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Rethinking fire protection: an interview with the project manager for the BSV 2026
16.06.2025 The technical consultation on the new Fire Protection Regulations (BSV) 2026 is launching in September 2025, and represents an important milestone for the future of Swiss fire protection. Prof. Isabel Engels from Bern University of Applied Sciences is leading the project team on behalf of the VKF. In this interview, she talks about the shift towards risk orientation and what this means in practice.
What is the BSV 2026 all about?
Switzerland’s fire safety regulations were first standardised nationwide in 2005, and revised in 2015. A thorough, full revision will now follow with the BSV 2026. At its heart, it involves a paradigm shift: moving away from the demand to maximise security and towards risk-oriented solutions. The new regulations seek to offer greater flexibility and allow more individualised concepts, all while continuing to ensure the protection of people and buildings.
Anyone planning, testing or making decisions in the future shouldn’t simply work through a list of standards, but should understand what protection goals are to be achieved and define specific measures based on those. This requires active engagement with the new requirements and processes.
What is special about the audit is the consistently risk-based approach – it is unique in this form anywhere in the world. While many countries have quality requirements, there are usually no quantitative risk acceptance criteria internationally, such as are provided for in the Swiss BSV 2026.
Another key point: in future, there will be free choice of the certification method used for each building – risk-based or prescriptive. The prescriptive procedure (the ‘standard procedure’ in the current BSV 2015) will continue to be used in around 95% of cases. However, the new processes open up additional possibilities – especially for complex buildings and situations.
The BSV 2026 is expected to come into force in 2027 and marks an important step towards modern, practice-driven, sustainable fire protection in Switzerland.
Ms. Engels, why do we need a complete overhaul of the BSV?
The current regulations essentially date back to 2005. They have proved their worth, but overall they are still not sufficiently focussed on the actual risks. Now, the aim is to make use of existing resources in a more targeted manner: i.e. keeping safety measures proportionate to the risk, especially when dealing with fires, natural hazards or limited resources.
At the same time, the underlying conditions have changed: the complexity of today’s construction projects is rising, new technologies are opening up unseen possibilities, and societal expectations – for example, in terms of accessibility or construction in the existing building stock – require more flexible, practice-driven solutions. The BSV 2026 responds to these developments.
«I hope that the change is not seen as a burden, but as an opportunity.»
What is the key difference to the existing regulations?
The BSV 2015 were already based on risk-oriented fire protection. This evolution will be systematically pursued in the BSV 2026. We are moving away from the principle of ‘maximising safety’. This means that any measures taken should be in a response to the specific situation and hazard. It’s also about proportionality: replacing the principle of ‘more is more and safer’ with targeted measures based on risk. This way, the money available for risk reduction can be used where it actually brings the greatest benefit in terms of actual safety.
Why is that an advantage?
Because it embraces reality. The new system allows for individually tailored concepts aligned with the actual risk – with the ambition to provide the level of safety that society has a right to expect.
Will fire protection now become more complicated?
I’m often asked this question – and my answer is: it depends on what aspect of fire protection you’re referring to. A few, rigid rules within a narrow framework may appear simple at first glance, but in practice they often lead to problems because they don’t fit every situation.
I would say: fire protection will become more differentiated. Alongside technical know-how, increasing importance is being given to coordination between specialist planners, authorities and certifiers. This requires a rethink, but also opens up new opportunities for quality and efficiency.
An example: when converting existing buildings, BSV-compliant escape routes have often been difficult to implement. The current draft of the BSV 2026 provides for more flexible requirements here – such as longer permitted escape route distances. In other words, you have to look more closely, but you can also find pragmatic solutions where none were possible before.
«The new system allows for simple, practice-driven concepts tailored to the actual risk.»
Personal details: Prof. Isabel Engels
Isabel Engels is a lecturer in fire protection at Bern University of Applied Sciences BFH. As an experienced engineer specialising in timber construction, she is involved in research, teaching and continuing education for contemporary and practice-driven safety concepts. Since 2019, she has been headed up the project team for the development of the Swiss Fire Protection Regulations BSV 2026 on behalf of the Association of Cantonal Fire Insurers (VKF).
What are the implications of the technical consultation in September 2025?
It is the moment when experts from the field can comment on the drafts. For us, this feedback is essential – because good regulations are created in dialogue with those who will have to apply them later.
What is the best way to prepare for the new regulations?
By familiarising yourself with the concept of risk orientation and the structure of the new regulations. Not everyone has to carry out performance- or risk-based certifications themselves – but anyone who’s involved, e.g. as a specialist planner, needs to understand what they entail.
This understanding helps not only with complex certifications, but also in the prescriptive area: it helps you to develop economical, building-specific solutions – and, if needed, to incorporate additional partial certifications. We offer practice-based training in this – with content that has already proven itself in everyday life, such as in existing buildings or challenging certification concepts.
What is your wish regarding the implementation of the BSV 2026?
I hope that the change will not be seen as a burden, but as an opportunity. The new regulations offer more leeway – and the opportunity to use specialist knowledge in a targeted manner to find better solutions. This requires a willingness to learn and to call customary ways of thinking into question. It is crucial that we never lose sight of the core issue: the effective protection of people and buildings in the event of a fire.
