Fire Safety

Building owners of all commercial, industrial, multi-residential, retail and industrial premises have an obligation under the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 to submit an Annual Fire Safety Statement to both Council and Fire & Rescue NSW every year.

It is the building owner's responsibility to ensure that:

• All fire safety measures are inspected by an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) to ensure measures are being maintained to the relevant Australian standard. Visit the NSW Planning and Environment website for guidelines
• Annual Fire Safety Statements (AFSS) are to be displayed in a clearly visible and prominent position inside the building such as a lobby/foyer area; and
• All exit doors are to be kept in good working condition, and corridors or other paths of travel are to be kept clear of any obstructions

This is an important process to ensure buildings are as safe as possible for occupants in the event of a fire and aim to prevent the spread of fire to save property and lives.

Council’s fire safety program will help building owners to meet their statutory obligations by:

• Reminding building owners of their responsibilities
• Assessing submitted statements and
• Following up with appropriate compliance action when the obligations of building owners have not been met

For more information on Fire Safety Statements view:

Fire Safety Statements FAQs - Department of Planning & Environment

Home fire safety and smoke alarms

For more information about fire safety in your home visit:

Fire & Rescue NSW

There must be one Annual Fire Safety Statement submitted per building on the property regardless of if you only have one Fire Safety Schedule for all or some of the buildings. The Annual Fire Safety Statement for each building must clearly identify which Essential Fire Safety Measures apply to each building.

All fire safety measures listed on the Fire Safety Schedule (including egress paths and exits) must always be maintained - even if the building is vacant. Maintaining the fire safety measures and undertaking routine maintenance will improve safety and access for all buildings, including vacant ones.

Who can assess and inspect my essential fire safety measures for my Annual Fire Safety Statement?

Only an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) can sign off on the assessment and inspection of the essential fire safety measures for the Annual Fire Safety Statement.

What is an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety)?

Suitably qualified fire contractors are referred to as an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety).

An Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) is a person that undertakes certain specialist fire safety assessment functions required by the Regulation.

Their accreditation must be current to complete the Annual Fire Safety Statement.

How do I find an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety)?

Each individual Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) has their own accreditation number.

To find a local Accredited Practioner (Fire Safety) and ensure their accreditation is current search:

Fire Protection Association Australia (FPAA) website

An Annual Fire Safety Statement is a statement issued by or on behalf of the owner of a building to ensure that each essential fire safety measure specified in the statement, has been assessed by an accredited practitioner (fire safety) and when it was assessed, it was capable of performing to a standard specified in the Fire Safety Schedule.

In the case where an essential fire safety measure is applicable in any other way (other than by virtue of a fire safety schedule), it must be maintained to a standard no less than that to which the measure was originally designed and implemented.

• An Annual Fire Safety Statement must be submitted within 12 months after the date on which the previous statement or the Final Fire Safety Certificate was given
• The Annual Statement must be issued to both Council and Fire and Rescue NSW within 3 months of the date of inspection and assessment
• The Annual Fire Safety Statement is deemed to have been accepted on the date it is received by Council and the renewal date annually will reflect as such.

The preparation and submission of an Annual Fire Safety Statement is mandatory for all buildings other than:

• A class 1a or 10 building (standard residential dwelling houses and domestic garages) or
• A temporary structure

Download and complete the Annual Fire Safety Statement Form.

Submission of Annual Fire Safety Statement and Fire Safety Schedule

A fire safety measure is any measure (including any equipment, form of construction or fire safety management plans) that is installed or is proposed to be installed in a building to ensure the safety of persons using the building in the event of fire.

Some examples of essential fire safety measures are:

• Exit signs
• Portable fire extinguishers
• Smoke alarms
• Fire hydrants
• Evacuation plans
• Emergency lighting
• Fire hose reel systems etc.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 identifies that is the responsibility of the building owner to maintain all essential fire safety measures installed in the building premises.

Certain fire safety measures require more regular maintenance and must be inspected more frequently than once a year (e.g. 6 monthly inspections) in order to meet the requirements for the Annual Statement to be issued.

Under the provisions of the Regulations, it is the building owner’s responsibility to ensure:

• the annual fire safety statement is submitted to Council
• a copy of the annual statement is given to the Commissioner of Fire & Rescue NSW and
• a copy of the Annual Statement is prominently displayed in the building.

The current Fire Safety Schedule for the building premises is also required to be submitted with the Annual Statement as well as being displayed prominently alongside the Annual Statement within the building.

Do I need to pay to submit my Annual Fire Safety Statement?

Administering the Fire Safety Program incurs significant costs for Council. As these requirements only apply to buildings with fire safety measures, it is appropriate to recover these costs from the owners of affected buildings.

Council has therefore adopted a set of fees associated with Annual Fire Safety Statement submissions. These fees enable us to recover some of the costs associated with the program.

View Council’s fees and charges.

The Annual Fire Safety Statement must be submitted within 3 months of the inspection/assessment of the essential fire safety measures.

For this reason, it is important to ensure that you are aware of the due date for submission of the statement to Council.

Procedures should be put in place to have the required assessment and inspection, and any required repairs, carried out within this three (3) month period.

The choice of person to carry out the assessment or inspection is up to the owner of the building. Council is unable to provide recommendations on service providers.

Whomever carries out the inspection/assessment must ensure that they inspect and verify the performance of all fire safety measures within each building on the property.

No.

Only one annual fire safety statement, listing all installed fire safety measures, is to be submitted to Council, Fire and Rescue NSW and prominently displayed in the building.

It is advisable to retain all statements and certificates issued by your service provider as proof of inspection.

In the event that the Annual Statement is not submitted by the due date (or any agreed amended due date), that is a breech of the Act and constitutes an offence.

In addition, failure to give Council an annual fire safety statement constitutes a separate offence for each week beyond the due date for which the failure continues.

Given the serious nature of non-compliance with fire safety requirements, substantial penalties apply for any failure to comply as provided for in the EP&A Act 1979.

Proceedings for such an offence may be taken before a Local Court where a maximum fine of $110,000 may be imposed, or Council may issue Penalty Notices which range from:

• $1,000 for the first week of the offence
• $2,000 for the second week of the offence
• $3,000 for the third week of the offence
• $4,000 per week for the fourth and subsequent weeks of the offence

An incomplete statement may still attract at least a $1,000 Penalty Notice and failure to maintain an essential fire safety measure may attract an additional $6,000 Penalty Notice.

The Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 does not contain provisions for extensions of time, however Council may grant small extensions of time in certain circumstances.

An Extension of Time Request should ONLY be submitted when there is a legitimate unanticipated event that prevents the AFSS being submitted by the due date.

When applying for an extension of time it is critical that:

• The request is submitted ideally greater than 3 weeks ahead of the due date or as soon as you are aware of a legitimate unanticipated event
• The application is supported with enough evidence to demonstrate that a legitimate unanticipated event has occurred i.e. copies of quotes, defect reports, e-mails from your service provider and the contact details of the service provider engaged

Request an extension

Requests for an extension of time to submit the statement can be made online by submitting an email to council@hawkesbury.nsw.gov.au. Information as to the reason (e.g. unanticipated repair work) and the anticipated completion date must be included in the email.