the case of buildings located within parks and urban and residential areas protected by forestry legislation (paragraphs 4 and 5 of article 58 of Law 998/79, as in force), buildings erected after relevant approval within areas protected by forestry legislation (article 45 of Law 998/79, as in force) as well as on the planning proposal by the local authorities of the perimeter protection zones of article 4 of chapter two of the Regulation in.

It is obvious that the encroachment of areas protected by the special provisions of the forestry legislation is prohibited and that all kinds of buildings, structures and installations of permanent or temporary character are compulsorily demolished in accordance with the provisions of article 67 a of Law 998/79, as in force, and the offenders, contractors, subcontractors, builders and their agents are subject to the penalties of article 71 of the same law.

Ζ. Transitional provisions:

Taking into account requests from municipalities and citizens and in order to provide sufficient time for the optimal implementation of the fire protection of properties within or near forest areas as provided for in the Fire Protection Regulation, an amendment to the relevant Joint Ministerial Decision was issued to extend the deadlines for submission of data as follows:

a) the preparation of the risk assessment and submission of a technical report, by 10/05/2024,

b) taking measures and submitting a declaration by the owner by 10/06/2024,

c) for settlements, the local authorities shall complete the risk assessment form and the technical report on the formation of a fire zone and any classification of the fire zone around the perimeter of the settlement boundaries by 26/05/2024.

The inspection committees, with the composition described in section E above, will carry out random inspections of the properties during the fire season and in any case after the above deadlines for submission of the owners' responsible declarations.