Public and private shelters, country by country

Europe · 34

Country	Public shelters	Private shelter	Shelter standards
Austria	Austria has no national public shelter programme, register or locator; shelters fall under the nine states' building codes.	Austria has no shelter obligation, no federal shelter permit and no federal funding; your state's building code applies.	–
Belgium	Belgium publishes no public shelter network, count or locator.	Belgium publishes no permit, obligation, standard or official guidance for private household shelters.	–
Bulgaria	Bulgaria lists 247 public shelters (6 October 2025) in a GDPBZN PDF sorted by province, each graded category I or II.	Bulgarian law lets private owners hold collective protection means.	Bulgaria's 2009 ordinance on collective protection means sets checks twice a year, filter inspections every 3 years and airtightness tests.
Croatia	Croatia has about 2,040 public shelters for 367,965 people, managed by towns and municipalities.	Croatia has no shelter-specific permit, no duty to build since 2000 and no binding shelter standard since 2015.	–
Cyprus	Cyprus Civil Defence shelters: 2,480 listed before the March 2026 inspection, coverage about 45%, and how to find yours with SafeCY or by phone.	A home shelter in Cyprus needs the ordinary building permit and planning permission.	–
Czech Republic	Czech permanent shelters are mapped on Terinos by the fire service.	The Czech Republic publishes no specific permit or rule for private household shelters.	Decree 380/2002 Sb.: Czech permanent shelters are fully underground, dual-use, within 500 m of people, 100 m from toxic gas, out of flood zones.
Denmark	Denmark has just over 3.6 million shelter places, but most are not ready for immediate use.	Denmark's Shelter Act governs sikringsrum in buildings; since 1 Feb 2026 the minister may require them.	Denmark's shelter rules: BRS 09/2003 for fitting out sikringsrum and BRS 10/1993 for public shelters.
Estonia	Estonia's public sheltering places are on an official Land Board map.	No shelter-specific permit in Estonia: the Building Code table applies by size.	Estonian shelters come in two classes: V1 up to 180 people (100 kN/m²) and V2 for 181-1,000 (200 kN/m²), with 0.75 m² per person and filtered air.
Finland	Finland has about 50,500 civil defence shelters for about 4.8 million people.	New buildings in Finland of at least 1,200 m2 (1,500 m2 for industrial and storage) must include a civil defence shelter, kept usable within 72 hours.	Decrees 408/2011, 506/2011 and 409/2011 set shelter classes (S1, S2, bedrock), size, location within 500 m, technical rules and VSS-marked equipment.
France	France has no public shelter network and no shelter locator.	No French law requires, licenses or funds private shelters.	–
Germany	Germany has 579 designated public shelters with 477,593 places, but the government says none is functional.	Germany has no shelter permit and no duty to build one.	–
Greece	A ministerial answer reported in Nov. to confirm	No Greek procedure for a private home shelter was found; ordinary building permits apply. to confirm	–
Hungary	Hungary publishes no official count of public shelters and no locator; BM OKF advises sheltering in your own home or building.	No Hungarian rule on building or registering a private shelter was found, and no official shelter standard exists.	–
Iceland	Iceland publishes no public shelter programme.	Iceland publishes no law, permit or standard for private shelters.	–
Ireland	Ireland publishes no public shelter network, count or locator.	Ireland publishes no rules, permit regime or official guidance specific to private shelters.	–
Italy	Italy publishes no public shelter network or locator.	Italy publishes no shelter permit, obligation, official guidance or technical standard.	–
Latvia	VUGD has assessed 1,665 shelters in Latvia for over half a million people.	Since 3 July 2025 any Latvian owner may create a category III shelter under VUGD guidelines.	Latvia's binding standard LBN 210-25 (in force 25 July 2025) sets three shelter categories, 0.75 m² per user, 12 hours of use and 5 litres of water each.
