When the Qld Building Fire Safety Regulations came into effect in 2008, it became a requirement for all High Occupancy Tenancies/Buildings to either train a staff member to become a Fire Safety Adviser (FSA) or engage an external Fire Safety Adviser to ensure compliances under this legislation was implemented and maintained.
It’s important to note here that external Consultants who specialise in Emergency Management, also require a Qld Building Construction Commission (QBCC) licence in Emergency Procedures.
As with tradesman and other professionals, you should always ask to see that the Consultant has the appropriate qualifications and licences to conduct the work.
The reasoning behind the FSA certificate and QBCC licence was to eliminate the cowboys in the Emergency Management profession, of which there were many in the early days. Has this been achieved? Sadly, not completely.
Only last week, one of my prospective Clients in a large residential building (over 25 metres), (Body Corporate) voted to engage another business that quoted on this job, rather than my business, as I had recommended that they required evacuation diagrams in the lift foyers as this was the egress path to the fire stairs from their units. It was mentioned to me at the time of my review, that years before, another Consultant had said that diagrams were required in each of their units and as a result had diagrams placed in each permanent unit. (Good money for whoever it was that saw them coming. Only temporary accommodation units require diagrams in each unit.) Needless to say, the Consultant vying for my prospective Clients business advised them that they don’t require diagrams in the locations that I recommended as they had diagrams in their Units, leaving the Body Corporate in a precarious position with regards to their compliance.
The Consultant made this recommendation for one of two reasons that I can think of
All well and good for my competitor, but does leave one to question the credibility and or ethics of this Consultant making this recommendation and placing the Client in a non-compliant position.
At this point, you’re probably thinking I am just dirty for missing out on winning this business, damn right I was. Who wouldn’t be, when you are losing business to a Consultant with either no ethics or lack of understanding of the compliance requirements. Not to mention, leaving the Client in a vulnerable position.
After scratching my head and starting to question my own recommendation, I followed this up with a call to a QFES Safety Officer to ensure I had my facts straight. (without naming names, or the building in question)
There was no hesitation in the response from the Officer I spoke to. He said that I was quite correct in my assessment of the situation, as the egress path is from the front door of their unit to the fire stairs in the common area lift foyer. He also mentioned that a permanent residential unit is like a house. The QFES have no jurisdiction inside their unit, so they do not enforce diagrams in those units, unlike temporary accommodation units such as motel and hotel rooms. They can only enforce compliance to the common areas of a residential building.
Another important fact to understand, is that, at the end of the day, it is the Owner/Occupier (in this case, the Body Corporate) who is ultimately responsible for ensuring their compliance obligations are met, not the Fire Safety Adviser/Consultant. The Fire Safety Adviser is simply an adviser to the Body Corporate to give professional, expert advice to ensure the Body Corporate understands their compliance obligations.
I have since emailed my contact at this site with the recommendation that they forward my email, outlining my findings from QFES, to ensure the Body Corporate understand all the facts before engaging this questionable Consultant, as it could potentially cost them more money down the track. (including fines)
This is only one of many situations that occur commonly in my business of Emergency Management.
So how do you know that you have chosen the right person/business to look after your Emergency Management requirements? Unfortunately you don’t. It’s no different from choosing a Mechanic, Electrician or Plumber. It’s luck of the draw a lot of the time. But, as I mentioned above, remember to check their qualifications and experience.
I started my Consultancy business this year because I believe in ensuring my Clients have a holistic understanding and approach to their Emergency Management compliance obligations. It is not just the QBFSR 2008 that need to be taken into account. We also need to cross reference other legislation and standards supporting the Regulations such as: AS3745 2010 ‘Planning for Emergencies in Facilities’ WH&S Regulations 2011 (Code of Practice ‘Emergency Procedures”) Building Code of Australia which deals with various installation requirements in different buildings including egress path widths etc. AS1851 ‘Routine Service of Fire Protection Systems’ and other legislation which may be specific to various business’s such as mines or nursing homes etc.
If Clients engage my business (Anderson EMC) to conduct their Emergency Management compliance’s, my pledge to my Clients is that I will be straight up with you regarding the compliance’s that your building/tenancy requires. I don’t offer to redo your diagrams unless the diagrams already in place are Non-Compliant or Non-existent. Talks cheap, I know, but I have always prided myself on my professionalism and integrity. You will always receive one on one professional, legitimate advice and recommendations from beginning to end. If I am unsure of a compliance or situation, I will always research or use my professional contacts to ensure my final recommendations are well founded.
