Property management is the outpost of fire management in residential communities. Implementing fire safety management of electric bicycles in communities in accordance with the law is not only a necessary step for property management to perform fire safety responsibilities, but also a key link in ensuring the safety of all owners. However, recently, fire departments in many places discovered during inspections that some residential properties failed to manage the parking of electric bicycles.
In July this year, fire law enforcement officers from Xianning City, Hubei Province, discovered during an inspection of a high-rise residential complex in their jurisdiction that electric bicycles were illegally parked in the public foyer, posing a fire hazard. The fire department requested the property management unit to strengthen inspections, promptly dissuade, and make rectifications as soon as possible.
However, a month later, when firefighters came to the same community again for review, they found that illegal parking still existed and the property management had not taken effective corrective measures.
According to my country’s “Fire Safety Management Regulations for High-Rise Civil Buildings”, the Xianning Fire and Rescue Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 3,000 yuan on the property unit.
In May of this year, fire law enforcement officers in Shunyi District, Beijing, when inspecting a certain community, also discovered that electric bicycles were illegally parked in the evacuation passage on the first floor. After on-site inspection and inquiry, the person in charge of the property management admitted that the staff had discovered the illegal parking behavior before, but because they had a fluke mentality that “the vehicle would be moved soon,” they failed to dissuade the owner of the vehicle in time, and did not report it to the fire department or the local street in accordance with regulations. According to the relevant provisions of the newly revised “Beijing Fire Protection Regulations” in May 2025, the Shunyi District Fire and Rescue Bureau made an administrative penalty decision on the property unit in accordance with the law, and ordered it to comprehensively investigate similar hidden dangers in the community.
Illegal parking is costly
Electric bicycle fire dangers occur frequently
If electric bicycles are parked illegally in the community, why should the property management take care of it? What is the basis for punishment? Let’s first take a look at the electric bicycle fire dangers that occurred one after another in Zhejiang, Anhui and other places in September this year.
In September this year, in a community in Xihu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, at 7:29 in the morning, a fire suddenly broke out in the electric vehicle parking area on the elevated floor of the first floor. A large amount of black smoke surged up the corridor, and the entire building was quickly enveloped in smoke. The local fire department rushed to the scene after receiving the alarm from the masses and put out the open fire within 20 minutes. Fortunately, there were no casualties in the accident and the building structure was not seriously damaged.
Also in September this year, a fire broke out in a residential area in Huashan District, Ma’anshan City, Anhui Province, burning 4 electric bicycles, 2 bicycles and sundries inside and outside the unit door. The walls, windows, meter boxes and doors of residents on the first to sixth floors in the unit corridor were smoked and damaged to varying degrees. Fortunately, the firefighters put out the fire in time and no further damage or casualties were caused. Investigation found that on the night of the incident, Zhang Moumou, a resident of the community, illegally parked his electric bicycle at the entrance of the unit door of the residential building where he lived. In the early morning, the electric bicycle caught fire due to an electrical circuit failure, causing a fire.
In this regard, the fire department stated that Article 37 of the “Fire Safety Management Regulations for High-Rise Civil Buildings” issued by the Ministry of Emergency Management and effective from August 1, 2021 clearly stipulates: Parking or charging of electric bicycles is prohibited in public foyers, evacuation walkways, stairwells, and safety exits; Article 47, item 7 of the “Regulations” also states: If they refuse to correct, the fire department may impose a fine of 2,000 to 10,000 yuan on commercial units and individuals.
There is indeed a clear legal basis for imposing property penalties.
Sun Yangyang, fire prevention supervisor of the Second Brigade of the Chaoyang District Fire and Rescue Bureau of Beijing: The parking of electric bicycles is not a matter of whether the property management should take care of it, but it must take care of it. In residential areas, property management is the first line of defense. The foyer corridor is the first step for residents to evacuate and escape. If an electric car catches fire in the foyer, the toxic smoke can seal the escape passage of the entire building within a few dozen seconds. People in the building will be unable to escape even if they want to. Therefore, the penalty for property management is not for meddling, but for failure to defend the outpost.
Illegal parking of electric bicycles is difficult to prohibit
Where does “can’t control” get stuck?
A fine marks the property’s bottom line of responsibility. However, reporters visited many places and found that even though there are relevant regulations and punishment precedents, the problem of illegal parking of electric bicycles still exists in some communities. What exactly is the problem?
In Beijing, a reporter received clues from the masses and visited a community in Fengtai District for several days in a row and saw that electric bicycles were illegally parked in the public foyer at the entrance on the first floor of some buildings. Not only can it be seen during the day, but similar situations are even more obvious at night or after rain. Just at the door of the corridor where the electric bicycles are parked, there is a warning sign saying “Electric bicycles and batteries are not allowed into the building or home.”
In response to this situation, the reporter came to the community property management company to make inquiries.
The property management stated that the vehicle was parked temporarily. However, on one of the illegally parked electric bicycles, the reporter saw that the seat was covered with dust, indicating that the vehicle had been parked here for some time. The reporter also found the security personnel patrolling the community.
