Mauritius
Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service Act
Act 13 of 2013
- Commenced on 5 February 2014
- [This is the version of this document at 30 June 2017.]
Part I – Preliminary
1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service Act.2. Interpretation
In this Act—"alarm call" means a call indicating the occurrence of an emergency;"authorised officer" means an officer of the Service delegated by the Chief Fire Officer to exercise a power under this Act;"building"—(a)means a permanent or temporary structure, enclosed within exterior walls and a roof; and(b)includes—(i)all attached apparatus, equipment and fixtures that cannot be removed without cutting into ceilings, floors or walls;(ii)2 or more buildings that, on completion of construction, extension or alteration works, are intended to be managed as a single building, with common use and set of ownership arrangements;"emergency" means a serious, unexpected and potentially dangerous occurrence, such as a fire, a flood, a storm, an explosion, a landslide, a terrorist act, an accident, a sea surge on land, a leakage of harmful substances or an oil spill, which requires a significant and coordinated response and which—(a)endangers, or threatens to endanger, the safety or health of persons or animals; or(b)destroys or damages, or threatens to destroy or damage, property or the environment;"environment" has the same meaning as in the Environment Protection Act;"fire certificate" means a certificate issued by the Chief Fire Officer under section 19;"fire safety plan" means a plan referred to in section 18;"hazardous materials emergency" means a situation involving hazardous materials or suspected hazardous materials, that includes a loss of control or an imminent risk of loss of control of—(a)the materials; or(b)anything that may directly or indirectly cause harm to persons, animals, property or the environment;"Minister" means the Minister to whom responsibility for the Service is assigned;"National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre" means the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Centre set up by Government to ensure timely disaster management response;"occupier", in relation to any premises, means the person in actual occupation or, if there is no such person, the owner;"officer" means an officer of the Service;"owner", in relation to any premises—(a)means the person who, for the time being, owns or is entitled to receive the rent in respect of the premises on his own account, or as an agent or a trustee for any other person; and(b)includes an occupier or a property developer;"premises" includes—(a)a building;(b)land, whether built on or not;(c)a tent;(d)a swimming pool;(e)a ship or vessel of any description, including a boathouse; and(f)any other moveable structure or vehicle;"Service" means the Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service;"Service vehicle"—(a)means a motor vehicle used by the Service; and(b)includes firefighting and rescue appliances such as water tenders, water carriers, ladder appliances, rescue vehicles, pumps and other utility vehicles, whether or not identified by beacons or sirens;"supervising officer" means the supervising officer of the Ministry;"volunteer fire brigade" means an association of persons formed for the purpose of the prevention and suppression of fires and composed, solely or principally, of volunteer members;"working agreement" means an agreement referred to in section 6.3. Application of Act
This Act is in addition to, and not in derogation from, the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Town and Country Planning Act and any other relevant enactment.Part II – The Service
4. Mauritius Fire and Rescue Service
5. Duties and powers of Service
6. Working agreement
7. Operation of Service
8. Powers of Minister
9. Powers of Chief Fire Officer
10. Powers of authorised officers
11. Command and control
Part III – Duties of other bodies and persons in cases of emergency
12. Duties of police officers
13. Duties of Central Water Authority
The Central Water Authority shall, as far as practicable—14. Duties of Central Electricity Board
15. Duties of suppliers and distributors of other energy sources
16. Duties of local authorities
In case of an emergency, the appropriate Municipal City or Town Council or District Council shall, as far as practicable, assist—Part IV – Fire safety and prevention
17. Fire prevention
18. Fire safety plans
19. Fire certificate
Part V – Miscellaneous
20. Exposure to hazardous materials
21. Volunteer fire brigades
22. Training facilities
23. Firefighting or fire warning equipment
No person shall import, sell, supply, install or maintain firefighting or fire warning equipment unless that equipment complies with such standards as may be prescribed.24. Priority over vehicular traffic
Notwithstanding any other enactment—25. Notices
Any notice required to be given under this Act to the owner of any premises may be given by—26. Offences
27. Regulations
28. ***
29. ***
30. ***
31. ***
History of this document
30 June 2017 this version
Consolidation
05 February 2014
Commenced