Fire Services (Amendment) Act 2025: What Changed for Building Owners

The Fire Services (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act A1764) is the biggest change to the Fire Services Act 1988 in years. It does not change whether your building needs a Fire Certificate. It changes who is allowed to do the fire safety work around it — and it makes using an unregistered consultant, contractor or trainer an offence.

This guide is for owners and managers of factories and other premises who hire that work. It covers what the Act says, when each part started, and what to check.

Two commencement dates

The Act received Royal Assent on 6 May 2025 and was published in the Gazette on 22 May 2025. The Minister brought it into force in two stages:

• 1 July 2025 — sections 5 to 10 and 12 to 18. These include the Director General’s power to authorise or order a private fire brigade, the Malaysian Fire Cadet Corps, the Director General’s power to issue guidelines, the requirement for the Public Prosecutor’s consent to prosecute, a new offence of impersonating a fire officer, and First Class Magistrates’ jurisdiction to try offences under the Act.
• 1 January 2026 — sections 2, 3, 4, 11, 19, 20 and 21. These include the new Parts VA and VB (registration of people and of equipment), the new Third Schedule on training, the new definitions such as “fire risk analysis report”, and the transitional provisions.

The new registers (Part VA)

Part VA creates a registration system run by a Controller appointed by the Director General of Fire and Rescue. It covers six roles: fire safety consultant, fire safety consultant firm, competent person, fire safety contractor, training provider and instructor. Each rule below is in the Act itself:

• Fire risk analysis reports (section 36c). Only a registered fire safety consultant or consultant firm may prepare one.
• Installing and servicing equipment (section 36d). For fire-fighting equipment or fire safety installations prescribed by the Minister, only a registered competent person or fire safety contractor may install, test, service, recharge or repair them. Penalty: a fine of up to RM50,000, imprisonment of up to three years, or both.
• Training (section 36e). Training on the matters in the Third Schedule may only be carried out by a registered training provider or instructor. Penalty: a fine of up to RM100,000.
• Renewal and appeals. A registration lasts for the period on its certificate. Renewal must be applied for at least 30 days before expiry. A refusal can be appealed to the Director General within 14 days.

The Third Schedule lists four training areas: operating, fighting, preventing and controlling fires; the installation, use, maintenance and regulation of fire-fighting equipment and fire safety installations; investigating the cause, origin and circumstances of fires; and protection of life and property in a fire.

Registering the equipment itself (Part VB)

Part VB lets the Minister prescribe fire-fighting equipment and fire safety installations that must be registered. Once an item is prescribed, it may not be sold for installation, or installed, at any premises unless it is registered (section 36k). The penalty is a fine of up to RM500,000, imprisonment of up to five years, or both. The Director General may also publish a list of laboratories for testing equipment for registration (section 36o).

Which items are prescribed is set by the Minister, not by the Act. Check the current position with JBPM before you buy.

Private fire brigades and fire risk analysis reports

The Director General may authorise a private fire brigade at a premises on the owner’s application. The Director General may also order the owner, occupier or manager to set one up, where a fire risk analysis report shows a potential hazard or special fire risk (new section 4dc). Failing to follow the conditions or orders given is an offence.

The transition period

Consultants, consultant firms, competent persons, contractors, training providers and instructors already working before the new rules had one year from 1 January 2026 to apply to the Controller for registration (section 21(2) of the amending Act).

JBPM has started to publish who is registered. On 12 August 2026 it listed 13 registered training providers for Fire Safety Manager (FSM) and Fire Safety Officer (FSO) certification courses from 1 September 2026. It warned that unrecognised providers may not run these courses, with a fine of up to RM100,000.

What has not changed

The core duties under the Fire Services Act 1988 stay the same. Designated premises still need a Fire Certificate, renewed every year (section 28). Where required, they still need a fire safety organisation (section 27A). Under the Fire Certificate Regulations, that organisation is a fire safety manager and at least three fire safety officers certified by the Director General. Operating a designated premises without a Fire Certificate is still an offence.

What to check as a building owner

• Your fire contractor. Ask whoever installs, services or recharges your fire-fighting equipment for their JBPM registration as a competent person or fire safety contractor, and keep a copy with your maintenance records.
• New equipment. For items the Minister has prescribed, ask the supplier to confirm the equipment is registered before you buy.
• Fire risk analysis reports. If JBPM asks for one, use a registered fire safety consultant or consultant firm.
• Fire training. Before booking training on fire fighting, equipment use or fire safety, check that the provider or instructor is registered. For FSM and FSO courses, use a provider on JBPM’s list.
• Your Fire Certificate. Keep renewing it every year. Make sure the documents behind it come from registered people.

Where ProSafe fits

ProSafe supplies fire fighting systems, installed by a JBPM-registered contractor, and supports Fire Certificate applications and annual renewals. We also prepare evacuation plan drawings. We do not prepare fire risk analysis reports or run FSM or FSO certification courses. For those, use a registered fire safety consultant or one of the training providers on JBPM’s list.

Sources

1. Fire Services (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act A1764) — Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM)
2. Fire Services Act 1988 (Act 341) — Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM)
3. Fire Services (Fire Certificate) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, P.U.(A) 290/2020 — Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM)
4. Registered training providers for Fire Safety Managers and Fire Safety Officers (FSM & FSO), notice of 12 August 2026 — Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM)
5. Laws of Malaysia: amendment acts register, with commencement dates for Act A1764 — Attorney General’s Chambers of Malaysia (AGC)

This guide summarises the law for general information. It is not legal advice. For your own premises, confirm with JBPM.