Building owners (and Owners Corporations) are required in Building Regulations 2018 to ensure that all essential safety measures for your building are inspected, tested and maintained by your fire service contractors in accordance with requirements detailed in Australian Standard 1815-2012. This is evidenced by the requirement for Owners to sign an Annual Essential Safety Measures Report (AESMR) in Victoria, and Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS) in NSW, a Form 3 in SA and an Occupiers Statement in Qld, declaring the safety measures have been maintained and are operational.

The reason a building owner / manager appoints an auditor is because they do not feel confident that they understand the regulatory obligations to be able to confidently sign the Annual report, and they do not feel comfortable having the fire service provider sign it for them. The risk, they recognised, is that having the service provider audit their own work leaves the Owner / OC (and manager) vulnerable to the possibility that the provider has unwittingly made an error that might have, worst case, life safety consequences, best case building notices and fines issued for non-compliance, when this could have been avoided had a third party been used to check their work.

Yes. The role of the auditor however is not just to monitor safety. They are also able to support owners in the validation of the need for defect repairs, and to monitor the costs being charged by your fire service providers to make sure the charges are competitive and realistic. We anticipate that over the life of the relationship, your auditor will in fact save you considerably more than the cost of the audit.

Yes, the OC will receive a full ESM Audit report assessing all ESM items listed in the Occupancy Permit. As part of this report you will also receive a Safety Action Plan (SAP) identifying and detailing any defects and servicing shortfalls with proposed solutions necessary for rectification. This plan is prioritised so that you can easily identify the work required that might be standing in the way of us signing the Annual Essential Safety Measures Report on your behalf. We can also assist you and your manager to work through this list and arrange rectifications works at no extra cost should this be of benefit.

Yes. By employing an auditor to monitor your Essential Safety Measures you gain the following positive impacts:

1. Comfort that your Fire Service Provider (Linkfire) is doing a great job at competitive rates
2. Comfort that defects identified by the service providers are actual defects and the priority for their rectification is realistic
3. Comfort that your building meets the regulatory requirements for Essential Safety Measures, reducing the possibility of your receiving infringement notices and fines from local council for omitted maintenance and unexpected defects found during surprise council or Fire Rescue Victoria inspections
4. An extra pair of hands to assist with the chasing up of any defect rectifications including tendering of larger defect works

The building surveyor who issues the building permit carries out building inspections and issues an occupancy permit or a certificate of final inspection (as applicable) on completion of your building work. You need an occupancy permit before a building can be occupied if the building permit states that one is required. Building work for a new home (including units or apartments) will always require an occupancy permit to be issued. It is an offence to occupy a new home that does not have an occupancy permit. Occupancy permits also play an important role in establishing the start date for builders’ warrantees and, often, when the builder gets final payment. They are only issued when the building work is complete. If you’re unsure of what Essential Safety Measures are required to be maintained in your building, contact us on +61 3 9854 7300. Focus Audits Solutions and Engineering(FASE) can arrange a site inspection to identify what is required to be maintained, and provide a detailed quotation.

Fire Engineering Report(FER) is a document that describes the design principles and performance solutions for a building with regard to fire safety. The FER is used by all stakeholders throughout the planning, design, product & finish selection, construction & installation methods, commissioning, functional testing and ongoing maintenance of both passive and active fire safety strategies employed within the building. In the FER, it will also be outlined that should there be any changes to the building such as a change in use or layout, the FER will need to be reviewed and its validity confirmed by an accredited Fire Safety Engineer.

Australian Standards require all fire equipment gets serviced at regular intervals set by the Australian Standards. Fire equipment needs to be maintained by accredited service providers to ensure if the need arises, the equipment will be ready for use. Having these services completed at the correct intervals and repairing any defects confirms you are meeting your requirements.

When the construction of a Class 2-9 building is complete, owners are responsible for ensuring that its safety features are maintained regularly. The building’s Certificate of Occupancy outlines which ESMs require maintenance, including the frequency and detail of servicing.

Referenced initially in Australian Standard AS 1851:2012 a critical defect is a form of defect or fault that renders a system or item of equipment inoperative or is likely to render the system or item of equipment inoperative placing a one or more people at significant risk (death or injury) or an asset (or building) at significant risk (loss or damage) of from fire or related emergency. Australian Standard AS 1851 introduced the terms non-conformance, non-critical defect and critical defect in the 2012 edition of the Standard.

An emergency plan is a written set of instructions that outlines what workers and others at the workplace should do in an emergency. An emergency plan specifies procedures for handling sudden or unexpected situations. The objective is to be prepared to prevent fatalities and injuries. Reduce damage to buildings, stock, and equipment. An emergency plan must provide for the following:

• Emergency procedures, including: − an effective response to an emergency − evacuation procedures − notifying emergency service organisations at the earliest opportunity − medical treatment and assistance, and − effective communication between the person authorised to coordinate the emergency response and all people at the workplace.
• Testing of the emergency procedures—including the frequency of testing, and information, training and instruction to relevant workers in relation to implementing the emergency procedures.

A block plan is a type of document and form of baseline data set out in a number of Australian Standards such as AS 1670, AS 2118 and AS 2419 to provide information to first responders, building owners, managers and maintenance providers to communicate important aspects of the design, operation and location of fire safety measures, systems and equipment in buildings. A block plan is typically A3 (297mm x 420mm) or greater in size so as to effectively communicate its contents and the fire safety features of a building. A block shall be suitably protected so they remain legible and resist deterioration from ongoing handling and use. Bock plans are generally either a Sprinkler Block Plan or a Hydrant System Block Plan.