With the Kingdom in the midst of a construction boom, the importance of modern, international standard fire protection systems is becoming ever more pressing.

A recent report by the fire prevention department at the Ministry of Interior in August shows incidents of fire in the Kingdom were up, with 261 documented cases – 82 more than in the same period in 2019.

Firemax Engineering Co Ltd is a fire engineering company specialising in firefighting, fire protection and fire suppression systems, providing approved products, solutions, design, technical training and maintenance services.

Driven by a passionate belief that fire protection should be at the fore, Firemax provides one-stop solutions for fire safety and asset management for design, consultancy and project management, supplying and installing integrated sprinkler systems, and providing maintenance, while strengthening personnel competency.

“Being a Cambodian company, we are fully committed to supporting the Kingdom’s economy, especially in the building, construction and property development sectors.

“We empower local engineers and professionals with essential knowledge on fire engineering to enable them in return to help in the future development of the country,” said Firemax director Bernard Mak.

Certified in internationally recognised management systems such as the Quality Management System and the Occupational Safety and Health Management System, with support from international partners on product know-how and industrial best practices, Firemax provides value for money services.

While the company has secured landmark projects through its partnerships with multinational companies, Mak said the greatest challenge moving forward was the need for greater fire engineering awareness.

“The concept of fire safety is still relatively new in Cambodia, and to complicate matters, at present Cambodia does not have a regulated fire code, although efforts are underway by the government to address this,” he said.

The company says its objective is to develop fire engineering standards to protect customer assets and assist in the Kingdom’s development by providing education and knowledge of fire design requirements based on National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) codes.

Mak said that to this end, it has embarked on conducting dedicated fire engineering workshop programmes in Phnom Penh universities.

“Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, we conducted four to five workshop sessions a year at each university with the engineering, architectural and information technology faculties. Although these workshops have been temporarily suspended, we hope to resume them again soon in conjunction with the reopening of universities,” Mak said.

As a registered member of the Institute of Fire Engineers under the Singapore Chapter, the company is aiming to establish a fire engineering academy.

“The academy will provide local design engineers, architects, professionals in property management and loss adjusters from insurance companies with practical training in fire safety design and the installation and inspection of fire protection systems,” Mak said.

Having built a reputation as one of the nation’s leading fire engineering consultants since its founding in 2015, Firemax is the only Cambodian company in the Kingdom offering services that are NFPA certified, he added.

“We initially started as the Cambodian representative partner for Viking, a globally renowned brand of fire protection systems from the US.

“This was prior to securing our maiden project to design and install an automated integrated fire suppression system for the PTT Oil Terminal in Preah Sihanouk province.

“It was a groundbreaking achievement for us and signalled the start of strategic partnerships with multinational companies who are still to this day our anchor clients.

“This also led us to secure representative partnerships in Cambodia with additional leading fire protection brands such as Ansul and Unique,” Mak said.

By working on high-end projects and with major construction companies, as well as by supplying training, Firemax is at the vanguard of changing attitudes while offering on the ground protection.

“With Firemax Engineering leading the fight with various initiatives in the pipeline, it is with great hope that all in Cambodia can better rest at ease as the nation becomes increasingly equipped to deal with the threat of blazes,” Mak said.