Whether a building needs extinguishers (Article 10 of the Order for Enforcement of the Fire Service Act, the Fire Service Act Order), an automatic fire alarm (Article 21), indoor hydrants (Article 11) and exit signs (Article 26) depends on its use (Appended Table 1 of the Order), its total floor area and its floors. Here are 29 facilities an AI checked in earlier articles, in one table, with the tool it calls over MCP (check_space). The notes on sprinklers come from what the source articles read in the Order itself.
1. The table
| Facility (item of Appended Table 1) | Total floor area | Extinguishers | Automatic fire alarm | Indoor hydrants | Exit signs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A banquet hall for 200 (item (1)(b)) | 1,262.06 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Needed |
| A community centre (item (1)(b)) | 420.08 m² | Needed | Needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A karaoke box (item (2)(d)) | 197.64 m² | Needed | Needed | — | Needed |
| An izakaya (item (3)(b)) | 165.24 m² | Needed | Not needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A supermarket (item (4)) | 5,909.48 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Needed |
| An exhibition hall (item (4)) | 920.56 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Needed |
| A convenience store (item (4)) | 272.06 m² | Needed | Not needed | — | Needed |
| A business hotel (item (5)(a)) | 2,251.44 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Needed |
| A house let as private lodging (item (5)(a)) | 145.04 m² | Not needed | Needed | — | Needed |
| A house let as a share house (item (5)(b)) | 145.04 m² | Not needed | Not needed | — | Not needed |
| A block of flats (item (5)(b)) | 1,641.45 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Not needed |
| A hospital (item (6)(a)) | 6,524.8 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Needed |
| A clinic with beds, internal medicine and the like (item (6)(a)(2)) | Ward floor of 383.04 m² | Needed | Needed | — | Needed |
| A clinic with beds, ophthalmology and the like (item (6)(a)(3)) | Ward floor of 383.04 m² | Needed | Needed | — | Needed |
| An internal medicine clinic (item (6)(a)(4)) | 271.56 m² | Needed | Not needed | — | Needed |
| An orthopaedic clinic (item (6)(a)(4)) | 300.84 m² | Needed | Needed | — | Needed |
| A dental clinic (item (6)(a)(4)) | 137.81 m² | Not needed | Not needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A long-term care health facility's ward (item (6)(b)) | 454.02 m² | Needed | Needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A dementia group home (item (6)(b)) | 192 m² | Needed | Needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A private care home, mainly care level 3 to 5 (item (6)(b)(1)) | 390 m² | Needed | Needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A private care home, otherwise (item (6)(c)(1)) | 390 m² | Needed | Needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A day service centre (item (6)(c)) | 220 m² | Needed | Not needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A day nursery (item (6)(c)) | 530.44 m² | — | Needed | Not needed | Needed |
| A small nursery (item (6)(c)) | 121.44 m² | Not needed | Not needed | — | Needed |
| A primary school's wing (item (7)) | 2,058.6 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | Not needed |
| A sauna (item (9)(a)) | 197.64 m² | Needed | Not needed | — | Needed |
| A machine shop (item (12)(a)) | 343.64 m² | Needed | Not needed | Not needed | Not needed |
| A steel warehouse (item (14)) | 1,484.04 m² | Needed | Needed | Needed | — |
| A 24-hour gym (item (15)) | 327.24 m² | Needed | Not needed | Not needed | Not needed |
| A three-storey office building (item (15)), ground floor | 923.52 m² | Needed | Not needed | Not needed | Not needed |
| A three-storey office building (item (15)), floor 3 | 923.52 m² | Needed | Needed | Not needed | Not needed |
| An animal hospital (item (15)) | 210.04 m² | Not needed | Not needed | — | Not needed |
- — = not checked in that article. Apart from the clinic with beds, every facility with — for indoor hydrants is below the threshold for its total floor area (700 m², or 1,000 m² for offices and the like).
- The clinic's 383.04 m² is only its ward floor. The building's total floor area and whether it needs indoor hydrants were not checked. The clinic with beds and the private care home each have two rows, one for each use the same facility can be.
- Where an article checked more than one case, the table gives: for indoor hydrants, a building that is neither fire-resistant nor finished in flame-retardant materials; for the machine shop, its shutter opening from outside (so the floor is not windowless); for the sauna, its 197.64 m² as drawn.
- Where exit signs are "Not needed", unlit exit signs are still needed (Article 26(1)(iv) of the Order); they can be left out where the exit is in view and close enough on foot.
2. What the table shows
- All four. The supermarket, the exhibition hall, the banquet hall for 200, the business hotel and the hospital.
- An alarm however small. The karaoke box (197.64 m² in total), the private lodging (145.04 m²) and the group home (192 m²) need one regardless of size (Article 21(1)(i)).
- The use changes it. A single-storey house of 145.04 m² let as private lodging needs an alarm and exit signs; let as a share house, it needs none of extinguishers, an alarm or exit signs.
- An office needs extinguishers. The office building of 923.52 m² needs extinguishers, and an alarm only on floor 3 (307.84 m² of floor area; floors are counted as in Japan, the ground floor being floor 1); it needs no indoor hydrants or exit signs.
- An animal hospital is item (15). The animal hospital of 210.04 m² needs none of the three checked.
- A clinic's departments change the rules. The clinic with 19 beds (ward floor of 383.04 m²) needs sprinklers for internal medicine and the like, unless its structure holds back the spread of fire. For ophthalmology and the like, they are needed only if the building is not single-storey and has 3,000 m² or more of floor area in total.
- A private care home's residents change the rules. The single-storey home of 390 m² needs sprinklers when its residents are mainly at care level 3 to 5 (Japan's long-term care need levels run from 1 to 5), unless its structure holds back the spread of fire. Otherwise a single-storey home needs none. Both need extinguishers, an automatic fire alarm and exit signs.
3. The rules
- How many extinguishers, and where?
- When does a building need an automatic fire alarm?
- When does a building need indoor hydrants?
- Exit sign rules
- How occupant capacity is counted
4. The articles
- What fire safety does a wedding venue need?
- Fire equipment for a community centre
- A karaoke box's fire equipment
- An izakaya's fire equipment
- A supermarket's fire equipment
- What fire safety does an exhibition hall need?
- What fire safety does a convenience store need?
- A hotel's fire equipment
- A house as a guesthouse or private lodging
- A house as a share house
- A block of flats' fire equipment
- A hospital's fire equipment
- Fire equipment for a clinic with beds
- Clinics either side of 300 m²
- Does a dental clinic need extinguishers?
- Fire equipment for a long-term care health facility
- A dementia group home's fire equipment
- Fire equipment for a private care home
- Fire equipment for a day service centre
- A day nursery's fire equipment
- What fire safety does a small nursery need?
- A school's fire equipment
- A sauna's fire equipment
- Fire equipment for a machine shop
- A warehouse's extinguishers and fire alarm
- Does a warehouse need indoor hydrants, and do they reach every part?
- What fire safety does a 24-hour gym need?
- What fire safety does a three-storey office building need?
- What fire safety does an animal hospital need?
5. How to ask an AI
Does this building (a single-storey restaurant with a total floor area of 400 m², as drawn) need extinguishers, an automatic fire alarm, indoor hydrants and exit signs? Put what it needs, and the rules, in one table.
6. What this does not check
- Sprinklers (the tool has no check for them), escape devices, emergency alarms and alarms that call the fire department are not in this table.
- The total floor areas are measured to the centres of the walls. In a building with several tenants, one business's part may count as a building of its own (Article 9 of the Order). In the end, ask the local fire department.
