If you own, manage, or are otherwise responsible for a building here in Australia, you are required to keep up with fire safety measures as mandated by law. That includes measures such as monthly visual inspections to annual fire audits.
Who Monitors Fire Safety in NSW?
Fire preparedness is overseen by an accredited certifier performing the inspection for Local councils or the NSW Fire Rescue Service. A certifier is any person who is authorised under section 6.5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) to issue a compliance, construction, occupation or subdivision certificate.
As a building owner, agent, or manager, you are required to choose an accredited fire safety practitioner listed on the website of the Fire Protection Association Australia’s official database as proof of their official credentials. The practitioner, who is also called a fire auditor, will perform the fire safety audit on behalf of the owners and agents while following official standards such as 4655-2005: Fire Safety Audits.
What is a Fire Safety Audit
A fire audit is an official annual inspection that is carried out by an accredited fire safety practitioner such as Adair Fire Audits and Certification, PTY LTD on each essential fire safety measure in a particular building. Fire Safety Compliance Audits are an integral component of the current fire services maintenance standard AS 1851-2012 and Adair Fire Audit’s Annual Fire Safety Certification service.
The audit assesses elements of fire safety such as:
- Inspection of current fire safety measures
- Inspection of paths of travel in the building
- Verification of Staff fire training practices
- Verification of maintenance of all fire safety installations such as:
- Building fire resistance
- Fire Extinguishers
- Fire Blankets
- Fire Hose Reels
- Fire Doors
- Assessment of building in relation to changes in contemporary fire codes
- Risk assessment relating to building management or housekeeping practices
- Assessment of safe storage practices in relation to any sprinkler/hydrant requirements (AS1851-2012
The auditing process is designed to certify that every piece of firefighting equipment in the building is in place and in good working order, to a standard no less than that to which the product was originally designed or is designed to be used.
What is a Fire Safety Certificate?
A fire safety certificate is an official document issued by or on behalf of the building owner when a new building is completed. The certificate confirms that each of the fire safety measures that apply to a building (as listed in the fire safety schedule) have been installed and checked by a properly qualified person. This process helps verify that the required fire safety measures can perform to the minimum standard.
If the building passes the audit, you will be issued with a fire safety certificate valid for one year or until the next audit. The certificate confirms that all essential fire safety equipment indicated was serviced accordingly and has therefore passed inspection.
You will be required to file this certificate with the local councils and commissioner of Fire and Rescue and display it in the building together with a fire safety statement.
After every fire safety audit and inspection, you will need to notify the authorities as part of your compliance requirements. A fire safety certificate and fire safety statement are the two ways how you show that your building is compliant with fire safety regulations.
A fire safety certificate must be issued using a standard template form published by the NSW Government. A copy of the form is available for download, here.
What is a Fire Safety Statement?
The fire safety audit applies to existing building and reveals any non-compliant fire safety measures in the building that you must resolve. Once that is done and the building is fully compliant, the building owner or someone acting in that capacity provides a written statement to show that the audit was completed successfully as required and all issues resolved.
The statement is issued within three months after the audit was done and within a year of the last statement having been issued. This statement is then to be submitted electronically to the local council and to the Commissioner of Fire and Rescue in the region together with a copy of the building’s current fire safety schedule.
A printed copy of the statement and fire safety schedule must also be displayed prominently in the building at the entrance in full public view. Here is the template produced by the NSW planning department of the government.
When Do You Need a Fire Safety Audit Statement?
Every time a fire audit is done, you will need to complete the fire safety statement and file accordingly. When the annual audit is done, you file an annual fire safety audit statement. If you do it again within a period of less than 12 months after the last one, you will file a supplementary fire audit statement.
The supplementary statement can be done when a critical measure is put into action (such as during a fire) or when the fire safety schedule requires it.
Adair Fire Audits and Certification in Sydney
Adair Fire Audits is a specialist organisation that carries out fire audits and building inspections in Sydney and the greater NSW. Adair Fire Audits work with building managers to ensure 100% compliance with fire regulations and issue Fire Protection Certification and even liaise with the Council on your behalf. If you are looking for a fire audit service that keeps integrity first, contact us about our fire safety services.