The French Parliament is currently processing proposed legislation to enable the Government to simplify by decree certain construction regulation constraints, in order to authorise alternative construction methods or materials intended to achieve the same objectives as the regulatory requirements (“Confidence Law”).
The French national federation of firefighters reacted to the proposal underlining that fire kills 600 people each year in France, but that progressively tighter fire safety requirements have enabled this number to be halved over the last thirty years. The firefighters protested that the simplification would mean only knowing whether or not fire safety was ensured in the event of a fire and pressed that regulation should only be changed after detailed and methodological scrutiny. In response, the Government has committed to maintain fire safety requirements.
“Tribune: Confidence Law: no right to make errors for fire safety”, Eric Faure, Fédération Nationale des Sapeurs-Pompiers in ‘Le Moniteur’ n°254 January 2018 (in French) https://www.lemoniteur.fr/article/point-de-vue-loi-confiance-pas-de-droit-a-l-erreur-pour-la-securite-incendie-35281573