The lives of people, property and the environment are best protected against fire by removing potential hazards. Then we can talk about prevention that, in order to be effectively implemented, requires the realisation of certain procedures. The first step is the legal regulation of this area, clearly defined by the legislation. Preventive fire protection has a very important place in the legal regulations of the European Union countries. Each country of the European Union independently regulates this area in accordance with its needs. There are certain institutions in the European Union dealing with standards in this area and providing recommendations for their implementation. Member States of the European Union, as in the case of regulations, have no obligation to accept and enforce these standards. Nevertheless, these are standards that are determined on the basis of modern research, so most of them are adopted. In Serbia, the area of preventive fire protection is clearly legally defined, but there are some differences in relation to European standards. This is logical if differences in the construction of facilities, the economic situation and the level of economic development are to be discusses. The most important area in preventive fire protection is the categorization of facilities according to the potential dangers of fire. This is very important because of the possible evacuation of people and the application of the most effective fire extinguishing tactics.