FIRE ASSESS® & CFSP® NDIBS®

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Reference

FAQ

At FIRE ASSESS, we've done our best to create a Web site that anticipates and satisfies our customers' needs. With that goal in mind, we've compiled a list of frequently asked questions. If you do not find an answer to your question here, contact us at 612-9594-4477 or ian@ndibs.com.au.

Building owners are required to submit Annual Fire Safety Statements attesting to the performance of their installed fire safety measures and that their chosen registered accredited practitioner (fire safety) has assessed and provided that endorsement attesting to performance for that particular fire safety measure.

  • under clause 175 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000, fire safety assessment must be carried out by an accredited practitioner (fire safety); 
  • according to section 52 of the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018, this makes it regulated work; 
  • section 53 of the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 says that a person must not carry out regulated work unless they hold an accreditation that authorises them to do so; 
  • A trade, contractor or builder’s license does not authorise the holder to do fire safety assessment - only FPAS FSA accreditation grants that authority; and 
  • the maximum penalty for an unaccredited person conducting fire safety assessment is $110,000 for a company or
    $33,000 for an individual

Anyone registered as an accredited practitioner fire safety is required to maintain public liability and professional risk (professional indemnity) insurances as well as workers compensation insurance. Such insurances are detailed in that register.

Just because someone has an accreditation number, doesn’t mean that they are accredited to assess a fire safety measure. the building owner should verify the assessor’s accreditations.

[QUESTION] Is FIRE ASSESS qualified by specialist qualifiers?
[ANSWER] Yes FIRE ASSESS is qualified by systems inclusive of  Avetta, Rapid Induct & Smartek, however, we shall include a levy as a line item on any invoice to any customer insisting on such systems, commensurate with our subscription fee

[QUESTION] How does FIRE ASSESS reference performance issues?
[ANSWER] FIRE ASSESS maintains a library of Australian Standards and Building Codes which is available to assessors to enable appropriate assessment.

[QUESTION] What happens when the assessment fails to achieve performance?
[ANSWER] For minor maintenance issues, the owner needs to commit to remedy promptly and provide evidence of that commitment. When remedied, the assessor must be provided with evidence of remediation .
If the issue is an installation defect whereby the installation has never conformed to the standard of installation, and it is not a life-safety issue, it is deemed as non-conforming and the responsibility is with the owner to ensure remediation prior to the next scheduled service (lack of tactical plan or procedure, etc). Should it remain uncorrected by the next assessment, it would be deemed as non-compliant and this would preclude it from being endorsed.
So it really must be remedied and restored to reflect the standard of installation.

[QUESTION] What about non-conformances that are not essential fire safety measures?
[ANSWER] We have a due-diligence requirement to identify any observable non-conformance, however, these non-essential fire safety measures would not preclude endorsement of the other measures on the AFSS.

[QUESTION] Can FIRE ASSESS act as assessor as well as Building Owner?
[ANSWER] Yes as long as our Director is nominated as the agent of the building owner, however, the assessment must be done and endorsed by another individual. The same person who acts as building owner cannot conduct the performance assessment for any fire safety measure.

[[QUESTION] Can FIRE ASSESS submit to the Council Regulator and NSWFR?
[ANSWER] Yes, we can submit the owner signed AFSS on the anniversary date to Council & NSWFR.

[[QUESTION] Can FIRE ASSESS mount the AFSS at site?
[ANSWER] Yes, however, this would incur an additional fee, so we suggest have the owner or managing agent do this