Fire Safety Practitioners fulfils the demand for Fire safety accredited practitioner

The NSW Government has approved the Fire Protection Association (FPA) of Australia for the Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS) being effective from July 1, 2020. This is vital news for the fire protection industry as only those that are endorsed as Fire Safety Accredited Practitioner are now authorized to undertake required Fire Safety Assessments under the Building and Development Certifiers Act and Regulation in NSW.

Fire Safety Practitioners has worked actively to make sure various staff are certified and hold the necessary Fire System design statement accredited by the NSW government. To fulfil the rigorous requirements of this statement, people should display they have the necessary knowledge, skill, and experience to carry out the role of an accredited practitioner in fire safety assessment. They should also hold the ideal insurance and agree to adhere to the FPA Australia Code of Professional Conduct.

People should also undertake an assessment of the performance abilities of up to 36 Fire Safety Measures (FSM) for the purpose of finishing the assessment of a building, and to finish the relevant sections of the approved annual fire safety statement form.

What this implies for annual building certification                     

A Fire Safety Accredited Practitioner should meet the aspects of Part 9 Division 5 of the EPA regulation to:

·         Recognize the standard performance to which FSM should work and perform

·         Ascertain that FSM is working and performing as necessary to make sure there is no offence according to the regulation

·         Finish the approved Annual Fire System design statement for supplementary or annual fire safety statements.

Additional Information

FPA Australia has many online resources comprising of accredited pathways, and a comprehensive description of the Fire Safety Assessment role validated through the FPAS accreditation procedure.

The Australian Government takes the safety of a building very seriously and implements compulsory fire safety regulations that will make sure that fire equipment systems and equipment are regularly inspected and maintained so they will perform as necessary in case of an emergency. Equipment and systems like sprinklers, fire extinguishers and emergency warning systems should be maintained according to the Australian Standard AS1851, Routine Service of Fire Protection Systems, which is a set of rules, safety standards and regulations that building owners should meet. Nonetheless, these standards don’t outline how the maintenance and testing should be reported, or its frequency. Responsibility for compliance towards fire safety falls directly on the owners of the building and the amenity managers, in spite of the fact that there is no standard national approach. The legislation in every Australian State has different requirements which can make handling fire safety compliance for the national property portfolios an intricate undertaking. The complexities for failing  to meet the building fire safety compliance can be severe as regardless there is a current lease going on or not, if the building is not fire compliant, occupancy might be denied and the property owner might have to suffer for that. Inferior fire protection system can eventually jeopardise the lives of the people and hence it is vital for the property owners and the amenity managers to realize what is necessary from them at every location.