NCC Section C Fire Resistance

The proposed or designed departures from the prescriptive requirements of NCC Section C will invariably lead to a performance solution design. We have listed the following operational requirements of the fire safety systems for performance solutions that address fire brigade intervention.

Our Officers will request confirmation from designers that the building has provisions for fire resistance, compartmentation and separation provisions to ensure that the worst fire that is credible in the design life of the building is still within our operational capacity.

Where a building’s fire safety system is designed or intended to permit uncontrolled or excessive fire spread, it is important that this is clearly known by our Officers upfront.

Section C Our operational requirements

1. Prevent the partial, progressive or total collapse of the building to allow firefighters to undertake search and rescue and extinguish the fire using the equipment provided.
2. Contain the fire to a size and intensity within our operational capacity and the extinguishing capacity of the equipment provided.
3. Prevent the spread of fire via openings in internal and external building elements to maintain structural stability, compartmentation and fire separation.

Where the design team provides the assurance that the fire safety system has addressed our Operational Requirements, the performance solution design objectives can be ratified at the PBDB phase.

NCC Section D Access and Egress

The proposed or designed departures from the prescriptive requirements of NCC Section D will invariably lead to a performance solution design. We have listed the following operational requirements of the fire safety systems for performance solutions that address fire brigade intervention.

Our Officers will request confirmation from designers that the building has suitable access and egress provisions for the building. The confirmation to us must consider that the safe egress of occupants with the safe access for us to occupants affected by fire and smoke or trapped, during the worst fire that is credible in the design life of the building.

Where a building’s fire safety system is designed or intended to permit ‘protect-in-place’ or require assisted evacuation it is important that this is clearly known by our officers upfront.

Section D Our operational requirements

1. Provide evacuation routes that allow for safe occupant evacuation, compatible with contraflow access for firefighters, to areas of the building affected by smoke and fire.
2. Provide evacuation routes that allow for safe occupant evacuation and that allow firefighters to stage search and rescue and firefighting activities from a place of relative safety.
3. Provide facilities for the safe, equitable and dignified assisted egress of people with disabilities in a fire, compatible with our operational procedures.

Where the design team provides the assurance that the fire safety system has addressed our Operational Requirements, the performance solution design objectives can be ratified at the PBDB phase.

NCC Section E Services and Equipment

The proposed or designed departures from the prescriptive requirements of NCC Section E will invariably lead to a performance solution design. We have listed the following operational requirements of the fire safety systems for performance solutions that address fire brigade intervention and services and equipment compatibility.

Our officers will request confirmation from designers that the building has suitable provisions for firefighting equipment that is accessible and useable by us to extinguish the worst fire that is credible in the design life of the building.

Where a building’s fire safety system is designed or intended to limit access to firefighting equipment or have insufficient extinguishing capacity for the firefighting or be incompatible with our equipment or procedures, it is important that this is clearly known by our officers upfront.

Designers should consider whether the special hazard clauses E1D17 and E2D21 may be applicable for the building development application. These two clauses are listed in the deemed-to-satisfy part of the NCC, but they do not prescribe any particular measure(s) for the special hazards. To make the identification of a special hazard without any particular hazard control measure(s), is not satisfactory for us and for our operational requirements. Therefore, if there is a case of special hazard in a building development application, we may advise for a performance solution with a PBDB where the performance solution addresses the particular special hazards.

The incompatibility of services and equipment may result in our officer’s considering a building’s provision for firefighting equipment not suitable for our operational requirements and/or a limitation on the operational tactics.

Section E Our operational requirements

1. NCC Part E1: Provide firefighting equipment that can control and extinguish the fire, is compatible with our procedures and equipment, and that is located in accessible places of relative safety for firefighters.
   Adequate fire hazard control for any particular special hazard(s) to ensure the compatibility of design fire scenarios with fire brigade intervention.
2. NCC Part E2: Provide a fire detection and alarm system that will provide early warning to building occupants and that is monitored to provide automatic notification of fire to us.
   Adequate smoke hazard control for any particular special hazard(s) to ensure there is compatibility of design fire scenarios with fire brigade intervention.
3. NCC Part E2: Contain the spread and accumulation of smoke to allow for safe occupant evacuation and to allow firefighters to undertake search and rescue activities and to extinguish the fire.
4. NCC Part E3: Provide facilities for the efficient movement of firefighters, firefighting equipment and occupants requiring assisted egress in conditions free from the effects of fire and smoke.
5. NCC Part E4: Provide clearly identifiable and direct evacuation routes that allow occupants to complete their evacuation in conditions free from fire and smoke.

Where the design team provides the assurance that the fire safety system has addressed our operational requirements, the performance solution design objectives can be ratified at the PBDB phase.

NCC Section G Part 3 Atrium construction

The proposed or designed departures from the prescriptive requirements of NCC Section G Part 3 will invariably lead to a performance solution design. We provide the following discussion for operational requirements of the fire safety systems for performance solutions that address fire brigade intervention.

