This article discusses whether quarterly ventilation maintenance is required for AFSS and why practitioners may insist on it.
Question: Is quarterly maintenance of the garage ventilation system a requirement for a fire certificate?
Can a fire certification can only be given if quarterly maintenance of the garage ventilation system is paid? As an owner and a member of the OC, we have not previously encountered this.
We have met all the other fire requirements. Our block of 24 units was built in Sept 2005 and has very good compliance.
Answer: The current Australian Standard for maintenance of Fire Protection requires that ventilation systems be maintained (tested) quarterly, but this standard is not directly legislated.
Challenging to answer without full context.
NSW Regulations require Owners of Strata Buildings to maintain the building and assets, but it doesn’t specify details on how or what standard to use.
The current Australian Standard for maintenance of Fire Protection is AS1851-2012 and it requires in Section 13 that ventilation systems be maintained (tested) quarterly, but this standard is not directly legislated.
The Annual Fire Safety Statement – AFSS (which we assume the owner is referring to by ‘certification’) is not directly related to maintenance, but is based on whether the system performs or does not perform when assessed by an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) – APFS.
There may not be direct legislative connections between maintenance, the Australian Standard and the AFSS (it’s coming soon though!), but for a system to be assessed as performing for the AFSS, an APFS will use the testing records as part of their evidence underpinning the assessment.
The conclusion (as an APFS myself) supported is:
- The owners are obligated to maintain the building & services;
- The only standard they could realistically choose for maintenance is AS1851-2012;
- AS1851-2012 requires quarterly testing.
- The APFS must assess performance in-person and using the evidence available – including testing results.
- The APFS is within their rights to request this as part of their assessment because they may be risking their accreditation by endorsing a measure knowing it is not being maintained throughout the year in accordance with AS1851-2012.
It may realistically be argued the other way if the system can perform at the annual assessment, but this would be against the legal intent of the requirement to maintain and therefore I would hope it would not be supported by the majority of practitioners.
This post appears in Strata News #555.
Rob Broadhead
2020 Fire Protection
E: rob.broadhead@2020fire.com.au
P: 1300 340 210
Leave a Reply