Unmaintained fire dampers: Who is responsible?

By admin,

Our Annual Fire Safety Statement for the last 8 years has been completed by one approved service provider. Recently our air conditioning service providers advised the dampers were not being checked. Our strata manager said it was not listed on the foundation Fire Safety Schedule (from 1993) and therefore not subject to annual assessment.

We are now facing a charge of $570,000 to repair 190 dampers.

I believe the fire pathway should have been checked as part of the annual fire inspection.

Is this "negligence" and can it be claimed under our insurance policies for

Are fire contractors liable for missed AFSS issues?

By admin,

The building was turned into a Strata complex over 20 years ago. We have been using the same fire company for many years. They have passed off and issued our AFSS every year on our 4-unit building with a few minimal repairs carried out to see our building complies.

This year they stated that the following items need to be actioned:

Who can sign sections 8 and 9 of a fire safety certificate?

By admin,

We are a complex of 3 townhouses with minimal fire safety requirements. We employed an FPAS Accredited Practitioner to complete the Annual Fire Certificate and the chairperson owner signed sections 8 and 9 accordingly. However, at our AGM, our Strata Manager said that we are not qualified to sign and that we need to employ a specialist Fire Engineer to check the work was done correctly and sign sections 8 and 9 accordingly.

Apart from the additional cost, it seems illogical to employ an accredited contractor and then employ someone to check their work. Is this correct?

Will 2025 legislation require fire hydrant system upgrades?

By admin,

Our building fire hydrant system was installed in the late 1980s to AS 2419.1 -1988, Ministerial Specification 10 and BCA 1990 E1.3. We have been testing the system every five years to meet the performance standards in place when the building was strata subdivided.

We’ve heard that new legislation is coming into effect on 13 February 2025 regarding the standard of testing. Will we be required to upgrade our fire hydrant system to meet the higher testing requirements of the new legislation, or will our current performance testing standard be enough?

Are fire extinguishers required on every stairwell level?

By admin,

We live in a three-storey, 12-unit apartment building. There are no elevators.

We submit our fire safety statement each year. Last year, we replaced the fire doors in every apartment. This year, we've been instructed to install fire extinguishers in the stairwells on each level, where none currently exist. There is a fire hose in the complex. Have there been recent changes to the regulations requiring fire extinguishers on every floor of a stairwell?

What does a body corporate secretary actually do?

By admin,

I was excited to be voted in as our Body Corporate Committee secretary only to find I do nothing. I don’t get the correspondence, I don’t even get to read it, I don’t do minutes. Nothing. Is this right?

If the Body Corporate Manager does it all then why is there a need for the committee to have a secretary position at all? If this is the case with all normal committees, why isn’t the Body Corporate Manager automatically the secretary instead of someone holding a title with no job?

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