The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Fire Safety) Regulation 2022
From 13 February 2025, the previous requirements for Owners Corporation to obtain an annual fire safety statement (“AFSS”) will be amended, with the aim of improving safety as well as reducing property defects and associated costs. In particular, building owners must comply with mandatory fire safety procedures in Australian Standard 1851-2012: Routine Service of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment by Standards Australia (“AS1851”) for maintenance activities that are addressed by AS1851 and are not addressed by a performance solution approved for building work.
Key changes affecting Owners Corporations:
- Inspections and Testing
- Record Keeping
- Maintenance Onus on Owners
What does this Amending Regulation mean for Owners Corporations?
The introduction of AS1851-2012 as law in New South Wales will mean all fire safety equipment will be subject to greater scrutiny during your annual Fire Safety Inspection. Owners Corporations will also be required to keep detailed inspection records onsite and can be fined for non-compliance.
Owners must maintain essential fire safety measures in all types of buildings except single dwellings in accordance with procedures in AS1851-2012. Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment, where the maintenance activity is addressed by the standard.
Inspections and Testing
The AS1851 Standard adopts a staged approach to the inspection and testing of fire protection systems. The first stage, inspection, involves a visual examination of all fire protection systems and equipment to ensure they are in good condition and functioning correctly. The second stage, testing, employs suitable test equipment to verify the operation of each system, ensuring their safety and efficacy.
Under the new amendment, regular monthly and annual inspection and testing under AS1851 will be made mandatory. Additionally, AS1851 provides detailed extensive guidelines for services every 5, 10, 25, and 30 years, specifying the frequency at which each fire safety measure should be inspected and outlines the precise procedures and checks to be performed during each inspection.
Record Keeping
Occupiers under AS1851 will need to record all inspections, tests, and maintenance activities. An annual condition report ensures that a comprehensive history of each system is maintained. Reports are to be kept on site at the building for at least 7 years and made available for inspection by the Fire Commissioner or the relevant council.
AS1851 requires records to be kept on-site in a prescribed format, including a hardcopies of service record. The maximum penalty for non-compliance with the record keeping requirements is 300 penalty units (or $33,000) for a corporation.
Maintenance Onus on Owners
Owners must ensure that the maintenance activities for each essential fire safety measure for the building are undertaken in accordance with standards addressed by AS1851. Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment means that owners are now responsible for inspection, testing and servicing of equipment. The amending regulations delegate the following responsibilities to owners;
- Perform routine services of 7 essential fire safety measures addressed by AS1851 for a building;
- Recording (if any) missed services, and;
- Maintaining an on-site record of missed service.
An Owners Corporation should hire suitably qualified contractors for the AS1851 required monthly inspections and maintenance. While these contractors don’t have to be accredited fire safety practitioners, it might be wise to hire those who are. This is because an accredited practitioner will need to evaluate the same fire safety measures’ performance to obtain an AFSS.
More Information
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