Fire Certificate for Factories and Warehouses in Malaysia: Bomba FC Rules, Fees and Checklist
Which factories and warehouses in Malaysia need a Bomba fire certificate, who applies, what it costs and how racking or chemicals change the rules. Includes a checklist for tenants and buyers.
Key Takeaways
- A fire certificate (FC, or Perakuan Bomba) is compulsory for every "designated premises" under section 28 of the Fire Services Act 1988 (Act 341), and it must be renewed every year.
- Factories need one if they are single-storey of 2,001 m² (about 21,540 sq ft) and above with sprinklers, two-storey compartmented units above 1,000 m² in total, three storeys or taller, or hazardous-process plants. Warehouses need one above 7,000 m³, or at two storeys and more than 1,000 m².
- The fee is RM400 for a factory or warehouse and RM620 where hazardous processes take place. Renewal costs half, and filing less than 30 days before expiry can draw a RM100 late penalty.
- No valid FC means an offence by the owner: a fine of up to RM50,000, up to 5 years' jail, or both. JBPM said full enforcement would start in the first quarter of 2026.
- Changing what you store or do inside (chemicals, higher racking, a new process) can make the existing fire systems inadequate. The occupier must notify Bomba before the change.
- Before you rent or buy, see the current FC, the Bomba-endorsed plans, the CCC, the sprinkler and alarm test records, and proof that every extension was approved.
A fire certificate (FC, or Sijil Perakuan Bomba) is the annual certificate that the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM, or Bomba) issues to "designated premises" after inspecting their fire safety installations. Larger factories and warehouses are on that list: for example, a single-storey sprinklered factory of 2,001 m² and above, or a warehouse of more than 7,000 m³. Smaller units do not need an FC, but they must still have the fire systems that the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 (UBBL) require for their size and use.
What is a fire certificate (Sijil Perakuan Bomba)?
Section 28 of Act 341 says every designated premises "shall require a fire certificate" and that the certificate "shall be renewable annually". Under section 29(4), Bomba inspects the building and issues the FC only when it is satisfied that the fire-fighting equipment and fire safety installations are adequate "in relation to the use of the designated premises". That last phrase matters for industrial property: the FC covers the building for a particular use, not the shell in the abstract.
An FC is different from the approvals a building collects while it is being built:
- Bomba plan approval: the fire installation drawings are submitted to Bomba before the work starts (UBBL by-law 245), and the submitting person certifies completion to Bomba on Form B (by-law 246).
- CCC (Certificate of Completion and Compliance): issued when the building is finished. Our guide to the CCC for factory buyers explains it.
- FC: applied for after the CCC, then renewed every year for as long as the building is a designated premises.
How many premises are affected? In August 2025, JBPM's deputy director-general said 9,321 premises nationwide had been designated and 5,881 of them held an FC, and that every premises receiving a CCC must register for one (Bernama via Astro Awani).
Which factories and warehouses need a fire certificate?
JBPM publishes the schedule of designated premises on its Perakuan Bomba page. The industrial categories are:
| Premises type | Needs an FC when it is... |
|---|---|
| Factory, single storey | 2,001 m² and above, equipped with an automatic sprinkler system |
| Factory, two storeys | Each floor built as a separate compartment (single block or terrace) and more than 1,000 m² in total floor area |
| Factory, three storeys and above | Any size |
| Multi-storey factory with open balcony access | Two storeys and above, with any compartment above 7,000 m³ |
| Special structures | Factory complexes such as palm oil mills, oil refineries and cement plants, and hazardous industrial processes |
| Storage and general (warehouses) | More than 7,000 m³, or two storeys and above with more than 1,000 m² in total floor area |
Source: JBPM schedule of designated premises, last updated July 2026. Places of public worship and private dwellings are exempt under section 28(3).
Quick sizing check. Volume is roughly floor area times internal height, and your architect or M&E engineer confirms the exact figure. A 1,000 m² (10,764 sq ft) warehouse with a 7 m height already reaches 7,000 m³. A 20,000 sq ft (1,858 m²) warehouse with a 10 m internal height is about 18,600 m³, well past the threshold. So many warehouses are designated premises even when their floor area looks modest.
What if the building is below the thresholds? Then no FC is required, but the UBBL still prescribes hose reels, alarms and other systems for the building's size and use (see the table further down), and Bomba can still inspect.
Who applies: the owner, the tenant or the management?
The Act spreads the duties across several parties:
- Applicant: section 29(6) defines the applicant as "the owner, occupier or the person having the overall management" of the premises. Either the landlord or the tenant can file.
