Helsinki City Rescue Department

Supervision of residential buildings

The Rescue Department supervises the safety of residential buildings. In Helsinki, the supervision mainly focuses on blocks of flats and terraced houses. The aim of the supervision is to support the work on the safety of residential buildings and to help improve the safety of housing. The supervision also helps to inform the Rescue Department on matters in which residential buildings need the support of the Rescue Department.

The need for supervision is assessed by means of a self-assessment carried out by the persons responsible for the residential building. The self-assessment form contains questions concerning fire and evacuation safety, preparedness for abnormal situations and accidents, and civil defence. The Rescue Department sends instructions for carrying out the self-assessment to different residential areas each year. The instruction letter is sent to the person responsible for the residential building (usually the chair of the housing company’s board or the building manager). 

The Rescue Department gives advance notice if a fire inspection will be carried out in a residential building. Fire inspectors always wear a uniform and have an official ID card, which they will show on request. The prices of fire inspections of residential buildings are listed in the list of fees (in Finnish). Fire inspectors never try to sell any products or services.

Performing the self-assessment

Complete the self-assessment required by the Rescue Department electronically (in Finnish). The ID number and password required to fill in the form are provided in the letter. If necessary, you can also do the assessment using a paper form.

You can print out the form here:  
PDF form (in Finnish)

Covering letter for self-assessment areas in 2024 (in Finnish)

You can ask help for the self-assessment free of charge from Helsinki-based contract fire brigades. 

The Rescue Department requires a self-assessment to be conducted and its results returned to the Rescue Department every few years. However, we recommend that residential buildings undergo a voluntary self-assessment on a regular basis, for example as part of an annual safety walk. You can use the PDF form above for the voluntary self-assessment. 

You can use the folowing materials to support self-assessment and to maintain the safety of housing: Handbook for fire safety in housing companies and Handbook for fire safety in small houses.

You can find material about emergency planning also on the Finnish National Rescue Association webpage.

Areas included in self-assessment

Chimney sweeping

For clients: 

The chimneys of permanent residences that have a fireplace must be swept at least once a year, and the chimneys of holiday homes, such as summer cottages, must be swept at least once every three years.

More information on chimney sweeping

In the area of the Helsinki City Rescue Department, you can address general questions about chimney sweeping to the on-call fire inspector. 

For chimney sweeps: 

Chimney sweeps can send questions regarding chimney sweeping control and fault reports that they are obligated to make when they notice deficiencies that cause a risk of an accident to pel.nuohous@hel.fi 

Chimney sweeping defect report