Competent Fire Safety Professionals
Building fire safety compliance made simple
Looking for a Competent Fire Safety Practitioner?
At Competent Fire Safety Professionals, we take the stress out of preparing for your Annual Fire Safety Statement.
Our team of qualified and experienced Competent Fire Safety Practitioners, now known as Accredited Practitioners (Fire Safety), are here to guide you every step of the way, so you can rest assured that your building is safe and compliant with the latest NSW fire safety regulations.
From our detailed on-site inspections, clear and easy to understand reporting and personal preparation of your Annual Fire Safety Statement, you’re in expert hands with Competent Fire Safety Professionals.
Experts in Fire Safety
Our team of Accredited Practitioners are highly qualified and experienced, having worked on high profile fire installations and service contracts for over 15 years.
Areas We Service
Competent Fire Safety Professionals is based in Ballina in Northern NSW and services the entire Northern Rivers, from Coffs Harbour in the south to Tweed Heads in the north.
We provide Competent Fire Safety Practitioner services to the following areas:
Alstonville | Ballina | Bangalow | Banora Point | Bellingen | Bexhill | Bogangar | Bonalbo | Broadwater | Brunswick Heads | Byron Bay | Cabarita Beach | Casaurina | Casino | Chinderah | Clunes | Coffs Harbour | Coraki | Corindi Beach | Dunoon | Eltham | Evans Head | Ewingsdale | Federal | Goonellabah | Grafton | Junction Hill | Kingscliff | Kyogle | Lennox Head | Lismore | Maclean | Mallanganee | Modanville | Mullumbimby | Murwillumbah | Nashua | Nimbin | Ocean Shores | Port Macquarie | Pottsville | Skennars Head | Suffolk Park | Tabulam | Taree | Tamworth | Tenterfield | Tumbulgum | Tweed Heads | Urbenville | Wollongbar | Woodburn | Woolgoolga | Yamba
If you are located outside of our service area, feel free to contact us to see what is possible for your location.
A Trusted Local Service
Competent Fire Safety Professionals has been established by long term Northern Rivers locals who understand the strengths and challenges of doing business on the North Coast and know how to get the job done.
Frequently Asked Questions
As part of the construction of a building, a variety of Essential Fire Safety Measures are installed in order to comply with the Building Code of Australia. These may include a range of items such as fire extinguishers, fire hose reels, exit and emergency lighting, fire detection systems and fire sprinkler systems. The measures will be listed in the Fire Safety Schedule of the DA or Construction Certificate.
At the completion of building works, the building owner (or their agent) is required to submit a final Fire Safety Certificate to their local Council before an Occupation Certificate can be issued. This final fire safety certificate is a declaration that each of the specified essential fire safety measures listed in the Fire Safety Schedule have been installed and are capable of operating to their required performance standard.
In preparing this certificate, the building owner/owner’s agent obtains certification from the designers and installers of each safety measure that these standards have been met, for example, AS1670 for fire detection, AS2441 for hose reels, AS2118 for fire sprinklers.
Every twelve months after the building is completed the Environment Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 requires an Annual Fire Safety Statement be prepared and forwarded to Council, with a copy to the fire brigade and a further copy displayed in the building entry.
Under this new legislation, the Annual Fire Safety Statement must confirm that an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) (or multiple practitioners if required) has inspected the building, assessed the fire safety measures, and found that each of the measures is capable of performing to the relevant standard.
The Annual Fire Safety Statement can only be signed by the building owner or owner’s agent and not by anyone else.
Although Councils may or may not send reminder notices regarding statement submission, the onus is on the building owner to ensure this annual statement is submitted by the due date every year.
In late 2017, the NSW government introduced a raft of changes to legislation across the building professional industry, following investigations into a series of significant and high profile fire events in NSW buildings.
These reforms, now part of the Environment Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021, were introduced to ensure the compliance of fire safety in new and existing buildings across the state.
The most significant change under the new legislation is that many of the key phases of installing and maintaining a fire safety system, from planning, to construction, to ongoing yearly assessment, must all now be assessed and endorsed by an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety), (formerly Competent Fire Safety Practitioner) – a new role defining qualified and/or experienced practitioners who have expert skills in fire safety.
As of July 1 2020, building owners are required to enlist the services of a Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) – (APFS) to conduct an in-depth holistic assessment of the Essential Fire Safety Measures in their building, to ensure that the fire safety equipment meets the performance requirements of the initial installation. This requires a greater level of expertise and more rigorous assessment than routine fire safety inspection and testing.
Engaging an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) is now an essential part of submitting an Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS).
The Fire Protection Association of Australia (FPAA) has established a Government recognised accreditation scheme for Fire Safety Practitioners. It is now mandatory for an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) – APFS, (formerly known as Competent Fire Safety Practitioner – CFSP), to be accredited via this scheme as “Fire Safety Assessors” for the endorsement of Annual Fire Safety Statements.