- Liability for having no FC: section 33 makes the owner guilty of the offence.
- Notifying changes: section 32(2) puts the duty on the occupier. A tenant who plans a material change must tell Bomba before work starts.
- Fire safety organisation: section 27A requires the owner, occupier or management to set up one. JBPM has said each designated premises needs a Fire Safety Manager and three Fire Safety Officers, and that an FC cannot be issued without this organisation (Bernama).
Because the owner carries the penalty but the tenant controls the day-to-day use, the lease should say who holds and renews the FC, who pays for upgrades Bomba orders, who maintains the systems and who forms the fire safety organisation. Our notes on factory tenancy agreements and their key clauses cover where these clauses sit.
How to apply: documents, inspection and timeline
For a new building, JBPM says the application should be made immediately after the Certificate of Fitness (CF), Temporary CF or CCC is issued. The steps:
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Submit Form I | At the state JBPM headquarters or the Fire Zone Office covering the premises |
| 2. Attach documents | Copy of the CCC or CFO; building plans certified by JBPM when the CCC/CFO was issued; latest ownership document; land title; assessment tax receipt; business licence |
| 3. Inspection | JBPM sets a date and inspects every fire safety installation |
| 4. Requirements notice (if needed) | If the systems are not adequate, Bomba serves a notice listing what to fix by a set date (section 29(5)) |
| 5. Pay and collect | If everything is satisfactory, the FC is issued within 5 working days after the fee is paid |
The waiting time for the inspection date varies by zone, so check it with the zone office. JBPM also runs the ePREMIS portal, which has a Perakuan Bomba module; ask your state office whether to file online or at the counter. If Bomba refuses the FC or imposes conditions you cannot meet, you can appeal in writing to the Minister within 21 days (section 34).
JBPM also requires every designated premises to be linked electrically or by telephone to the nearest fire station so alarms are transmitted automatically.
Validity, renewal and fees
An FC is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. Renewal uses Form III and must be filed at least 30 days before expiry. Filing later can attract a RM100 late penalty, and once the FC has expired the owner has to start again with Form I and pay the full first-time fee.
Fees come from the fee schedule under the Fire Services (Fire Certificate) Regulations 2001:
| Designated premises | FC fee | Renewal fee |
|---|---|---|
| Factory (no hazardous process) | RM400 | RM200 |
| Premises where a hazardous process takes place | RM620 | RM310 |
| Storage and other premises | RM400 | RM200 |
If a building serves more than one purpose, the highest fee applies. The government fee is small. The real costs are fixing defects found at inspection and the professional fees for any plan amendment. The FC must be displayed at the premises at all times; failing to display it is one of the offences JBPM lists.
Fire safety systems in a typical factory or warehouse
Bomba checks systems by function. Here is what each group does:
- Detection and alarm: automatic heat or smoke detectors, manual call points (break-glass), and an automatic fire monitoring link to the fire station.
- Suppression: automatic sprinklers designed to MS 1910, hose reels (the 2021 UBBL amendment sets a 30 m radial coverage per reel), external hydrants (UBBL by-law 225(2) requires at least one within 91.5 m of the fire brigade access point) and portable extinguishers on exit routes (by-law 227).
- Passive protection: fire compartments, fire doors and shutters, protected escape routes and travel distances, fire appliance access around the building, and emergency lighting.
- Water supply: tanks and pump sets sized for the sprinkler, hose reel and hydrant systems.
How much of this a building needs depends on its size and purpose group. The Tenth Schedule of the UBBL, as amended in 2021 (summary by PAM, the Malaysian Institute of Architects), sets the minimums:
| Building | Size | Extinguishing system | Fire alarm system |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single-storey factory | Below 750 m² | None required | None required |
| Single-storey factory | 750 to 1,000 m² | Hose reel | Manual electric alarm |
| Single-storey factory | 1,001 to 2,000 m² | Hose reel | Automatic detection + manual alarm |
| Single-storey factory | Above 2,000 m² | Sprinklers + hose reel | Manual alarm, public address, automatic fire monitoring |
| Two-storey and above factory unit | Above 1,000 m² per floor | Sprinklers + hose reel | Manual alarm, fireman intercom or fire command centre, automatic monitoring |
| Single-storey warehouse, combustible goods | 501 to 1,000 m² and under 7,000 m³ | Hose reel | Automatic detection + manual alarm |
| Single-storey warehouse, combustible goods | 1,001 to 10,000 m², 7,001 to 70,000 m³ | Sprinklers + hose reel | Manual alarm, automatic monitoring |
| Single-storey warehouse, combustible goods | Above 10,000 m² or 70,000 m³ | Sprinklers, hose reel, hydrant | Manual alarm, automatic monitoring |
| Single-storey warehouse, non-combustible goods | Above 2,000 m² | Hose reel | Manual alarm |
Each state adopts UBBL amendments through its own gazette, so confirm with the local council (MBSA, MBDK, MBSJ, MBPJ and so on) which version applied when your building was approved.
