Mark Vender
Fire safety practitioners and building owners in NSW are preparing for new requirements around routine maintenance of fire safety measures and accreditation. This represents the last phase of a suite of reforms aimed at improving fire safety in the state.
Compliance with AS 1851
From February 13, 2025, building owners must ensure that inspection, testing and other servicing of essential fire safety measures in new and existing Class 1b to 9 buildings are done in accordance with AS 1851-2012 Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment. The standard covers testing processes, frequency and documentation for specific fire safety measures.
Documentation of the maintenance will also need to comply with the current version of AS 1851.
These new requirements supplement the need for building owners to demonstrate through an annual fire safety statement that each essential fire safety measure in the building has been verified as being found to be capable of performing to the required standard.
Local councils and Fire and Rescue NSW will have powers to inspect routine maintenance records, which must be kept onsite, and will be able to issue penalties for any breaches.
New rules for accreditation
Another major change is that practitioners will need to be accredited to assess the fire safety measures. Currently, the only requirement is that the assessment is carried out by a “properly qualified person” – there is no accreditation requirement.
Building owners will need to include the details of the accredited practitioners who assessed each measure on the fire safety certificate– including the practitioner’s name and accreditation number.
The NSW government is still in the process defining the accreditation pathway. With this in mind, practitioners who are already accredited (for example, under FPAS) will be granted transitional status until June 30, 2026.
AIRAH, AMCA Australia and FPA Australia will be holding webinars and information sessions before the changes come into effect, with the first joint webinar scheduled for December 2.
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