Kuwait’s New Fire Safety Conciliation Route: A Compliance Roadmap for Business Premises

Decree-Law No. 85 of 2026 was published in Kuwait Al-Youm Issue 1808 on 13 September 2026, the same day it took effect. It amends Law No. 13 of 2020 on the Public Fire Force, the statute that governs how Kuwait’s fire authority is organised and staffed, and, more relevantly for businesses, how it enforces fire safety rules against everyone else.

Why this matters

Fire safety inspections reach almost every commercial premises in Kuwait: malls, restaurants, warehouses, factories, hotels, clinics, car parks. Until now, a violation serious enough to generate a seizure report generally moved straight toward a criminal referral, however quickly the business fixed the underlying problem. Decree-Law No. 85 changes that for a defined category of violations by opening a settlement route. It is the second time in three months that Kuwait has extended conciliation to a regulatory regime that previously ran straight to criminal court; WEFAQ covered the first, for CCTV retention violations under Decree-Law No. 76 of 2026, back in July.

The new settlement mechanism

The operative change is a new Article 32 bis. It allows an establishment to settle a fire safety violation, either before a criminal case is filed or while one is under way, as long as the violation did not result in anyone’s death or injury. Settlement costs up to KD 10,000, and the business must also fix whatever caused the violation in the first place. A completed settlement closes the criminal case, or prevents one from opening, but it leaves civil liability untouched: anyone harmed by the underlying breach keeps the right to sue separately for damages. Article 32 bis leaves the competent minister to issue a decision setting out exactly which violations qualify and how the settlement process will run.

What is still missing

That ministerial decision has not been issued yet. Until it is, no business can safely assume a particular violation qualifies for settlement, or budget for the KD 10,000 ceiling as if it were a fixed fee. The comparable decision under the camera law took several weeks to follow the parent decree-law, and there is no published timetable for this one. WEFAQ will track the Ministry of Interior’s implementing decision and report when it lands.

The wider package: discipline, doctors and training stipends

Three further changes sit alongside the settlement mechanism, though none touch private businesses directly. The decree-law replaces the Fire Force’s internal disciplinary scale for officers up to the rank of colonel with eight graduated penalties, from a simple notice through to dismissal. It adds a financial stipend for Kuwaiti nationals enrolled in the Force’s own educational and training institutes, mirroring a benefit long available to military academy cadets. And it creates a faster appointment track for specialist medical doctors joining the Force’s ranks, letting suitably qualified candidates enter directly at captain or major grade rather than working up through the ordinary civil service ladder. Together these read as a personnel modernisation package aimed at recruitment and retention, relevant mainly to firms that supply, train or contract with the Force rather than to fire-code compliance generally.

What to do now

Businesses operating higher fire-risk premises, warehouses, industrial units, hospitality venues, large-format retail, should start documenting their fire safety measures now rather than waiting for an inspection to prompt it: current extinguisher and alarm certifications, evacuation route signage, and any corrective work already completed after a previous inspection. If a fire violation is already on file, keep the paper trail organised so it is ready the moment the ministerial decision opens the settlement window. And because settlement extinguishes criminal exposure without touching civil claims, any business considering it should take legal advice before signing, particularly where a third party could plausibly claim to have been harmed by the same violation.

WEFAQ advises clients who already have a fire violation on record to review their file now, so they are ready to apply the moment the Ministry of Interior publishes the list of qualifying violations and the settlement procedure.

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Source: Decree-Law No. 85 of 2026 amending certain provisions of Law No. 13 of 2020 concerning the Public Fire Force, and its Explanatory Memorandum, Kuwait Al-Youm Official Gazette, Issue 1808, 13 September 2026; Decree-Law No. 76 of 2026 amending Law No. 61 of 2015 concerning security surveillance cameras, for comparison.

This article is provided for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your circumstances, please contact WEFAQ Law Firm.