How storage type and racking height change the requirements
Three rules decide how far a warehouse's fire protection must go.
1. What you store. The UBBL treats a warehouse of non-combustible products (the schedule gives clay and bleaching earth as examples) far more lightly than one holding combustible goods. A single-storey combustible-goods warehouse needs sprinklers from 1,001 m² (and 7,001 m³), while a non-combustible one below 2,000 m² needs no extinguishing system at all. Under UBBL by-law 226, where hazardous processes or storage require automatic sprinklers or another automatic system, it must be of a type suited to the materials stored or handled.
2. How high you stack. The warehouse thresholds are in cubic metres as well as square metres, so a taller building or a higher stack crosses the 7,000 m³ and 70,000 m³ lines sooner. Inside the building, the sprinkler standard MS 1910:2006 caps the storage height allowed under each ordinary hazard class (its Table 1). Stack higher, or store a more combustible category of goods, and the design moves to High Hazard Storage criteria, where racks may need intermediate (in-rack) sprinklers as well as roof sprinklers.
3. How you store. MS 1910 classifies storage configuration into types ST1 to ST6, from free-standing stacks to racking and shelving, and has special rules for aerosols, flammable liquids in drums, idle pallets, plastic bins and non-woven fabrics.
The practical point: a sprinkler system is designed for a stated hazard class and a maximum storage height. If you plan to rack higher than the building was designed for, ask the landlord for the M&E design basis before you sign. If you need height, shortlist from high-ceiling factories for rent in Selangor and confirm the sprinkler design matches your racking, not only the clear height.
Change of use: storing chemicals or adding a hazardous process
The FC covers the building for its use, so a new use can undo it.
- Notify first. Under section 32(2), the occupier must notify Bomba of a proposed material change before the work starts. Starting without notice is an offence.
- Bomba decides what is needed. If the change would make the systems inadequate, Bomba serves a notice listing the steps. Once they are done, it amends the FC or issues a new one for a fee (section 32(3)). JBPM's page adds that plans for alterations must be submitted and endorsed before work begins.
- Hazardous storage costs more. The Tenth Schedule notes say a special risk, hazardous process or hazardous storage must have the fire protection Bomba requires. Its list of hazardous areas includes indoor storage of flammable liquids, chemical plants, boiler rooms, transformer rooms and process equipment rooms. The FC fee band also rises from RM400 to RM620.
This is how deals fail. In October 2026, Datasonic Group Bhd called off a RM28.5 million purchase of an industrial property in Petaling Jaya after it could not obtain Fire and Rescue Department approval for the fire safety equipment, which was a condition of the sale (NST; our news note on the case). For lithium batteries, energy storage systems and other dangerous goods, read our dangerous goods warehouse guide before you shortlist, and check the specific requirements with JBPM.
Penalties
| Offence | Penalty | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Designated premises with no FC in force | Owner: fine up to RM50,000, jail up to 5 years, or both | Act 341, s.33 |
| No fire safety organisation | Fine up to RM50,000, jail up to 5 years, or both | Act 341, s.27A |
| Material change without notifying Bomba; ignoring a direction to make systems adequate | Offence | Act 341, s.32(2) and (5) |
| Forged FC or false statement in an application | Offence | Act 341, s.54 |
| Renewal filed less than 30 days before expiry | RM100 late penalty | JBPM |
Where the risk is serious, Bomba can also apply to court for an order prohibiting or restricting the use of any premises, designated or not (section 35).
