The Fire Services Department announced that a fire service amendment regulation will come into effect tomorrow to facilitate the voluntary use of portable firefighting equipment in domestic premises of the public's own volition.

The department stated that the move would enable the public to tackle a fire in case of a fire at home, thereby enhancing home fire safety.

It explained that the Fire Service (Installations & Equipment) (Amendment) Regulation 2023 aims to exclude approved portable firefighting equipment that is installed in domestic premises of one's own volition from the application of regulation 8(1) of Fire Service (Installations & Equipment) Regulations.

This means that the owners of such equipment will be exempted from the statutory duty of keeping the equipment in efficient working order at all times and having the equipment inspected by registered fire service installation contractors at least once every 12 months.

To facilitate the public to identify portable firefighting equipment approved by the department, it has introduced a new function, Portable Easy Scan, to its mobile app.

By enabling people to scan the information on the label of the equipment with their mobile phones, the app will identify whether the equipment concerned is an approved model or not.

A dedicated webpage is set up to provide details of the amendment regulation, as well as a guideline for selecting and self-checking portable firefighting equipment.

The department will also publicise the benefits and use of portable firefighting equipment through various channels. 

Nevertheless, it reminded the public that owners of any portable firefighting equipment that is required by law to be installed in any premises, and installed of one's own volition in common areas of domestic buildings or in any premises which are not intended to be used for residential purposes, should continue to be subject to the relevant statutory duty.