Appoint a Fire Safety Manager, if your venue needs one
The Fire Safety Act requires certain premises to appoint a Fire Safety Manager (FSM) — a person responsible for maintaining fire safety measures, keeping fire safety works current, and coordinating evacuation procedures.
Not yet independently verified — check the source link: The exact SCDF threshold (building size/occupant load) that triggers a mandatory Fire Safety Manager appointment for a single F&B tenant, as opposed to the building owner, wasn't independently confirmed this pass — check directly with SCDF before treating this as settled for your premises.
The Fire Safety Act requires certain premises to appoint a Fire Safety Manager (FSM) — a person responsible for maintaining fire safety measures, keeping fire safety works current, and coordinating evacuation procedures. Whether a single bar, restaurant or café tenancy needs to appoint its own FSM, rather than relying on the building owner or management corporation's appointee, depends on the size and occupant load of the premises you occupy — SCDF sets the threshold, and it isn't the same for every building.
If your venue is one that needs its own FSM and you never appoint one, you have no named person responsible for keeping fire safety equipment, signage and evacuation procedures current — which is exactly what SCDF checks on an inspection, and exactly what an insurer will ask about after a fire.
We don't have a confirmed SCDF self-check page for this threshold yet — contact SCDF directly, or ask your landlord whether the building's existing FSM already covers your unit.
Who this is for
Every venue should check whether it needs to appoint its own Fire Safety Manager — most small standalone F&B tenancies rely on the building's FSM, but this needs confirming, not assuming.
Depends on the size and occupant load of the premises you occupy, and whether you sit inside a larger building with its own building-wide FSM already in place.
What you’ll hold
- Fire Safety Manager appointment record, if applicable
- Copy of the building's current Fire Certificate
Watch out for
- Your building needs a valid Fire Certificate for you to legally trade — this is almost always your landlord's responsibility, not yours, but you should ask for a copy. If you're a large standalone unit that independently crosses the 200-person occupant-load threshold, you may need to hold your own — check with SCDF if in doubt.
- Assuming a Fire Safety Manager is only ever the building owner's job and never checking — a large standalone restaurant or a unit with an unusually high occupant load can trigger its own requirement even inside a multi-tenant building.
- Appointing someone on paper but never actually training them or giving them time to do the job — an FSM who cannot describe the evacuation procedure on the day is no better than not having one.
Sources
- SCDF — Singapore Civil Defence Force checked 2026-09-08
See also
This is item 11 of 36 in the free Singapore Launch Checklist. See the whole list →