What is the risk to the owner if the annual fire safety statement is wrong?

From July 1st 2020, you must use an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety); previously known as a CFSP. They must be accredited to endorse an Annual Fire Safety Statement for each type of essential fire safety measure on your premises (there are over 20 separate accreditation categories to maintain.) If they are an approved fire safety company, you reduce your risk regarding the accuracy and content of the statement. If your supplier is not accredited for all measures (assuming is not good enough), council will not accept the statement, you as the building owner take on the full risk of the annual statement incorrect issue and council may impose fines on the owners. This can have serious implications on your legal liability, insurance coverage, premiums, possible fire upgrade orders and the buildings' ability to remain occupied.

How often do my fire extinguishers have to be checked?

Australian Standard AS1851-2012, requires all extinguishers to be checked and tagged every six months. Depending on the type of extinguisher, they also need an overhaul every one to five years.

Do I need to issue an 'Annual Fire Safety Statement' to council?

Yes. Every building other than class 1 (house) is required to provide an annual statement to council. This is required under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021.

How much does an annual fire safety statement cost?

Every building will be different, so a fixed price is impossible without an inspection. You can be sure that every piece of fire equipment and every part of the building will need to be inspected and tested, so if the price seems too good to be true, it probably is opening the building owner and occupants to unnecessary risk.

So less headaches is guaranteed? What happens if I think you've caused more headaches than the last company completed an equivalent task?

We fix it free and credit $200 off your next invoice. Please note that the $200 credit relates to subsequent work, after the job at hand.

Strata Fire Safety Compliance | 2020 Fire Protection

Client:

Premium Strata

Project Type:

Inspection & Testing

Building Type:

Residental Strata – High-rise – Partamatta

Location:

NSW

Situation

This 133 unit, mixed-use, residential tower requires monthly inspection and testing of their fire systems and equipment. As mandated by NSW law, the building needs to have all equipment maintained annually for the purposes of assessment for the annual fire safety statement.

2020 Fire Protection was engaged by the owners via Premium Strata to undertake the inspection and testing of this newly constructed building to ensure strata fire safety compliance in accordance with AS1851-2012 – including accessing every apartment and every common area of the building.

During this testing, a large quantity of defects were identified that related to building works.

Examples of defects included:

All Fire doors having non-compliant gaps
Valves to feed the hydrant systems fitted back to front – no fire-fighting water in certain situations
Pressure reducing station omitted and valves in place causing building to shake when operated
Flows and pressures to sprinklers inadequate to operate in accordance with the design
Fire Pump for sprinklers not adequate to supply water to meet the sprinkler design

2020 Fire Protection’s initial estimate to rectify the defects was $250k+

Actions Taken

The defects noted as likely to be construction related were reported to the strata manager who, due to the building being under 2 years since completion, passed these to the developer for action.

The developer and builder argued the validity of these defects and said they related to maintenance and should be fixed by the owners who had just moved in. The developers questioned 2020 Fire Protection’s competence, they argued that they had an engineer who had passed it, they argued that council had accepted the building and the like.

Over a 2 year period following the initial report, 2020 Fire Protection’s team attended site more times than can be counted; met with the developers, the owners, the builder and the strata manager, received rulings from the regulatory authorities, were abuse verbally and in-writing by the developers as to the competence of our advice.

The easiest thing would have been to walk away.

Outcomes

2020 Fire Protection proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt that the defects were construction related. We negotiated directly and through strata, council and the fire brigade to prove this and we helped the strata manager force the developer and builder to fix those defects.

2020 Fire Protection saved the owners $250,000+ in repairs, but MORE importantly; 2 years after our initial report, there was a balcony fire. Just like the ones you’ve seen on the news that have destroyed buildings and lives. The sprinkler system, which was fixed due to 2020 Fire’s competent reporting, worked correctly, extinguished the fire and the damage was minimal.