Fire Safety Section

The Fire Safety Section plays a major role in the ACT Fire Brigade's fire prevention strategy.

The Section carries out its function principally as a Regulatory Authority prescribed in the ACT Building Regulations 1998 (As Amended), in the field of commercial building developments and alterations. As such it is a distinct and specialised section within the ACTFB. More recently it has become increasingly involved in consultancy roles for the fire protection industry and the operational component of the ACTFB.

The Fire Safety Section has issued a number of policy statements covering aspects of fire safety, and coordinates the Road Awareness and Accident Prevention program.

History of the Fire Safety Section
The foundation for the Fire Safety Section was laid in 1968 when an informal agreement was reached between the ACTFB and the ACT Building Controller. This arrangement was due to ACTFB's concerns that the design of many of the commercial buildings being developed were not catering to the specific needs of the ACTFB.

From 1968 until January 4 1999 the Fire Safety Section was a 'Recommending Authority' to the ACT Building Controller. As a Recommending Authority, it had no legislative basis and was consulted largely as a result of the goodwill between itself and the ACT Building Industry, Fire Protection Industry and ACT Building, Electrical and Plumbing Control (BEPCON – ACT Building Controller).

As the Fire Safety Section evolved and developed, it assumed a variety of secondary functions that are still undertaken today and concurrent with its principle role as a Regulatory Authority. As a result of the amended ACT Building Regulations 1998 which took effect on January 4 1999, BEPCON's role for surveying and certifying all residential and commercial buildings in the ACT for Certificates of Occupancy (and more recently Certificates of Regularisations for existing Commonwealth buildings) was privatised. Along with the privatisation of Building Certifiers, the amended regulations transformed the Fire Safety Section from a Recommending Authority to a Regulatory Authority with full legislative powers and functions.

Any building proponent of a building with a floor area in excess of 500 square metres, or which includes an engineered alternative solution to the prescriptive requirements of the Performance-Based Building Code of Australia 1996, is required to consult the Fire Safety Section prior to the issuing of a Building Approval. Further to this and prior to being occupied, the building owner is to obtain a favorable Fire Safety Clearance Certificate.

The Future of The Fire Safety Section
The Fire Safety Section will become increasingly involved in:

• Fire cause investigation;
• The assessment of fire engineered performance-based designs (Alternative Solution Reports);
• Essential services maintenance/post occupancy fire safety audits and inspections as facilitated under the proposed Fire and Rescue Service Act; and
• The training of operational firefighters in Fire Safety, and
  assistance at large fires.

It is envisaged that due to these new roles, the Fire Safety Section will need to be expanded with the introduction of more officers.