Fire Safety

How do I lodge my annual fire safety statement?

You can lodge your Annual Fire Safety Statement here. Please ensure a reference number or property identification is provided.

Complete all sections on the Annual Fire Safety Statement form and provide dates and signatures where required to do so.  Check the form again for accuracy and completeness and then lodge it with us.  To access the Annual Fire Safety Statement template, refer to NSW Department of Planning and Environment website.

An Annual Fire Safety Statement for a building must deal with each essential fire safety measure in the building premises.  It must be submitted within 12 months after the date on which the previous statement or the Final Fire Certificate was given, and it must be lodged within three (3) months of the date(s) of inspection and assessment.

The statement must be submitted to Council and Fire & Rescue NSW.

It is important to ensure Annual Fire Safety Statements are accurately and fully completed as any incomplete or incorrect statements will be returned for amendment and an additional processing fee will be charged as per Council's Fees and Charges.

What do do when there are anomalies between what is listed on a Fire Safety Schedule and what is installed in a building, or the Fire Safety Schedule appears to be incorrect?

• Notify us as soon as possible by submitting an AFSS request for a 'Stay of Infringement' application form.
• Follow the same process as you would for any other issue preventing you from submitting the AFSS by the due date.
• List the anomalies identified on page two (2) of the Stay of Infringement application in sections 4 & 5 as appropriate, and complete all other sections listed.  Example of anomalies include:
  • Fire Safety measures installed in the building but are not listed on the most recently issued fire safety schedule;
  • Essential Fire Safety Measures listed on the most recent Fire Safety Schedule but are not installed in the building;
  • Where you suspect the minimum standard of performance listed on the fire safety schedule is inaccurate.
• We may correct any anomolies identified if there is evidence to support any amendments.
• We may request work to be carried out, issue a Development Control Order or any other action we deem necessary to allow the building owner/s to issue an Annual Fire Safety Statement to Tamworth Regional Council.

What will happen if I do not submit an Annual Fire Safety Statement?

Tamworth Regional Council treats fire safety issues seriously.  Where required under legislation to provide a statement, the owner is responsible to ensure lodgement, regardless as to whether the property is tenanted or vacant.

It is an offence under the Environmental Planning & Assessment Regluation 2000 to fail to provide the statement.  Substantial and continuing weekly penalty notices can apply for this offence, the fine can be $1,000 per week for every week the lodgement is late.

For further informaiton on fire safety, including smoke alarms, home evacuation plans, winter fire safety at home and fact sheets, please also refer to Fire and Rescue NSW.

For more information on legislation or to access Annual Fire Safety Statements or Certificate templates, refer to the NSW Department of Planning and Environment website.

Stay of Infringement Application

If you are experiencing difficulties in having your building assessed and will be unable to submit your annual fire safety statement to us by the due date then you should submit a Stay of Infringement application.  This can allow you to apply for extra time to have the necessary inspections conducted and avoid being fined for the late submission of your annual fire safety statement.  You can download a Stay of Infringement application form here (PDF 426KB).

What is a fire safety schedule?

A fire safety schedule specifies each of the fire safety measures that apply to the building premises. The fire safety measures specified in the fire safety schedule will vary for each building and can be both essential fire safety measures and critical fire safety measures. The schedule also specifies the minimum standard of performance for each of the measures. This standard reflects the standard to which each measure is designed, installed and capable of operating.

A fire Safety Schedule is legislated for issue at the following times:

• by the Council or an accredited certifier in relation to a construction or complying development certificate where work is being undertaken within the building or construction of a new building
• by the Council with a fire safety order 
• by the Council in some cases with a development consent (other than a complying Development certificate), such as for a change of use in an existing building, where no building work is proposed by the applicant for the consent and no building work is required by the consent authority

What is a fire safety certificate?

Who do the requirements for annual fire safety statements apply to?

The requirements apply to the owners of buildings that contain essential fire safety measures and are required by the Regulation to issue an annual fire safety statement.