Buildings containing an atrium provide a larger space for a fire to develop in and spread across.

We understand that the large spaces of atria and the loss of boundaries of connected storeys, means that the fire products of heat, smoke and flame will have greater difficulty for containment and suppression. Importantly the atrium spaces have high smoke filling potential, and the smoke control systems need to have the necessary capacity to deal with the smoke hazard.

Our officers will request confirmation from designers that the building and its atrium has suitable fire safety provisions for the building. The confirmation to us must consider that the building provides suitable fire and smoke control and fire containment boundaries, as well as access and egress provision during the worst fire that is credible in the design life of the building.

Where a building’s fire safety system is of a reduced design capacity or, there is intention to omit the installation of a fire safety system, we will place great emphasis on the impacts and effects of the worst fire that is credible in the design life of the building.

Section G Part 3 Our operational requirements

The general advice for performance solutions should be considered using the NACE guidance for the fire safety design such as:

1. Notification
   We consider that Notification (and addressability) of fire to areas or zones of an atrium building is fundamentally necessary.
2. Access
   We consider that the protected and safe area provisioning of fire isolated pressurisation system of exits is necessary for buildings containing an atrium. We need safe and quick access to the building level(s) to be able to intervene effectively. This requirement needs additional consideration where below-ground buildings are proposed, such that extra and necessary facilities may need to be considered for the design.
3. Conditions
   What are the conditions for occupants and firefighters for conceivable fire scenarios in the building. The application of the tenability criteria for firefighters will inform us as to the relative safety of the building during the design fire events.
   Additionally, the identification of the areas of the building that provide safe conditions (fire compartments, fire isolated stairs (pressurised), refuge areas etc are a necessary consideration.
4. Equipment
   We consider that the designed fire safety systems for buildings with atria must be suitably equipped for firefighting. We place significant importance on the capability afforded by the deemed-to-satisfy provisions for buildings containing an atrium, as they specify the minimum prescriptive provisioning that complies with the performance requirements. 

We acknowledge that the definition of an atrium in a design context, may overlap with other design features of buildings (i.e., light wells, shafts etc). Therefore, careful consideration needs to occur with NCC compliance and for the fit-for-purpose objectives for fire safety. Equally the equipment provisioning for the deemed-to-satisfy solutions are often omitted in proposals, and we will request for robust and detailed design analysis of any proposed omissions or reduced capacity systems. 

Where the design team provides the assurance that the fire safety system has addressed our operational requirements, the performance solution design objectives can be ratified at the PBDB phase.

NCC Section G Part 5 Construction in a bushfire prone area

The proposed or designed departures from the prescriptive requirements of NCC Section G Part 5 will invariably lead to a performance solution design we have listed the following operational requirements of the fire safety systems for performance solutions that address fire brigade intervention.

The deemed-to-satisfy provisions of part G5 have been historically matters of building construction standards with specification provided by Australian Standard AS 3959:2018 and or the applicable NASH Standards. Therefore, referral advice has not been typical for either deemed-to-satisfy designs or performance solutions for Part G5.

Regarding the Verification Method G5V1 having no operational consideration within the method, therefore our advice is that if G5V1 is proposed to be applied, then the method should be applied in total as specified by the NCC.

Since NCC 2022 now introduces Specification 43, there are two items that are important operational considerations for us those two items are also special fire services as defined in schedule 2 of the Building Act 1975, and subject to referral agency advice: 

• S43C11 Water supply for firefighting; and
• S43C14 Vehicular access.

The operational considerations for S43C11 Water supply for firefighting are that where the building’s water supply is also subject to Part E1, then the referral advice given against Part E1 will also apply to S43C11. We will not consider that a design solution for S43C11 can lessen the requirements for Part E1.

The operational considerations for S43C14 Perimeter access are that where the building’s perimeter access may not be invoked by the criteria for large isolated buildings, that under Part G5 that perimeter access is necessary and therefore required. Our expects that C3D5 is implemented in total for the application of this NCC Specification. Given that space separation is fundamentally necessary for the bushfire protection, and particularly with the additional sheltering function of the building, as a general principle we are not supportive of proposals to reduce the requirements of C3D5 given the effects of bushfire attack.

We emphasise that the NCC has developed prescriptive provisions based on a maximum Bushfire Attack Level (BAL) of ≤12.5 kW/m2 and that the NCC proposes performance solutions for BAL > 12.5 kW/m2. QFES may consider practical and minor deviations of Specification 43 for S43C11 and S43C14 only.

We may also consider that for performance solutions for buildings that are based on BAL > 12.5 kW/m2, that the referral advice should place a condition on the Decision Notice for independent third party review.

Section G Part 5 Our operational requirements

1. Provide water supply for firefighting and vehicular access to buildings that shelter vulnerable occupants.

Where the design team provides the assurance that the fire safety system has addressed the operational requirements as a construction outcome, the performance solution design objectives can be ratified at the PBDB phase.