A total of 9,222 specified buildings were inspected across the island in 2023, to ensure conformity with fire-prevention regulations.

This was announced by the commissioner of the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB), Stewart Beckford, at a JIS Think Tank on Thursday (February 1),

He noted that the number of buildings inspected represented 1,427 or 18.3 per cent more than in 2022.

The top-three categories of buildings inspected were educational institutions, industrial and commercial complexes and places of amusement. 

Educational institutions accounted for 2,678 of the buildings inspected, a sum that included 1,812 early-childhood institutions and 866 other schools.

Additionally, 1,866 buildings were certified last year, which is 155 less than in 2022.

The commissioner pointed out that there are various factors that contribute to a building not gaining certification.

“In most instances, some of the factors that we have noted, having done an inspection on a building, [would be] absence of basic fire-safety equipment such as extinguishers, smoke alarms, sprinkler systems and pull stations,” he said.

The fire chief further encouraged citizens to reach out to the JFB for “guidance”, to ensure that all the requirements are in place to have their buildings certified.

Another critical area for the JFB is its role in the approval of building plans.

“We received 882 building plans [in 2023]. We approved 602 of those and rejected 280,” said Beckford.