Lithuania	Lithuania lists its shelters (priedangos) and collective protection buildings on lt72.lt; about 3,300 shelters were registered in February 2024.	Lithuania has no shelter-specific permit: Article 27 of the Law on Construction applies.	STR 2.07.02:2024, in force since 29 February 2024, sets Lithuania's minimum design rules for shelters, collective protection buildings and priedangos.
Luxembourg	Luxembourg publishes no public shelter network, count or locator.	Luxembourg publishes no permit, obligation, standard or official guidance for private household shelters.	–
Malta	Malta publishes no current public shelter network or locator.	Malta has no law, permit or standard specific to private shelters; the Civil Protection Act (Cap.	–
Moldova	Moldova's 174 civil protection shelters were all rated unsatisfactory after 2022 checks; 1,790 spaces were cited in 2026. to confirm	No shelter-specific permit in Moldova: the 2023 Construction Code applies. to confirm	–
Netherlands	The Netherlands publishes no list or locator of public shelters.	No Dutch law requires, funds or licenses private shelters.	–
Norway	Norway has about 600 public shelters with 300,000 places, shown on DSB's map at kart.dsb.no.	Norway's Civil Protection Act requires developers to build shelters, but construction has been halted since 1998.	Norway's 1995 Regulation on shelters requires a 6-hour stay with filtered ventilation, overpressure, water, sanitation and power.
Poland	Poland has over 70,000 shelter points for about 20 million people.	Poland's 2024 Civil Protection Act appears to set no specific permit for a private shelter; owners can seek recognition and a subsidy of up to 100%.	A 2025 Interior Ministry regulation sets six shelter categories in Poland, from hideouts U-1 to U-3 to shelters S-1 to S-3, in force since 28 Nov.
Portugal	Portugal publishes no network of public protective shelters and no finder.	Portugal has no shelter-specific law, permit, obligation or technical standard.	–
Romania	Romania's IGSU lists 6,118 civil-protection shelters (June 2026).	Romania's Law 481/2004 makes shelters mandatory in some new buildings, approved by emergency services first.	–
Serbia	Serbia has 1,442 public and block shelters in 48 municipalities, run by the Belgrade shelter company.	Serbia sets no shelter-specific permit: ordinary planning and construction rules apply.	Serbia's 2024 rulebook: basic shelters resist 100 kPa, hold 300 people for 3 days; supplementary shelters 50 kPa, 50 people.
Slovakia	Slovakia has 1,474 hardened and gas-tight shelters for 264,038 people (4.15%).	Slovakia sets no specific permit or declaration for private household shelters.	Decree 532/2006 sets Slovak shelter rules: hardened shelters for 5 days, gas-tight for 2 days, within 500 m of people, 3 L of water per person per day.
Slovenia	Slovenia has 2,244 shelters with 348,537 places, mostly in cities.	No shelter-specific permit in Slovenia: ordinary building rules apply.	Slovenian shelters range from 12-hour refuges to 7-day shelters at 50-100 kPa.
Spain	Spain publishes no public protective-shelter network or finder.	Spain publishes no permit, obligation or technical standard for private household shelters.	–
Sweden	Sweden has about 64,000 shelters for about 7 million people.	Sweden's shelter law (2026:440) covers state-decided shelters; it sets no permit regime for a private home bunker, and MCF publishes no guide for one.	Swedish shelters follow MCF's handbook Skyddsrum SR 15 (2025) and SRVFS 1998:6, with component certification under SRVFS 1993:6 and inspection under SK 16.
Switzerland	Switzerland plans one shelter place per resident: about 370,000 shelters.	In Swiss communes short of places, new homes must include a shelter, or the owner pays CHF 1,400 per place not built.	Swiss shelters follow binding FOCP technical directives (TWP 1984, TWK 2017 and others) and use only FOCP-approved components listed in the ZKDB.
Ukraine	Ukraine had 62,655 shelter sites covering 48.8% of people at the start of 2025.	No shelter-specific permit in Ukraine: the ordinary notification or permit regime applies.	Ukraine's civil-protection shelters follow building code ДБН В.2.2-5:2023, in force since 1 Nov 2023; blast and basic shelters must hold 48 hours.
United Kingdom	The UK publishes no public shelter programme or locator.	The UK has no specific law, permit or funding for private shelters.	–

