Fire Safety Plans (MAP) for Clinics and Healthcare Facilities
What changes when patients may not be able to leave on their own.
Why a healthcare facility is different
Clinics, health centres, medical practices and hospitals fall under Utilização-Tipo V. The factor that weighs most is the presence of patients who may be bedridden, sedated, recovering or with reduced mobility, and who depend on others to evacuate.
That puts most of these facilities, even small ones, in risk categories that require a MAP, with particular attention to assisted evacuation and how the teams are organised.
When this usually becomes urgent
- Opening or licensing a new clinic or practice: safety documentation is usually part of the process
- Installing equipment with associated risk, such as oxygen, imaging or a minor-surgery room
- Increasing the floor area or the number of consulting rooms and beds
- Renewing the facility's operating licence
- A failed inspection that flagged gaps in detection, compartmentation or evacuation procedures
What usually gets assessed
Automatic fire detection throughout the facility, emergency lighting and exit signage. Fire compartmentation between zones, to allow horizontal evacuation, meaning moving patients to a safe sector without having to leave the building straight away. Working fire doors. Safe storage of medical gases and flammable products. An internal emergency plan with assisted-evacuation procedures, an adequately sized safety team and training for clinical staff. The exact risk category and specific obligations are set by a técnico autor.
Need to sort this out?
Frequently asked questions
Does a small single-doctor practice need a MAP?
It depends on the risk category. Small practices, with no inpatient beds or risky procedures, can land in the 1st category with minimal obligations. Once there are beds, sedation, oxygen or several consulting rooms, the category rises and a MAP becomes required. A técnico autor is who decides this.
How is this different from the care homes guide?
Both are Utilização-Tipo V and share the assisted-evacuation logic. The care homes guide focuses on the permanent, overnight occupancy of elderly residents; this one focuses on healthcare facilities, with patients in for a consultation, treatment or recovery. The concrete obligations always depend on the risk category.
I have oxygen in the practice. Does that change the MAP?
It can. Storing and using oxygen and other gases creates risk zones that have to be addressed in the MAP, with rules on storage, signage and sometimes compartmentation. Tell the técnico autor about every gas and piece of equipment you have.
This guide is general orientation and doesn't replace legal or technical advice. Your building's exact risk category and obligations are determined by a técnico autor registered with ANEPC.