What fire compliance changes mean for Annual Fire Statements

And we are pleased to advise that Mick McGrath, DEM Fire’s Compliance and Accounts Manager and Anthony Carroll, Compliance Officer, have completed all mandatory assessments and are now accredited.

The changes are a positive step forward for the industry, for quality assurance… and for property owners.

Subsequently, as of 1 July, the title has been changed again to ‘Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety)’. For ease, we’ll refer to them here as CFSP’s.

The FPAA, which since 2013 has recognised the skills and competencies of individuals working in the fire protection industry across all state and territory jurisdictions in Australia, steered the process for CFSP accreditation.

In response to the changing legislation, the FPAA added to the FPAS scheme an accreditation class for fire safety assessors, which has become the only accreditation process currently available.

“Essentially anyone will now need to be FPAS certified in fire safety assessment to issue annual fire compliance certificates,” Mick explains. ‘It’s a good thing to put  more checks and balances in place and ensure all those working on projects are fully qualified to do so.”

There are two types of fire safety statements. An annual fire safety statement must include all the essential fire safety measures that apply to a building. It also verifies that a CFSP has inspected and confirmed that the exit systems in the building are in compliance with regulations.

A supplementary fire safety statement is issued at more regular intervals – outlined in the fire safety schedule – for any critical fire safety measures that apply to a building.

Part of the process is to ascertain the current fire schedule aligns with the existing building. Historically, fire safety schedules have been corrupted over the years by various changes such as building modifications.

“We do see properties where the schedule doesn’t match the building,” says Mick. “Just as one example, we attended a property which had lift fire seals listed in the schedule, but there were no lifts in the building.”

DEM Fire excels at fire protection because we take a holistic approach to solution design, system installation, asset management and fire compliance… and because we have an exceptional and fully qualified in-house team to ensure we meet and exceed industry standards.

Please get in touch for first-class fire protection from our skilled and certified FPSA’s. Read more Annual Fire Safety Statement articles.