Fire and Rescue Department issued 373 notices to childcare centres for safety violations after inspecting 1,172 premises nationwide as of October 2025
KUALA LUMPUR: The Fire and Rescue Department has inspected 1,172 childcare centres nationwide as of October 2025.
Deputy Minister of Housing and Local Government Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu said 373 notices were issued to premises that failed to comply with safety regulations.
For private primary and secondary educational institutions, 234 inspections were carried out in the same period with 41 notices issued.
“The ministry, through JBPM, will implement enforcement through activities to eliminate fire hazards on premises, on a scheduled basis,” she said in the Dewan Negara.
She said this ensures premises always comply with set conditions and do not make unauthorised modifications.
Aiman Athirah was responding to a question from Senator Prof Emeritus Datuk Dr Mohammad Redzuan Othman regarding safety at centres operating in business complexes and shophouses.
She said the ministry supports stakeholder involvement in developing the private education sector by simplifying business license approvals.
This support does not neglect safety aspects and compliance with applicable laws, she added.
Mandatory safety requirements include installing a fire safety system and providing at least two exits including doors and stairs.
Other requirements are the construction of separation walls and placement of fire extinguishers in visible exits.
Limits on cooking activities and the installation of self-contained smoke detectors are also compulsory.
In 2024, local authorities approved 1,208 business premises licenses for such centres.
During that period, 723 monitoring and enforcement operations were carried out, resulting in 61 compounds and eight notices.
For 2025, a total of 1,737 licenses were approved with 472 enforcement operations conducted.
These operations led to the issuance of 96 compounds and 23 notices to license owners. – Bernama