Americas · 9

Country	Public shelters	Private shelter	Shelter standards
Argentina	Argentina publishes no public blast or fallout shelters.	Argentina has no national law, permit regime or standard for private shelters and publishes nothing on building one.	–
Brazil	Brazil has no public blast or fallout shelter network.	Brazil publishes no law, permit or standard specific to private shelters.	–
Canada	No.	Canada publishes no specific rules for private fallout shelters.	–
Chile	Chile has no public blast or fallout shelters.	Chile has no law or official guidance on private shelters: no specific permit, declaration or obligation.	–
Colombia	Colombia has no public blast or fallout shelter network in official sources.	Colombian law has no rules on private bomb or fallout shelters.	–
Costa Rica	Costa Rica has no blast or fallout shelters.	No Costa Rican law, permit or declaration requirement for private shelters was found; Ley 8488 does not deal with them.	–
Mexico	Mexico has no blast or fallout shelters.	Mexico has no law, permit or standard specific to private shelters.	–
Peru	Peru has no public protective shelter network.	Peru publishes no rule, permit or declaration requirement for private protective shelters.	–
United States	No national network exists.	No federal permit or registration was found for private shelters.	FEMA P-361, FEMA P-320 and ICC 500-2020 cover tornado and hurricane safe rooms.

Middle East and Central Asia · 7

Country	Public shelters	Private shelter	Shelter standards
Georgia	Georgian law lets metro structures, caves, bunkers, tunnels and basements serve as shelters, but no official public list, map or count is published.	Georgia's civil-security law sets no permit for private shelters, but owners must maintain a shelter and need two ministries' consent to change its use.	–
Israel	In Israel you choose a protected space in advance: mamad first, then a shared or public shelter, an inner stairwell, then an inner room.	Yes.	Israeli protected spaces follow the Civil Defence shelter specification regulations of 1990 and Israeli Standard SI 4422 Part 2 for metalwork items.
Kazakhstan	Kazakhstan has civil-defence shelters and 12,963 simple shelters for about 11 million people (MChS, 2022).	Kazakhstan has no permit or legal regime specific to a private household shelter.	SN RK 2.04-15-2024 requires shelter rooms in 16 types of new buildings; ST RK 4016-2025 (since 1 Jan.
Kuwait	Kuwait's Ministry of Interior lists 129 official sheltering sites, mostly schools and kindergartens, by governorate, each linked on Google Maps.	Kuwait's Civil Defence advises a temporary home shelter in a basement or ground-floor room, sealed and stocked.	–
Qatar	Qatar publishes no public shelter network or locator. to confirm	Qatar has no known rule requiring, permitting or declaring a private shelter.	–
Turkey	Turkey has 'general shelters' coordinated by AFAD and new car-park and metro rules since 2025, but publishes no shelter count or shelter finder.	Turkey's Shelter Regulation makes fallout shelters mandatory in new permitted buildings, except notably homes with fewer than 10 units.	Turkish fallout shelters: at least 1 m² per person, 2.40 m height, 60 cm concrete walls and ceiling, steel door, HEPA or sand filtration.
United Arab Emirates	NCEMA says UAE public shelters are in metro stations, schools, mosques and car parks, marked by signs. to confirm	No shelter-specific permit was found in the UAE: emirate building permits apply (Dubai: Local Order 3 of 1999). to confirm	–

Asia-Pacific · 11

Country	Public shelters	Private shelter	Shelter standards
Australia	Australia has no public blast or fallout shelters.	No Australian law covers fallout or blast shelters.	Australia's shelter standards: ABCB private bushfire shelters (2014), Queensland cyclone shelter guidelines (2006) and MP 3.8 (2023).
India	India publishes no public air-raid or fallout shelter network.	India has no permit regime for voluntary private shelters.	India has no general air-raid or fallout shelter standard; Rule 18 orders set requirements.
Indonesia	Indonesia has no blast or fallout shelters. to confirm	Indonesia publishes no rules on private shelters: no specific permit, declaration or obligation.	–
Japan	Japan designates 103,226 evacuation facilities, including 62,382 sturdy buildings and 4,540 underground spaces for missile alerts (1 April 2026).	Japan has no national law for private or household shelters.	Japan's only official shelter standard is a non-binding 2024 Cabinet Secretariat guideline for public basement shelters.
Malaysia	Malaysia has no blast or fallout shelters.	Malaysia has no law requiring, permitting or registering private shelters.	–
New Zealand	New Zealand has no public blast or fallout shelters.	NZ publishes no law, permit or official guidance for private civil-protection shelters.	–
Philippines	No public blast or fallout shelters were found.	The Philippines has no law or official guidance on private blast or fallout shelters.	No blast or fallout shelter standard.
Singapore	Singapore has more than 590 Civil Defence public shelters in MRT stations, HDB blocks, schools and community centres.	Under the Civil Defence Shelter Act 1997, every new house and flat needs a household shelter, or a storey shelter for flats.	SCDF's binding standards: Technical Requirements for Household Shelters 2023 for all houses and flats, and for Storey Shelters 2021.
South Korea	South Korea's civil defence shelters are mostly basements, car parks and subway stations.	South Korea's Civil Defense Act sets no shelter-specific permit for homes.	–
Taiwan	Taiwan counted 105,000+ air-raid evacuation facilities for about 86.65 million people (end 2021).	Taiwan's Building Technical Regulations (art.	Article 144 of Taiwan's Building Technical Regulations: 30 cm reinforced concrete, 2.1 m height, two exits, 25 m³/m²/h ventilation, 100 lux lighting.
Thailand	Thailand has no national public shelter network.	Thai law has no rules on private household shelters: no specific permit, declaration or obligation.	–

Africa · 1

Country	Public shelters	Private shelter	Shelter standards
South Africa	South Africa has no public blast or fallout shelter network.	South Africa has no permit, obligation or technical standard specific to private shelters.	–

Where the state shelters you, and what it lets you build.

Europe · 34

Americas · 9

Middle East and Central Asia · 7

Asia-Pacific · 11

Africa · 1

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