What are the building owner's responsibilities in relation to fire safety measures?

The building owner is responsible for maintaining each fire safety measure to the required minimum standard of performance contained in the fire safety schedule. For fire safety measures that apply to buildings by means other than a fire safety schedule, the measures must be maintained to the standard to which each measure was originally designed and implemented.

What is the purpose of a fire safety statement?

A fire safety statement is a declaration from the building owner(s) that the fire safety measures that apply to a building have been checked and continue to perform to the relevant standard. This assists in demonstrating that building owner(s) are complying with the requirement that they maintain fire safety measures in accordance with clause 182 of the Regulation. As such, it is the responsibility of the building owner to issue a fire safety statement, however the Regulation allows an agent to do this on their behalf.

In issuing a fire safety statement, the building owner(s) or agent is declaring that a competent fire safety practitioner has assessed each fire safety measure that applies to the building and confirmed that the measure meets the required standard of performance.
 
For annual fire safety statements, the building owner(s) or agent is also declaring that a competent fire safety practitioner has inspected the building’s fire exit systems for compliance with the Regulation.

As the person issuing the statement is not certifying the performance of the fire safety measures, they are not expected to have the specialist expertise to verify that they meet the minimum standard.

Who must issue the fire safety statement?

The Regulation requires that the building owner or their agent issue the fire safety statement by signing the declaration in section 8 of the form for annual fire safety statements and section 9 for supplementary fire safety statements.

Building owners could include individuals, a company or an owner’s corporation. 

Where a person issues the statement on behalf of the owner(s) (as the owner’s agent), this person must have the appropriate authority from the building owner(s) to undertake this function. 

In the case of a building with multiple owners, one owner may issue the statement, however each of the other owners must authorise the owner who issues the statement to act as their agent. 

Competent fire safety practitioners must not issue a fire safety statement where they have assessed a fire safety measure or inspected the building’s exit system (for an annual fire safety statement). This is consistent with the fire safety statement process in the Regulation, which recognises the different roles and responsibilities for building owner(s) and CFSPs. It also ensures building owners (who are ultimately responsible) remain directly engaged in the fire safety statement process. 

What is a competent fire safety practitioner?

A competent fire safety practitioner is a person who is competent to perform fire safety assessment functions required by the Regulation. The Department of Customer Service has established a coregulatory framework to recognise industry accreditation schemes for competent fire safety practitioners.

The first accreditation scheme is expected to become operational from April 2020 and when this occurs, a building owner will be able to select a competent fire safety practitioner from a register of accredited practitioners (if that practitioner is required to be accredited). Further information about the accreditation schemes can be found on the ‘Fire safety practitioners’ page of the NSW Fair Trading website.

Until the accreditation scheme commences, or if a practitioner is of a class of persons that is not required to be accredited, it is the responsibility of the building owner to determine and document that a person is a competent fire safety practitioner (clause 167A(4)(b) of the Regulation). The Department has developed guidance material to assist building owners in this process. The guide Selecting a competent fire safety practitioner – A guide for building owners who must issue annual fire safety statements is available on the ‘Fire safety’ page of the Department’s website.

Can a fire safety statement be 'issued' by a competent fire safety practitioner?

The role of the competent fire safety practitioner is to assess, inspect and verify the performance of each fire safety measure and inspect the fire exit systems of buildings. Competent fire safety practitioners must also endorse the statement to this effect. 

The Regulation allows an agent to issue the fire safety statement on behalf of the building owner. However, the person who issues the statement by completing the declaration in section 8 or 9 of the fire safety statement form must not be a competent fire safety practitioner who was involved in the assessment of any of the measures or the inspection of the building for the purposes of the statement. This recognises the different roles and responsibilities for building owner(s) and CFSPs in the fire safety statement process. It also ensures building owners remain directly engaged in the fire safety statement process.

Find out more, including the new annual statement template and supporting guidelines on the NSW Department of Planning and Environment website .