With the aim of improving fire safety in buildings, particularly those used for short-term tourism rental services, the Cabinet of Ministers in their session on September 26 this year approved amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers' June 30, 2015 regulations No. 333 "Regulations on the Latvian Building Normative LBN 201-15 'Fire Safety in Buildings'".

The building standard has been supplemented with new requirements regarding fire resistance for constructions with cellar fillings, overpressure systems, and doors in short-term rental apartments. It's important to emphasize that the changes in the normative regulation do not obligate property owners to immediately ensure their buildings comply with the new requirements, but they will have to be observed when renovating and reconstructing the respective buildings. When renovating or partially reconstructing a building, the technical requirements of the building standard must be applied to the renovated and reconstructed parts. The new requirements will also not apply to construction plans that have already been approved.

Until now, the building standard did not define what short-term rental is. Given the identified problems regarding the compliance with fire safety rules for residential spaces used for short-term rentals, the building standard has been supplemented with the definition of "short-term rental", which refers to the temporary use of residential spaces for rest and tourism purposes.

To ensure that the cellar fillings fulfill their intended function, fire reaction requirements for external wall insulation have also been determined to prevent the spread of fire over the building facade, i.e., defining the fire reaction classes for external wall insulation systems and construction products.

Currently, the building standard does not set requirements for staircase room windows, but plans for overpressure systems in building stairwells. The overpressure system will not function as intended if the stairwell windows are open during a fire. Therefore, the building standard has been supplemented with requirements for cases where windows are planned in Type 2 smoke-protected stairwells; they must be non-opening or equipped with devices that automatically close the windows when the overpressure system is activated.

Until now, the building standard did not set requirements for doors in apartments used for short-term rentals, creating problems for residents to evacuate from apartments during a fire. With the amendments, the building standard specifies that doors in apartments used for short-term rentals must be easily opened without a key or other opening device from the inside without delay and obstructions.

Similarly, the amendments to the building standard have refined the design requirements regarding fire resistance grades for educational institutions implementing preschool education programs; and reviewed the minimum fire safety distances between adjacent low-rise residential houses and outbuildings, as well as fire safety distances to the borders of neighboring land units.

As known, following the 2021 fire in an apartment on Merķeļa Street 8 in Riga, where a hostel had been arbitrarily set up, the Ministry of Economics, in collaboration with the Ministry of the Interior, received the task to improve the regulations regarding fire safety requirements for buildings and parts of buildings, including spaces used for providing services to residents (e.g., tourism services).

Detailed information on the amendments to the Cabinet of Ministers' June 30, 2015 regulations No. 333 “Regulations on the Latvian Building Normative LBN 201-15 'Fire Safety in Buildings'” can be found on the Legal Acts Portal.

Economics Ministry Public Relations Department Email: prese@em.gov.lv Phone: 67013193