From 13 February 2025, New South Wales will implement significant changes to fire safety regulations through the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Amendment (Fire Safety) Regulation 2021. Here’s what these changes mean for your strata building.
Key Changes at a Glance
The new regulations introduce mandatory adoption of Australian Standard AS1851-2012, bringing substantial changes to how fire safety systems must be maintained and documented in strata buildings.
What is AS1851-2012
AS1851-2012 are the Australian Testing Standards for Fire Safety, it involves the routine servicing of fire protection systems and equipment. It also ensures all equipment is performing to their approved design standards.
There are four key stages of AS1851 that owners should be aware of:
- The design and installation of fire systems and equipment.
- The requirement to inspect, test, and perform preventative maintenance on these systems.
- Conducting a survey of the building to assess its condition.
- Providing an annual condition report and, if necessary, an Annual Fire Safety Statement (AFSS).
Why is the legislation changing?
These legislative updates are a response to critical safety issues identified in the 2018 Building Confidence Report, which found fire defects to be a major concern and the catastrophic events like the Grenfell Tower Fire in the UK and the Lacrosse Tower Fire in Melbourne.
The changes aim to enhance safety in strata buildings, reduce defects and associated costs by mandating rigorous testing and maintenance standards and ensure a safer built environment while minimising long-term expenses.
Building on amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021, the new laws seek to address life safety risks, property damage, and fire safety defects.
What Will Be Changing?
1. Mandatory AS1851 Compliance
Owners’ corporations must now adhere to Australian Standard 1851-2012 (AS1851) for routine fire system maintenance unless an alternative performance solution exists as designed by a Fire Engineer and approved for the building.
Currently Australian testing standards are a best practice method; however this was gazetted in 2022 and was in transition to come into full effect in February 2025. All items in the standards will be law and need to be adhered to.
AS1851 significantly increases the rigor and frequency of fire safety system maintenance and inspections compared to current requirements. The new standard implements a more systematic, documented approach to ensure ongoing system reliability and performance.
In order to ensure safety and compliance with the regulations, Owners Corporations need to work with Strata Management to ensure adequate time and budget allowances for additional and more in-depth testing, record keeping and the potential for major works to bring and keep fire systems up to standard.
Key differences include:
- More frequent and detailed inspections
- Enhanced documentation requirements
- Specific testing protocols for each system
- Stricter personnel qualifications
- Comprehensive performance monitoring
2. Record-Keeping Requirements
Owners Corporations must retain and store fire safety records onsite for at least seven years. These include maintenance logs, manuals, and test sheets from fire safety service providers. Digital record-keeping options are being considered to keep things easier to manage, stay tuned for information on this front.
3. Focus on Passive Fire Safety
Greater enforcement of passive fire measures (e.g. fire seals, dampers, doors) requires creating and maintaining Passive Fire Registers. This may mean site visits and / or an initial inspection required to document what the building may have if records are not complete.
4. Legal and Financial Risks
- Non-compliance penalties can reach $66,000 per offence.
- Owners Corporations are encouraged to review agreements with their Fire Safety providers, examining liability clauses to minimise risk and cost to itself.
- Insurance claims could be impacted if events occur, and systems are not repaired and maintained in accordance with Australian Standards.
Your Insurance Broker could provide specific advice to your building if required.
What we will be doing to help owners navigate these changes:
There are several things we will be doing to assist you meet these new requirements:
1. Educating Owners Corporations
We will be providing regular updates via newsletters like these and when required, hold webinars or workshops to help owners understand their obligations under AS1851.
2. Reviewing and Updating Contracts
Our team will assist Owners Corporations in reviewing contracts with fire safety service providers to ensure the contractual schedule is in line with the expectations of AS1851 and the relevant fire safety systems in the building.
We can also help owners engage reliable and qualified contractors for inspections and maintenance.
Should questions arise around legality of certain clauses or limitations in a contract, we can also help liaise with relevant legal services to provide Owners Corporations the appropriate advice.
3. Facilitating Record-Keeping
All fire safety records for your building facilitated by us will be uploaded and stored on My Portal. We will also work with owners’ corporations to set up secure systems for maintaining and storing fire safety records.
4. Assisting with Passive Fire Compliance
Passive fire compliance ensures that a building’s fire-resistant features, like fire-rated walls, doors, and intumescent coatings, are correctly designed, installed, and maintained to contain fire and smoke, such as sealing gaps around pipes to prevent spread or installing fire doors for safe evacuation.
To address the stricter requirements for passive fire safety, we’ll work with passive fire specialists to conduct inspections / audits and create Passive Fire Registers.
We will also be work with stakeholders to streamline defect resolution and reduce any associated costs that may occur.
5. Budgeting and Financial Planning
From our internal education, our team will also assist you by:
- Ensuring annual budgets are appropriately allocated to provide sufficient contributions to the Administrative and Capital Works Funds for anticipated changes and essential projects.
- Conducting gap analyses to identify missing elements in current contracts.
- Actively ensure Fire safety activity, insurance claims and other insurance related activities are monitored and managed to help reduce risk and cost to the owners corporation.
6. Managing Inspections and Maintenance
We have processes in place to ensure early coordination and regular inspections with accredited Fire Safety practitioners to identify potential issues before penalties arise and oversee major servicing requirements, such as sprinkler testing and hydrostatic pressure tests.
What Will Your Strata Manager be doing to help you?
Our strata managers will play a pivotal role in helping your building comply with the new fire safety standards by doing the following:
1. Ensure Compliance:
- Take reasonable steps to maintain compliance with AS1851.
- Monitor testing schedules and ensure timely completion of inspections.
2. Oversee Record-Keeping:
- Maintain records onsite or digitally in line with the new requirements.
- Assist owners in retrieving documentation and baseline data.
3. Coordinate Contractors:
- Help secure qualified fire safety professionals for inspections and maintenance.
- Review contractor agreements to ensure listed activities are in line with AS1851 expectations and liaise with contractual experts should needs arise.
4. Advocate for Owners:
- Work with councils and regulators to address unique challenges faced by buildings affected by age, availability of appropriate fire safety systems, etc.
- Engage passive fire specialists to resolve defects efficiently.
What Should Owners Corporations Do Now?
- Stay informed and calm
Familiarise yourself with the legislative changes by reading all communication from us. Keep in mind there will still be changes and clarifications made in the industry as we get closer to the time. Items such as digital record keeping are still being tweaked. - Start Early:
Work closely with your strata management team to commence inspections and maintenance planning now to avoid penalties when the new regulations take effect.
- Review Budgets:
In upcoming meetings and discussions with your Strata Manager, ensure adequate budgets and funding for these changes and enhanced requirements for compliance
We’re dedicated to making this transition as seamless and safe as possible. With our proactive approach and strong industry knowledge, we’ll help your building meet the new fire safety standards while minimising costs and disruptions.
If you have any questions or need assistance, please reach out to your strata manager. Together, we can build a safer future for you and your community.