Maharashtra Fire Act: the Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act 2006, as amended in 2023

What is the Maharashtra fire act?

When people search for the Maharashtra fire act they almost always mean the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, 2006. It was enacted as Maharashtra Act III of 2007 and is read with the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Rules, 2009 (Maharashtra Government Gazette Extraordinary Part IV-B, 23 June 2009, Urban Development Department Notification No. FFS. 2008/CR-181/08/UD-20).

The Act sets who must obtain a fire safety approval, which fire prevention and life safety measures a building must provide and keep working, who may install and certify them, and what happens when they are missing. The Rules prescribe the forms, the licences and the procedures.

There is no separate 2023 fire act. The searches for a Maharashtra fire act 2023 refer to the Maharashtra Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Mah. XXIV of 2023, gazette of 11 May 2023), which rewrote several sections of the 2006 Act. Likewise the 2025 changes are the Amendment Rules, 2025 (gazette of 12 June 2025, notification No. MFS-2023/C.R.370/UD-14), which amended the 2009 Rules.

What does the Act require before a building is occupied?

Section 3(1), as substituted in 2023, requires the owner, or the occupier where the owner is not traceable, of any building classified in Schedule I to obtain a Provisional Fire Safety Approval, a Final Fire Safety Approval or a Renewal of Fire Safety Approval, as the case may be. This is what people call the fire NOC.

The approval comes from the Chief Fire Officer of the local authority or planning authority, or from the Director of Maharashtra Fire and Emergency Services where there is no Chief Fire Officer or the building is outside those limits. The measures it recommends must not be less than the minimum in Part 4 of the National Building Code of India and in Schedule I for that building, and must be maintained in good repair and efficient condition at all times.

Section 3(2) stops any plan-sanctioning authority from issuing a completion or part completion certificate unless it is satisfied that the owner has complied with Schedule I or with the notice served on the owner. Our fire NOC Maharashtra guide sets out the stages, documents and drawing checks in detail.

What must owners and occupiers do after occupation?

Section 3(3) requires the owner or occupier to furnish a Licensed Agency's certificate of compliance once the measures are installed, which rule 4(1) prescribes as Form A, and a certificate every January and July that the measures were kept in good repair and efficient condition, which rule 4(2) prescribes as Form B. Since the 2025 Amendment Rules, Form B covers the preceding six months.

Rule 4(5), inserted in 2025, lets the certificates be submitted in person, by registered post, by courier or online, to the Chief Fire Officer or the Director.

Section 3(4) forbids anyone from tampering with, altering, removing or damaging installed fire equipment. Under sections 5 and 6 the Director, Chief Fire Officer or nominated officer may inspect after notice and issue a notice directing the owner or occupier to make good any deficiency within a stated time.

Which buildings carry the extra duties under section 45?

Section 45(1) lists the buildings that must appoint a fire officer or fire supervisor. Since 2023 the same list also triggers two further duties: an automated continuous monitoring system on the fire fighting systems under section 3(3A), certified in Form A-1 and, every January and July, Form B-1; and a fire and life safety audit every two years under section 45A.

• 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), inserted 2023).
• Large oil and natural gas installations such as refineries, LPG bottling plants and similar facilities (section 45(1)(b)(2), inserted 2023).
• Industrial buildings with moderate hazard activities and a built-up area of 30,000 sq m or more, and with high hazard activities and 10,000 sq m or more (section 45(1)(b)(3), inserted 2023).

Section 45A requires the audit by a licensed Fire and Life Safety Auditor, first within one year of the commencement of the 2023 Amendment Act and then once in every two years. The auditor's certificate is Form V (rule 31, inserted 2025) and the auditor's duties are in rule 33.

Who is a Licensed Agency under the Act?

A Licensed Agency is a person or association of persons licensed to undertake fire prevention and life safety measures and related work under the Act (section 2(6)). Section 10(1) says no one other than a Licensed Agency shall carry out that work, though the Chief Fire Officer may, for recorded reasons, authorise another person where the owner cannot use a Licensed Agency. Section 10(2) forbids a Licensed Agency from giving a section 3(3) certificate without actual compliance or maintenance.

The 2023 amendment moved the power to license agencies to the Director under section 9. Rule 14(1), as amended in 2025, makes the licence valid for two years, and rule 14(4) requires Form A, Form B, Form A-1 and Form B-1 to be signed by the person holding the qualification set out in rule 12. The Directorate publishes its list of licence agencies on mahafireservice.gov.in.

What are the penalties under the Maharashtra fire act?

Section 36(1) lists the offences. They include failing to provide and maintain the fire prevention and life safety measures in good repair and efficient condition under section 3(1) (clause (a)(i)), failing to comply with a section 6 notice after inspection (clause (d)), and giving a section 3(3) certificate without actual compliance or maintenance (clause (f)(ii)).

The punishment in section 36(1), as enacted, is rigorous imprisonment of not less than six months and up to three years, and a fine of not less than 20,000 rupees and up to 50,000 rupees, with a further fine of up to 3,000 rupees a day for a continuing offence after the first conviction. The proviso lets a court go down to three months and 10,000 rupees, or 1,000 rupees a day, only for special and adequate reasons recorded in the judgment.

Section 36(1) does not list late filing of Form B as a separate offence; the exposure is the underlying failure to maintain, or a false certificate. Take legal advice on a specific case.

How are fees and appeals handled?

Under section 14(1) and rule 18(1), a person who intends to construct, or has started constructing, a building that needs permission applies in Form P for assessment of the Fire and Emergency Services fee. Schedule II, substituted in 2023, sets that fee as a percentage of the Annual Statement of Rates per square metre, multiplied by the gross built-up area; our fire NOC Maharashtra guide gives the full table.

A person aggrieved by a Fire Safety Approval may appeal to the designated officer under section 32(1), as amended in 2023, and section 33 sets thirty days for bringing the appeal.