Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
(1) In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise,- (a) ‘building or building premises’ means any structure or any part thereof, whether built with or without authorization of any law applicable in the State of Punjab, used for any purpose including storing explosives, explosive substances and dangerously inflammable substances, and also includes outhouses, sheds, stables, garages or any other structures that may be built appurtenant to Short title, extent and commencement. Definitions. PUNJAB GOVT. GAZ.(EXTRA), NOVEMBER 26, 2024 (AGHN 5, 1946 SAKA) 50 some main structure or premises.- Explanation: In this clause, “explosive”, “explosive substance” and “dangerously inflammable substance” shall have the meaning, respectively assigned to them in the Explosives Act, 1884 (Central Act No. 4 of 1884), the Explosive Substances Act, 1908 (Central Act No. 6 of 1908) and the Inflammable Substances Act, 1952 (Central Act No. 20 of 1952); (b) ‘building bye-laws’ means rules or regulations made to regulate any aspect of the erection or re-erection of any or all buildings, by whatever name they may be called, under the Punjab Municipal Act, 1911 (Punjab Act No. 3 of 1911), Punjab Town Improvement Act, 1922 (Punjab Act No. 4 of 1922), Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976 (Punjab Act No. 42 of 1976), Punjab Regional and Town Planning and Development Act, 1995 (Punjab Act No. 11 of 1995) and Punjab Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 1995 (Punjab Act No. 14 of 1995), including the Development Control Regulations mentioned in the Master Plans, and any other law which regulates any aspect of the erection or re-erection of any or all buildings; (c) ‘Director’ means the Director Fire and Emergency Service, Punjab; (d) ‘erector’ means,- (i) with respect to pandals, any person or association of persons, who causes a pandal to be erected; and (ii) with respect to a site, premise and building, any person or association of persons directing construction activities with relation to a site, premises or building; (e) ‘emergency’ means any serious occurrence, including fire outbreak, and disaster as defined in the National Disaster Management Act, 2005 (Central Act No. 53 of 2005); (f) ‘Fire Brigade’ means the organization of members of Punjab Fire and Emergency Service posted under the local authority who respond to emergencies and perform such other functions as are conferred on them under this Act, and shall also include fire stations and other equipment, appliances and assets; (g) ‘fire call’ means a request for assistance in the form of supply of equipment, appliances or personnel to effectively deal with the PUNJAB GOVT. GAZ.(EXTRA), NOVEMBER 26, 2024 (AGHN 5, 1946 SAKA) 51 outbreak of a fire; (h) 'Fire Divisions' means such districts as may be notified by the Government to be a part of such fire division; (i) "Fire Officer" means such class of officers appointed in the Punjab Fire and Emergency Service, as may be decided by the Government, for performing such functions, as may be assigned to them; (j) ‘fire prevention and life safety measures’ means such measures, as may be prescribed; (k) ‘Fire Station’ means a building erected to house the firefighting equipment, appliances and personnel, and declared generally or specially by the Government to be a Fire Station for the purposes of this Act; (l) ‘Government’ means the Government of the State of Punjab in the Department of Local Government; (m) ‘local authority’ means the Municipal Corporations, Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats, Improvement Trusts, Gram Panchayats, Zila Parishads, Cantonment Boards and any other institution of self-government constituted under any law enacted by the Parliament or the Legislature of the State of Punjab; (n) ‘Nominated Authority’ means a Fire Officer, with such technical qualifications and experience as may be prescribed, who is recognized as such by a notification in the Official Gazette by the Government as a Nominated Authority for any or all purposes under this Act; (o) ‘occupier’ shall include,- (i) any person who, for the time being, is paying or is liable to pay, to the owner the rent or any portion of the rent of the land or building in respect of which such rent is paid or is payable; (ii) an owner in occupation of, or otherwise using their land or building; (iii) a rent-free tenant of any land or building; (iv) a licensee in occupation of any land or building; or (v) any person who is liable to pay to the owner damages for the use and occupation of any land or building; PUNJAB GOVT. GAZ.(EXTRA), NOVEMBER 26, 2024 (AGHN 5, 1946 SAKA) 52 (p) ‘owner’ includes a person who, for the time being, is receiving or is entitled to receive, the rent of any land or building or premises, whether on his own account or on account of himself and others or as an agent, trustee, guardian or receiver or any other person, or who should so receive the rent or be entitled to receive it if the land or building or part thereof were let to a tenant: Provided that in the case of a residential society with an association of owners of individual units, that association of owners shall be the ‘owner’ for the purposes of this Act: Provided further that ‘owner’ shall also include the Head of a Government Department, General Manager of a Railway, and the Secretary or other principal officer of a local authority, statutory authority or company, in respect of properties under their respective control; (q) ‘pandal’ shall mean a temporary structure with a roof or walls made of straw, hay, ulu grass, golpatta, hogla, darma, mat, canvas, cloth or other like materials like tin, fibre etc. sheets which is not adopted for permanent or continuous occupancy; (r) "premises" means any land or building or part of a building and includes,- (i) the garden, ground and out-houses or structures, if any, appertaining to a building or part of a building; and (ii) any fitting affixed to a building or part of a building; (s) ‘prescribed’ means prescribed by rules made under this Act; (t) ‘qualified agency’ means a person or an entity licensed by the Government, with such assistance from the Director or such other officer, or body, as the Government may empower in this regard, for undertaking such activities in relation with fire prevention and life safety measures in sites, premises, buildings and pandals and in such manner, as may be prescribed; (u) ‘rules’ means the rules made under this Act; and (v) ‘Service’ means the Punjab Fire and Emergency Service. (2) The words and expressions used but not defined in this Act, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the National Building Code of India, 2016. PUNJAB GOVT. GAZ.(EXTRA), NOVEMBER 26, 2024 (AGHN 5, 1946 SAKA) 53 CHAPTER II PART A CONSTITUTION OF A FIRE AND EMERGENCY SERVICE FOR THE STATE OF PUNJAB