ACMS fire safety: the automated continuous monitoring system rules in Maharashtra and Delhi

What is an automated continuous monitoring system (ACMS)?

An automated continuous monitoring system, or ACMS, is an Internet of Things (IoT) system fitted to a building's fire fighting installations so that their condition is known at all times, not only on the day of an inspection. Sensors and contacts on pumps, tanks, risers, the fire alarm panel and fans feed an IoT gateway. The gateway uploads the data to a cloud server, which sends the status to the owner or occupier and to the agency responsible for the system.

Both Maharashtra and Delhi now describe ACMS in almost identical words. The Maharashtra Appendix says the system shall be provided for both active and passive measures, ensuring that the fire prevention and life safety measures are in good repair and efficient working condition. Delhi's schedule uses the same sentence. The aim is simple: a tripped jockey pump, a dry overhead tank or a dead panel battery should show up on a screen the moment it happens, instead of during a fire.

ACMS does not replace the fire alarm system, the pumps or the periodic certificates. It sits on top of them and keeps a digital record of their health.

Which rules require ACMS, and from when?

In Maharashtra the legal basis is section 3(3A) of the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006, inserted by the Amendment Act of 2023 (Mah. XXIV of 2023, gazette of 11 May 2023). It requires the owner, or the occupier where the owner is not traceable, of a building specified under section 45 to provide the fire fighting systems with an automated continuous monitoring system as may be prescribed, certified by a Licensed Agency.

The prescription came with the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures (Amendment) Rules, 2025, published on 12 June 2025 (Urban Development Department notification No. MFS-2023/C.R.370/UD-14). New rule 3A says the ACMS shall be as specified in the Appendix, and the Appendix sets out what must be monitored and how. New rule 4(3) and 4(4) add two certificates, Form A-1 and Form B-1.

In Delhi the basis is rule 37 of the Delhi Fire Service Rules, 2010, as amended by the Delhi Fire Service (Amendment) Rules 2025, published in the Delhi Gazette Extraordinary Part IV, No. 143, on 26 May 2026. Rule 1 of the amendment says the changes to rules 34 to 38 and the First and Seventh Schedules come into force 90 days after publication, which places the ACMS rule in force from 24 August 2026. Applications pending on that date are processed under the earlier provisions.

Which buildings need ACMS in Maharashtra?

Section 3(3A) applies to the buildings specified under section 45, which is the same list of buildings that must appoint a fire officer or fire supervisor. The same list also triggers the Section 45A fire and life safety audit every two years, so these buildings carry all three duties together.

• Buildings more than 30 m high used as a hotel, hospital, business, mercantile or mixed occupancy of any kind (section 45(1)(a)).
• Residential buildings more than 70 m high (section 45(1)(b)(1)).
• Large oil and natural gas installations such as refineries, LPG bottling plants and similar facilities (section 45(1)(b)(2)).
• Industrial buildings with moderate hazard activities and a built-up area of 30,000 square metres or more, and those with high hazard activities and 10,000 square metres or more (section 45(1)(b)(3)).

A residential tower between 30 m and 70 m is not on the section 45(1) list, so section 3(3A) does not by itself require ACMS there. Its Form B duty still applies.

Which buildings need ACMS in Delhi?

Delhi rule 37 applies to the classes of occupancies identified in sub-rules (2) to (12) of rule 27. That is a much wider net than Maharashtra's, because rule 27 is the list of buildings likely to cause a risk of fire for which a fire safety certificate is needed. Only pandals, sub-rule (1), are left out.

• Residential buildings, other than hotels and guest houses, more than 15 m high or with five or more storeys.
• Hotels and guest houses more than 12 m high or with four or more storeys.
• Educational and institutional buildings more than 9 m high or with three or more storeys.
• All assembly buildings.
• Business buildings more than 15 m high or with five or more storeys.
• Mercantile buildings more than 9 m high or with three or more storeys.
• Industrial and storage buildings with a covered area on all storeys of more than 250 square metres.
• Hazardous buildings with a covered area on all storeys of more than 100 square metres.
• Underground structures with two or more levels.

Storey counts in rule 27 include mezzanine and stilt floors above ground level. The proviso to rule 37 adds that the ACMS shall comply with technical standards and cyber security protocols as the Director may notify.

What must an ACMS monitor?

The Maharashtra Appendix and the Delhi schedule list the same systems and the same mode of integration for each parameter. The table below follows the Maharashtra list; the Delhi text matches it item for item. The mode of integration column is what tells an engineer how each signal is picked up.

The gazette text prints the panel contacts as 'Plain Old telephone Service (POTS) free contacts'. In practice these are the panel's potential free relay outputs.

How is ACMS data reported?

Both states set out the same procedural requirements. Status is collected on an IoT gateway, uploaded to a cloud server, and sent in real time to the owner or occupier and to the system installer by email, SMS or a mobile app. The cloud portal must offer data reports and alarm reports, so the record of the fire system's health is kept digitally.

What are Phase I and Phase II of ACMS?

Both states roll out ACMS in two phases. In Phase I, the system gives the necessary indication to the owner or occupier and to the party responsible for the system: in Maharashtra the Licensed Agency appointed under section 9 of the Act, in Delhi the Fire Safety Auditor engaged under rule 35.

In Phase II, critical alarms are also sent to the fire service: the local fire and emergency services in Maharashtra, and the Delhi Fire Service in Delhi. The rules say Phase I starts with immediate effect when the rules come into force and Phase II will follow at a later stage. Neither text fixes a date for Phase II, so watch for a further notification.

Who can install ACMS and who certifies it?

In Maharashtra, section 10(1) of the Act says no person other than a Licensed Agency shall carry out the work of providing fire prevention and life safety measures, and the Appendix calls the system installer the licensed agency appointed under section 9. Section 3(3A) requires the ACMS to be certified by the Licensed Agency. Under rule 4(3) the agency certifies the installation in Form A-1, and under rule 4(4) it certifies twice a year, in January and July, in Form B-1 that the fire fighting systems are in good repair and efficient working condition with the help of the ACMS. Rule 4(5) lets the owner or occupier submit these certificates to the Chief Fire Officer or Director in person, by registered post, by courier or online.

In Delhi, rule 37 places the duty to provide the ACMS on the owner or occupier, as specified in the Seventh Schedule, and the ACMS schedule routes Phase I indications to the empanelled Fire Safety Auditor engaged under rule 35. Any ACMS in Delhi must also meet the technical standards and cyber security protocols the Director may notify.

A monitoring product can be supplied by any company, but in Maharashtra the installation and the Form A-1 and B-1 certificates must come from a Licensed Agency. Building owners should agree with their agency, before buying, which ACMS the agency will certify.

How does ACMS fit with Form B and the fire audit?

In Maharashtra a section 45(1) building now carries three separate paper trails. Form B, every January and July, certifies that all fire prevention and life safety measures were maintained in the preceding six months. Form B-1, on the same cycle, certifies the fire fighting systems with the help of the ACMS. The Section 45A fire and life safety audit, by a separately licensed auditor, is due once every two years. ACMS data is useful evidence for all three, because it shows what actually happened between inspections.