One of our Directors, Sam, was recently engaged as an expert witness to investigate an insurance claim made by a building owner / occupier. The liner in one of the site’s water tanks was damaged and the owner / occupier had engaged a contractor to repair it. After attending site and reviewing the claim, it became obvious that the contractor that repaired the liner did not hold the licences required to maintain or clean fire tanks.
Unfortunately for the owner / occupier, the insurer therefore refused to accept the claim and left the owner / occupier more than $500,000 out of pocket. Under the current legislation, the improperly licenced contractor got away with little more than a slap on the wrist. This is obviously not fair on the building owner / occupier who thought they had engaged an appropriate professional.
Scenarios like this one are far too common. Building owners and managers often do not realise they have engaged improperly licenced contractors to maintain their fire system until it is too late. To protect yourself from this type of risk, you must ensure that your contractors hold the relevant licences.
Sam Hannant is a licensed plumber who has specialised in fire services for around 15 years. His passion for the fire industry and community safety are demonstrated by his industry involvement as a Councillor on the Master Plumbers’ Association of Queensland (“MPAQ”), a member of the MPAQ and QBCC Fire Committees and as the Master Plumbers’ Australia representative on four Australian Standards committees relating to fire, including tanks.
Sam’s brother Israel Hannant is an experienced commercial diver who is also passionate about diving, compliance and safety standards. Israel is a Level 3 commercial diver as well as a qualified dive medic technician. He has been working exclusively as a commercial diver for 5 years and his experience includes work in tanks, reservoirs, dams, rivers and seaways.
At FTA, we inspect, clean and maintain potable tanks, fire tanks, reservoirs and other waterways in accordance with the relevant standards and legislative requirements. In doing so, we hope to protect our clients from liability (such as the unfortunate situation above) and maintain community safety.
Act now and call us before it is too late!
