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People whose breach of fire safety rules causes death or injury in Uzbekistan can now be ordered by a court to pay separate compensation of up to 1.32 billion soums on top of any damages already awarded — a liability ceiling introduced by legislation signed on 2 November amending several codes and sector laws simultaneously.
The compensation scale is tied directly to the severity of harm. A fatality triggers a potential award of up to 1 billion 320 million soums; a first-group disability — the most severe classification — up to 660 million soums; and other forms of physical harm up to 264 million soums. Crucially, the law establishes that payments to victims and their families take priority over state-directed fines and financial sanctions, meaning injured parties are not left competing with the treasury for whatever assets a defendant holds.
Mandatory Insurance for Markets and Shopping Centres
Owners of markets, trade complexes and retail-and-entertainment centres are now required to carry civil-liability insurance covering third-party death or injury caused by fire, as well as compulsory fire insurance for the premises themselves. Officials who fail to comply face administrative fines of between 22 million and 33 million soums. A repeat violation within a single year raises that ceiling to 44 million soums.
The requirement targets a category of venue that has repeatedly featured in Uzbekistan’s fire-safety incidents: large, densely occupied commercial spaces where liability after a blaze has historically been difficult to enforce against property owners.
Urban Planning and Independent Audit Provisions
The same package tightens accountability in construction and urban planning. Unlawfully interfering in permitting processes during the design, construction or commissioning of a building — or pressuring authorised bodies and expert reviewers — now carries administrative detention of up to fifteen days or a fine of between 100 and 150 times the base calculation unit. If the offence is repeated after an administrative penalty has already been applied, the perpetrator faces up to two years’ imprisonment under the amended Criminal Code.
A new fire-audit mechanism accompanies the liability changes. Independent, accredited organisations will conduct the audits, and any facility that receives a positive audit conclusion will be exempt from scheduled state fire-inspection visits for one year — an incentive designed to encourage voluntary compliance rather than relying solely on enforcement.
The amendments span the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Code of Administrative Responsibility, and the existing laws on fire safety and insurance activity, making the 2 November law one of the broader single-instrument revisions to Uzbekistan’s fire-safety framework in recent years.