Education is key!
There is a large regulatory framework surrounding the fire protection industry including legislation, regulations, building codes and Australian Standards.
Section 104D of the Fire and Emergency Services Act 1990 (Qld) provides that the occupier of a building must maintain at all times every prescribed fire safety installation to a standard of safety and reliability in the event of a fire. Penalties for non-compliance for building owners / occupiers can include fines of up to $322,600 or 3 years in prison (as at July 2024). This seems incredibly unfair, especially in circumstances where the penalty for a contractor who does non-compliant work is less than $5,000.
Building owners must also ensure that they engage properly licensed contractors to perform maintenance on their fire protection system. For example, AS1851 provides that inspecting and testing water tanks for fire safety systems is classified as plumbing works and must be completed by a licensed plumber. However, many tank contractors do not hold a plumbing licence. Using improperly licensed contractors can lead to a breach of an owner / occupier’s obligations under the abovementioned legislation and can void insurances in the event of a fire or system failure because the system has not been properly maintained.
In our view, there is a serious lack of information available for building owners / occupiers to understand their fire protection obligations and education is key to a solution.