Checklist for tenants and buyers
Use this before you sign a letter of offer, and put any gaps into the tenancy agreement or the sale and purchase agreement as conditions. It complements our wider checklist for renting a factory.
| Check | What to ask for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Is it a designated premises? | Floor area, storeys and volume from the approved plans | Owner says "no FC needed" for a 25,000 sq ft single-storey sprinklered factory |
| Current FC | The certificate itself: name, address, expiry, conditions | Expired, a different address, or a use that does not match yours |
| Renewal history | Last Form III submission and previous FCs | Gaps between certificates |
| Bomba-endorsed plans | The fire installation plans certified at CCC/CFO, plus any amendments | No plans, or plans that do not match the building on site |
| CCC or CFO | Copy of the certificate | Missing, or covering only part of the building |
| Approved extensions | Approvals for mezzanines, canopies, extra floors and annexes | Structures not on any approved plan (see our note on unauthorised factories in Selangor) |
| Test and maintenance records | Sprinkler, pump, alarm, hose reel and extinguisher service logs | No logs, isolated sprinkler valves, pumps left on manual |
| Fire safety organisation | Names of the Fire Safety Manager and Fire Safety Officers | None appointed |
| Your use against the design | Goods, racking height and any chemicals against the sprinkler design basis | Racking planned above the design storage height |
| Who pays | Lease or SPA clause on FC renewal and Bomba-ordered upgrades | Silent, or all upgrade costs pushed to the tenant |
For warehouses specifically, compare rents and specs in our warehouse for rent in Selangor guide. When you browse factories for rent in Selangor, warehouses for rent or factories for sale, ask for the FC and the Bomba-endorsed plans at the same time as the floor plan. If you would rather have someone collect these documents for you, Peter Tan (REN 12771) and Jason Low (PEA 1478) can shortlist factories to your brief, fire certificate status included.
FAQ
Is a fire certificate mandatory for factories in Malaysia?
Only for designated premises. A factory needs an FC if it is single-storey of 2,001 m² and above with sprinklers, two storeys with separate compartments above 1,000 m² in total, three storeys or more, or a hazardous-process plant. Smaller factories do not need an FC, but they must still have the UBBL fire systems for their size.
Does a warehouse need a Bomba fire certificate?
A warehouse needs an FC if its volume is more than 7,000 m³, or if it has two storeys or more with over 1,000 m² of floor area. A 1,000 m² warehouse with a 7 m height already reaches 7,000 m³, so many detached warehouses qualify.
Who is responsible for the fire certificate in a rented factory?
Either the owner or the occupier can apply, but the owner commits the offence if there is no valid FC. The tenant must notify Bomba before making a material change. Agree in the lease who renews the FC, who maintains the systems and who pays for upgrades Bomba orders.
How long does it take to get a fire certificate?
After the inspection finds every system satisfactory, JBPM issues the FC within 5 working days of payment. The wait for the inspection date depends on the fire zone office. If defects are found, Bomba gives a deadline to fix them before the FC can be issued.
How much does a fire certificate cost?
The government fee is RM400 for a factory or warehouse and RM620 for premises with a hazardous process. Renewal is half: RM200 or RM310. Repairs and professional fees for any plan amendment usually cost far more than the fee.
What happens if the fire certificate expires?
Renewal must be filed on Form III at least 30 days before expiry, or a RM100 late penalty may apply. After expiry, the owner has to apply again on Form I and pay the full fee. Running a designated premises without a valid FC is an offence: a fine of up to RM50,000, up to 5 years' jail, or both.
Do I need Bomba approval to store chemicals in my factory?
If the premises hold an FC, section 32(2) of the Fire Services Act requires the occupier to notify Bomba before a material change. Hazardous storage, such as flammable liquids, needs the fire protection Bomba specifies, and the FC may have to be amended or reissued. Check the details with JBPM before moving the goods in.
Does higher racking affect the fire certificate?
It can. Sprinklers are designed for a maximum storage height and hazard class under MS 1910, and stacking above that design may need in-rack sprinklers. A taller stack can also push a warehouse past the 7,000 m³ or 70,000 m³ thresholds that set the required systems.
Buying or renting, talk to us
FactoryHub is the industrial-only platform of Peter Tan (REN 12771) and Jason Low (PEA 1478), registered with BOVAEP under CID Realtors Sdn Bhd E(1) 1855. We handle both rent and sale, and we co-broke across the whole market, so if the right unit is another agent's listing we will still put it in front of you.
Send us the numbers that decide the shortlist: required amps, built-up area, floor loading, preferred area and target date. We reply with what actually exists, including units that are not advertised publicly. For 800A to 4,000A+ requirements, see high-power factories in Selangor.
| Agent | Licence | Mobile / WhatsApp | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Tan | REN 12771 | +6016-666 6872 | peterindustrial |
| Jason Low | PEA 1478 | +6012-288 1834 | massiveaction |
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