The FPAA have drafted a set of duties for the role of a Fire Safety Assessor. According to the FPAA’s draft scope of work, it is the responsibility of an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) to:
- Determine the required standard of performance from the approved design (original approved documents, fire safety schedule, baseline data, or building manual where these are available).
- Review and compare with routine service records to identify if Essential Fire Safety Measures (EFSM) are capable of operating to the required standard of performance and if any non-conformances or defects have been rectified.
- Review and verify the specific system interface functionality and operation between EFSM required by Australian Standards, the National Construction Code or legislation in order to consider routine service records holistically.
- Conduct a visual inspection, or review a report of a visual inspection, undertaken to the degree necessary, to identify if an EFSM has been inappropriately altered or compromised by changes in the occupancy, environment or building in the last 12 months.
- Review and verify the performance test results obtained through AS 1851-2012 routine service or other routine service methodology, where AS 1851 does not apply.
- Inspect signage, means of egress, exits, exit doors and discharge from exits.
- Provide an assessment report to the owner detailing the assessment conducted, findings and recommendations.
- Provide a declaration that each Essential Fire Safety Measure has been assessed and when assessed was:
a) Capable of performing to the relevant standard of performance; or
b) Not capable of performing to the relevant standard of performance. - Endorse the assessment for the Annual or Supplementary Fire Safety Statement as per Section 88 of the EP&A Regulation.
Under the new legislation, the role of the Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) – APFS is specially designed to be an additional and more holistic check that encompasses more than your routine fire inspection, testing and maintenance.
The role of a fire service provider is to provide ongoing inspection and testing of Essential Fire Safety Measures to routine service standards. Building owners and/or tenants will usually receive statements in the form of a Yearly Condition Report. These activities form a part of what a APFS will consider in determining whether each fire safety measure is capable of performing adequately, however, in itself it does not provide the level of detail required under the new legislation to achieve APFS endorsement.
This is where the services of an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) are needed. The role of the APFS is to assess the safety of a building holistically and requires a level of investigation, training and expertise that is outside of the scope of standard fire service contracts. An APFS conducts a detailed assessment to ensure that the fire safety systems within a building have been installed, inspected, tested and maintained, and will function in accordance with the original performance standard.
In order to provide a quotation, we will need as a minimum:
- A copy of your fire safety schedule or Council annual fire safety statement request.
- A copy of any fire engineering assessment or report related to the building (if applicable).
Although Councils may or may not send reminder notices regarding Annual Fire Safety Statement submission, the onus is on the building owner to ensure the annual statement is submitted by the due date every year.
Some councils offer an Annual Fire Safety Statement reminder service, but it comes with a charge.
Competent Fire Safety Professionals can add your building to our annual scheduling free of charge, so not only will you not need to pay Council’s fee, but when the time comes we will automatically organise your next assessment inspection for you.
Provide a copy of the Council notice to Competent Fire Safety Professionals who will prepare a no obligation quote for their Fire Safety Assessor service for you.
If you haven’t already done so, arrange for a fire service provider to inspect and test your essential fire safety measures. These tests will usually be conducted in accordance with AS1851, Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment, AS2293.2, Emergency lighting and exit signs for buildings Routine service and maintenance or other appropriate inspection and testing methodologies.
Obtain from your fire service provider, a Yearly Condition Report, which is a summary report of the results of the inspection and tests completed, details any defects or non-conformances found and any actions undertaken to rectify these defects. This information will be required by your Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety).
From 1 July 2020, it is mandatory for all Accredited Practitioners (Fire Safety) to be accredited as “Fire Safety Assessors” under the Fire Protection Association of Australia (FPAA).
The FPAA have established a FPAS Fire Safety Assessment Accredited Practitioner Register on their website here, including Competent Fire Safety Professionals’ director Chris Honey.
It is important when choosing an APFS to ensure that the individual holds accreditation for each of the Essential Fire Safety Measures in the building. Whilst the APFS has a responsibility to act conscionably and not undertake activities that they are not accredited to do, the onus of responsibility for ensuring this remains with the building owner. The Essential Fire Safety Measures an individual holds accreditation for can be viewed by visiting the register and clicking the arrow next to the practitioner’s name.
Chris Honey holds unrestricted accreditation.
This is generally 12 months from the date of the Final Fire Safety Certificate. If this date is not known, approach your local Council for guidance.
The simple answer is no. Under NSW Regulation it is the building owner who must select an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) to inspect the building and endorse the Annual Fire Safety Statement. It also the building owner who must sign and submit the final statement to the relevant bodies.
Let Competent Fire Safety Professionals take the pain out of the annual fire safety statement process.
Call us today on 026624700702 6624 7007 or get a quote via our online form.
