Consulting
Fire Safety Statements. Why you need an agent?
The NSW Government commissioned an independent statutory review of Building Professionals Act 2005 for Building and Development Certification practices in NSW, also known as the ‘Lambert Report’. This review was finalised in October 2015.
Through the Department of Planning & Environment, the NSW Government has implemented several of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Fire and Building Certification) Regulation 2017 which commenced on the 1st of October 2017.
The most applicable changes for existing buildings and building owners being as follows;
The omission of the term ‘properly qualified person’ and replacing it with ‘competent fire safety practitioner’ including clarity on definition and accreditation requirements of competent fire safety practitioners (now known as accredited practitioner (Fire Safety)); and
The format of Fire Safety Statements (Supplementary and Annual) is to strictly be in the approved form and include the name and contact details of both the person who issues the statement and the competent fire safety practitioner(s). (The approved form for Annual Fire Safety Statement came into effect on the 1st of December 2017).
The intent of the legislative amendment is to further ensure the competency of fire safety assessments and provide a more refined process, through a clear chain of evidence of the annual assessment of essential fire safety measures and the verification their performance.
As it is the building owners responsibility to ensure the competence of these assessments and assessors, independent specialists in the field of fire safety and fire compliance, with no conflict of interest in repair or upgrade revenue, such as Fire Matrix, act as a third party for the owner to review and verify the steps and processes required to successfully submit an Annual Fire Safety Statement.
The NSW Department of Planning has expressly advised that your Fire Contractor / Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) shall not sign off the AFSS under section 7 therefore, by engaging the services of an agent, the building owner can confidently ensure the fire safety compliance requirements for their building(s) are met.
Compliance Reporting
(Post Development)
Why do you need a post development audit?
Simply put, the development industry relies heavily on self-certification, unfortunately the development process can often consist of installing contractors certifying the compliance of their own work without adequate independent third-party assessment prior to the practical completion stage.
Principal Certifying Authorities do not complete detailed auditing of the systems and equipment that is installed during the construction phase as this is generally not included in their scope or minimum requirements, and, whilst they may witness or review basic functional testing and/or commissioning, many elements of the compliance requirements can be missed.
The installing contractors then typically maintain their own systems and equipment for the duration of Defects Liability Period (DLP) and produce further certification without any further review at the completion of this phase in order to ensure retention monies are released.
This can often leave the owner/operator vulnerable once the building(s) fire safety systems and equipment are consolidated into a maintenance program with incumbent contractors, or alternatively, many years down the track when alternative service providers are engaged and installation defects and non-compliances are identified at a cost to the building owner, who, in many cases, is under the assumption that they had already paid for a compliant building once prior.
By engaging an independent third party, such as Fire Matrix, to complete a Post Development Fire Safety Compliance Audit, the building owner/operator can safe-guard themselves against unwarranted risk and unnecessary costs. Through our independent review of the development fire safety and essential measures, defects and non-compliances can be identified and addressed within the liability and warranty period at no additional cost and risks mitigated.
Our audits have earned the title as a risk averse, cost saving measure.
Building Code of Australia Reporting
Why do you need a BCA audit?
The National Construction Code (NCC) / Building Code of Australia (BCA) is the legislated minimum requirement for your buildings compliance levels, BCA Clauses are often listed on your buildings fire safety schedule as minimum standards of performance. In addition your building is required to comply to all applicable ‘Deemed-to-Satisfy solutions’ (D-t-S) unless addressed by a performance solution (see below under ‘Fire Engineered Reports).
Fire Matrix can complete a Clause by Clause assessment of you BCA requirements for the purposes of re-development, modification, council issued orders or even for your own piece of mind.
(General Fire Safety requirements)
Why do you need a Fire audit?
As your fire safety measures are generally maintained to AS1851, your fire contractor will complete their routine assessments in accordance with the series of checks consistent with the basic installation standards. Your fire contractor will limit their assessment to these minimum requirements. A Fire Compliance Audit is a different perspective from your routine inspection & testing identifying items not covered by your routine AS1851 maintenance or within your fire contractors capabilities. It is an independent and high level survey and review aimed at providing you a comprehensive overview of your buildings fire compliance.
Fire Engineers Solutions
Why do you need an FER / Performance Solution?
The National Construction Code (NCC) / Building Code of Australia (BCA) states a series of performance requirements describing the minimum in level of construction or safety requirements etc that buildings must comply to, these requirements can be met by conforming to the pre-determined, ‘Deemed-to-Satisfy solutions’ (D-t-S), the clauses stated within the BCA detailing general requirements like Fire Resistant Levels and Fire Fighting Equipment including the current Australian Standards adopted by the BCA for installation methods etc.
The alternative method of compliance is via a Performance Solution, a specific compliance solution for the particular building or fire safety measure addressing any deviation from the D-t-S that may occur or be proposed. The reasons for utilising a performance solution vary, however often they address an existing or proposed D-t-S non-compliance in order to achieve greater efficiency, be more cost effective or meet a very specific building design feature.
Fire Matrix can begin this process by identifying BCA non-compliances through one of our auditing process (see above) and then facilitating the Performance Solution with our collective group of Fire Engineers that we work closely with.
In addition to producing these performance solutions Fire Matrix can provide our expertise in reviewing, assessing as well as establishing assessment processes when the FER forms part of your buildings Fire Safety Schedule and Annual Fire Safety Statement. FER’s / Performance Solutions can be complex and involve multiple fire safety measures, their requirements cannot always be assessed through routine AS1851 maintenance and your fire contractors capabilities.
Our assistance in these matters ensures the highest level of safety, saves you time and is a very cost effective way of addressing issues and lowering ongoing costs.