Mexico. Developing a Mexican standard for the design and installation of automatic fire sprinkler systems is an initiative that proposes to establish a reference framework with the minimum safety requirements in terms of prevention and suppression that is national, mandatory, broad, detailed, of general application and regulated by the competent authority.
While it is true that the Regulations of the General Civil Protection Law were recently updated, the legal framework on fire protection needs to be strengthened. The lack of specific regulation for the prevention and protection of fires in our country has a lag of at least 35 years.
This lag is due to the incorporation of new processes and modern materials used in construction, which are lighter, more flammable, prefabricated, as well as the lack of maintenance in the facilities of the buildings.
In Mexico, fires, unlike earthquakes and hurricanes, occur more frequently than it seems, that is, only in the three most important cities: Federal District, Monterrey and Guadalajara in 2013, a total of 15,000 fires were registered attended by the fire departments.
In general, the current Mexican legal framework is limited, incomplete and dispersed. The existing laws and regulations in our country contain various measures, but they do not address the totality of fire prevention, protection and mitigation to avoid irreparable losses, detect quickly and suppress in your case effectively.
This regulation is not in accordance with what is used in other countries and modern Mexico. The attempts to protect human life, as well as the damage to property from fires in our country, have not been sufficient or comprehensive, so it is imperative to update and develop a new comprehensive regulation in the matter.
This delay in regulations has caused a gradual increase in the number of fire incidents of up to 10% per year, fires not only have a very important social impact due to the increase in victims of more than 2,990 among men and women, children and older adults since 2000, but also have an impact on the continuity of operations, productivity and damage to the environment.
Given this scenario, the Mexican Association of Automatic Fire Sprinklers (AMRACI), has urged the various trade union organizations to make a common front so that in an organized way they work to present to the Mexican authorities a proposal for regulation of human safety and fire protection, highlighting the elaboration of an Official Mexican Standard (NOM) of Automatic Fire Sprinklers.
In developed countries in Europe, as well as in the United States, the use of automatic fire sprinkler systems has reduced accidents by up to 69%, the number of deaths by 87%, the percentage of injured and the cost of material losses by up to 83%; this thanks to the intervention of their governments and the strengthening of their regulatory framework.
In Latin America it is believed that sprinkler systems are very expensive when in fact carpets or false ceilings for an office building for example, have a similar cost per square meter to the cost of sprinklers of 23 and 25 dollars, respectively.
As for the costs, it is not representative if we compare it with the total cost of the construction of a building for example of offices or hospital ranges between 1.45 and 0.90 of its cost, but it is very representative to save lives and protect properties.
"We therefore have before us the great opportunity to strengthen the legal framework in terms of fire prevention and protection, and adapt to the new reality of a developing and sustainable Mexico that enjoys security and thus avoid events to regret. Let's not wait until we have another tragedy like the ABC nursery or the Lobombo entertainment center, let's act now," concluded Mike MacDaniel, president of AMRACI.
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