Reporter: I would like to ask, if there are electric bicycles parked illegally downstairs, do you care about this? Will it be cleaned up?
Residential patrol security: Will clean up.
Reporter: When will it be cleaned up?
Community patrol security: You contact the property management. I’m not responsible for the property management. I’ll call the property manager.
During a visit to the community, the reporter saw that the community has planned a special parking area for electric bicycles in front of each high-rise building. These parking spaces are only two or three meters away from the corridor foyer, and the farthest is less than 20 meters; there are also special electric bicycle charging sheds. However, some residents still park their vehicles in the public foyer entering the building.
In this regard, some community staff said that if it is parked for a long time, they will not care.
On the one hand, it is troublesome to “play ball”. At the same time, many property management personnel have reported to reporters that for illegal parking in residential areas, what they can do is often verbally persuade, post notices, and shout in the group. Although the car owner agrees in person, he turns around and stops. In a high-rise community in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu, not only the public foyer at the entrance of the building, but also the first floor of the building was illegally parked with electric bicycles. Even during the inspection by firefighters, there were vehicles trying to park into the building.
Property staff of a certain community: We originally arranged for dedicated personnel and hired an additional security guard to take care of these four units. Any illegally parked vehicles would be towed away, but we still couldn’t solve the problem. As long as the security guard is off duty, electric cars will park in and we have no way to solve it. Just relying on civil air defense and towing more than 100 electric vehicles every day brings too much workload.
Demand that electric bicycles be removed from the community
Some vehicles were stolen
In addition to the case just mentioned, in Beilin District, Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province, a local property company implemented a “one size fits all” management to facilitate management, requiring residents to clear all electric bicycles out of the community. As a result, some vehicles were stolen.
In the end, the local court ruled that the property company should bear 40% of the residents’ liability for compensation. In this regard, experts said that there is indeed a contradiction between real estate companies in various places when it comes to managing the parking of electric bicycles in residential areas.
Ma Liang, professor at Peking University School of Government: In fact, the relevant laws and regulations are relatively clear when it comes to parking electric bicycles. For example, in the property management process, a basic rule is that it is not advisable to let it go or to ban it completely. However, judging from local conditions, property management companies may also face many challenges: on the one hand, they are required to manage electric bicycles, and on the other hand, they face the problem of insufficient law enforcement authority. In this process, residents may often be uncooperative or even resist. At this time, the management challenges faced by property management companies are further highlighted.
Expert advice:
Collaborative management is the way to deal with illegal parking
Experts said that illegal parking of electric bicycles in residential areas is only the “effect” and the “cause” of management problems is not only property management issues, but also related to some residents’ failure to comply with relevant laws and regulations. Solving the problem of illegal parking requires coordinated management by multiple parties.
Recently, when a fire supervisor in Chaoyang District, Beijing, inspected a community in his jurisdiction, he discovered an electric bicycle parked in the elevator hall of the corridor. Firefighters immediately contacted the property owner to call the car owner. However, when the car owner arrived at the scene, not only did he not realize his mistake, but he was arrogant and refused to cooperate.
Seeing this situation, the firefighters immediately gave serious advice to the car owner, popularized fire regulations and safety knowledge, and informed the car owner that he would have to bear legal consequences if a fire accident resulted in serious casualties and property losses. After being persuaded by the firefighters, the owner realized his violation and immediately pushed the electric bicycle out of the building.
This situation is not unique. In recent times, fire departments in various places have carried out rectification and cleanup of common safety hazards around residents such as electric bicycles entering buildings and homes. It has been found that residents illegally carry electric bicycle batteries into elevators and use flying cables to charge them. While firefighting agencies in various places are punishing properties, they are also enforcing the law on individual car owners. In September this year, there was an electric bicycle fire in a residential area in Ma’anshan, Anhui Province. The owner of the bicycle parked his electric bicycle at the entrance of the residential building where he lived in violation of regulations, which eventually led to the fire. The local public security agency finally sentenced Zhang to administrative detention for 7 days in accordance with the law.
In this regard, experts said that grassroots governance is difficult to completely solve by one department or organization, and it is necessary to establish a hierarchical and classified management method to promote collaborative governance.
Ma Liang, professor at the School of Government at Peking University: In fact, in grassroots governance, it is difficult to say whether to let a certain department or organization completely solve a problem. It is still necessary to consider establishing a hierarchical and classified method for management. It cannot be said that the problem is completely left to property management companies to solve. It is still necessary to consider how to carry out collaborative governance. For example, it is obvious that some residents are not cooperating. If the property management’s dissuasion does not work, you can also contact the relevant law enforcement departments and let them conduct supervision. If the property management company fails to manage in this way, residents should have the right to report the problem and order the property management company to make rectifications. But how to make property management companies and residents reach a consensus on where the boundaries are, which bottom lines are untouchable, and how to develop in a better direction may require a process of running-in and continuous optimization.
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