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REQUIREMENTS FOR BUILDINGS TO HAVE A WRITTEN FIRE & EVACUATION PLAN

It has become apparent to me in my travels that there are a lot of businesses and unit blocks that don’t realise that they are required to have a written Fire & Evacuation plan (procedures manual) in place for their building/tenancy that they live or work in. The most common misunderstanding I have found is from small business owners responsible for ensuring their compliances are met. They are misunderstanding the terminology of the regulations. As they are not familiar with the Qld Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (QBFSR) they are mistaking the term ‘fire and evacuation plan’ for the evacuation diagrams that are also required to be displayed. They then produce and display the diagrams thinking they have covered their compliance obligations. Unfortunately, they are only half way there. Hopefully this blog will help to clear up these misunderstandings of the QBFSR 2008.

WHAT IS A FIRE AND EVACUATION PLAN?

A Fire and Evacuation Plan describes the procedures to be followed during a building/tenancy emergency. It should accurately describe the procedures to be taken by our Warden teams, occupants and visitors working in a building. All occupants working in a building/tenancy must understand these procedures and should have yearly training sessions to ensure all staff working in a building/tenancy know how to respond to an emergency. The Fire and Evacuation plan must be kept in a specific form with information included as described in the QBFSR 2008 Division 2 Subdivisions 1 & 2 and AS3745 ‘Planning for Emergencies in Facilities’ 2010, Sections 3 & 4. The plan is required to be reviewed every 12 months. Under AS3745 2010 ‘Planning for Emergencies in Facilities’, these procedures do not only apply for a fire emergency, but to any other type of emergency identified through a risk assessment carried out for that building/tenancy. This might include procedures to be followed during and following a bomb threat, hazardous material incident, active shooter or other terrorist threat. Only risks identified during the risk assessment should be included.

WHO IS REQUIRED TO HAVE A WRITTEN FIRE AND EVACUATION PLAN?

(Excerpts from the QBFSR 2008 sections 22 & 23)

Managing Entities: (Facility/Building Managers, Centre Managers)

(1) This section applies to the managing entity of a multi-occupancy building for keeping the fire and evacuation plan for the building under this subdivision.
(2) The managing entity must ensure the fire and evacuation plan takes into account the evacuation coordination procedures stated in the fire and evacuation plans for all parts of the building occupied by secondary occupiers.

 

Secondary Occupiers:(Each Tenancy within a multi-occupancy building)

(1) This section applies to the secondary occupier of a part of a multi-occupancy building for keeping the fire and evacuation plan for the part of the building under this subdivision.
(2) The occupier must ensure the fire and evacuation plan for the part of the building complements the evacuation coordination procedures under the fire and evacuation plan kept by the managing entity for the building.

WHAT TYPES OF BUILDINGS REQUIRE WRITTEN FIRE AND EVACUATION PLANS?

The Qld Building Fire Safety Regulation requires most buildings/tenancies in Qld to have a written Fire & Evacuation plan. Only Class 1a, Class 10a & Class 10b buildings are exempt from this regulation. Building classes are defined under the Building Codes of Australia. (see below which class your building/tenancy falls under)

Exempted classes include:

 

(Class 1a) A single dwelling being a detached house (residential house), or one or more attached dwellings, each being a building, separated by a fire-resisting wall, including a row house, terrace house, townhouse or villa unit. (Row houses & Terrace houses are similar to Town houses. Villa units are ground level units separated by a fire wall)
(Class 10a) A private garage, carport, shed or the like.
(Class 10b) A structure being a fence, mast, antenna, retaining or free standing wall, swimming pool or the like.
All below classes must have a written Fire and Evacuation plan to be compliant. It is important that you know where your building/tenancy fit in. These include:
(Class 1b) A boarding house, guest house, hostel or the like with a total area of all floors not exceeding 300m2, and where not more than 12 reside, and is not located above or below another dwelling or another Class of building other than a private garage.
(Class 2) A building containing 2 or more sole-occupancy units each being a separate dwelling. (A block of residential units)
(Class 3) A building, other than a Class 1 or 2 building, which is a common place of long term or transient living for a number of unrelated persons. Example: boarding-house, hostel, backpackers accommodation or residential part of a hotel, motel, boarding school or detention centre.
(Class 4) A dwelling in a building that is Class 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9 if it is the only dwelling in the building. (Stand alone business which occupies the whole building)
(Class 5) An office building used for professional or commercial purposes, excluding buildings of Class 6, 7, 8 or 9. (Typically, a multi-tenanted building)
(Class 6) A shop or other building for the sale of goods by retail or the supply of services direct to the public. (café, restaurant, kiosk, hairdressers, showroom or service station)
(Class 7a) A building which is a car park. (Public)
(Class 7b) A building which is for storage or display of goods or produce for sale by wholesale.
(Class 8) A laboratory, or a building in which a handicraft or process for the production, assembling, altering, repairing, packing, finishing or cleaning of goods or produce is carried on for trade, sale or gain.
(Class 9a) A health care building, including those parts of the building set aside as a laboratory.
(Class 9b) An assembly building, including a trade workshop, laboratory or the like, in a primary or secondary school, but excluding any other parts of the building that are of another class.
(Class 9c) An aged care building.

With over 15 years’ experience, Anderson Emergency Management Consulting specialises in developing Fire and Evacuation plans for all types and classes of buildings/tenancies. For further information, or if you would like me to visit your site to assess your compliance requirements, contact Tony Anderson:

Email: tony@andersonemc.com.au
Phone: 0400 589 790
Website: www.andersonemc.com.au