Fire Safety Upgrading

With the change in legislation, an existing building, which had complied with some fire safety regulations in the past, may fall too far short of the same building being built under the current legislation. This gap may need to be narrowed down by upgrading the building to an acceptable level of fire safety. The scope of work will be determined through fire safety inspections and assessments.

Council's power to require property owners to carry out fire safety upgrading or maintenance work is stipulated mainly in Order No. 6 Section 121B of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 where the following circumstances have arisen:

• Provision for fire safety or fire safety awareness is not adequate to prevent fire, suppress fire or prevent the spread of fire or ensure or promote the safety of persons in the event of fire.
• Maintenance or use of the premises constitutes a significant fire hazard.

Once Council has identified a property for fire safety inspection, a letter will be sent out requesting for a preliminary inspection to be done. Nothing is suggesting that your property has any deficiencies in fire safety until the preliminary inspection is done.

If the scale of deficiencies is small, Council will stipulate the full upgrading requirements. If the scale is large, we will offer you the service of complete fire safety inspection, assessment and reporting at an hourly rate as stipulated in the latest Schedule of Fees and Charges, minimum charge being for two hours. We can offer a quotation based on the preliminary inspection. Alternatively, you may engage your own fire safety consultant to do the job and Council will work with your consultant without charge throughout the process.

Once the upgrading works are completed, the only ongoing fire safety matters with your property will be the Annual Fire Safety Statement and your good housekeeping.