Queensland legislation imposes obligations on several parties to ensure that a performance solution is installed, tested and commissioned as intended by the approval documentation.
On this page:
- Inspection of special fire services and performance solution aspects
- Inspection fees
- Fire engineer certification
- Occupation and maintenance
- Certificate of occupancy
- Permanent notice about performance solutions
- Maintenance of performance solution aspects
- Fire and evacuation plan
- Information storage and sharing
- Management-in-use plan
Inspection of special fire services and performance solution aspects
Inspections as per section 74 of the Building Act 1975 imposes a condition on any approval for a building served by a special fire service that we must be given a notice to inspect the installation and later test the service.
Consequently, and as per section 65 of the Building Regulation 2021, on receiving the notice, the referral agency advice may inspect the building work or inspect or test the service to check the referral agency advice aspects comply with the building development approval. Following inspection of the work or testing of the service, the referral agency advice must give the builder and building certifier a notice stating that (i) the referral aspects comply with the building development approval; or (ii) the referral aspects do not comply with the building development approval, and the reasons why they do not.
A performance solution can involve or relate to any aspect of a building’s fire safety system, potentially utilising both passive and active systems beyond the limited definition of special fire services to warn people of an emergency, provide for safe evacuation, restrict the spread of fire and extinguish a fire.
As one of the primary purposes of a building’s fire safety system will be to facilitate fire brigade intervention, where an aspect of a performance solution that substantively contributes to satisfying operational requirements in the built environment, it will be important to us that it is appropriately implemented.
Therefore, we may advise that an aspect of a performance solution be inspected by us upon implementation as a condition to its referral agency advice response as per section 56 (1)(b)(i) of the Planning Act 2016.
The intention of such a condition is ensuring the aspect of the performance solution is implemented in a way that is compatible with our operational needs.
Inspection fees
We has developed a Fees Calculator to assist stakeholders to a performance solution to calculate the statutory fees likely to be incurred based on the characteristics of their referral to us.
Fire engineer certification
To ensure that all performance solution requirements are satisfactorily implemented on site, we advise that the responsible fire engineer should be involved in the construction, testing, commissioning and final inspection stages to the extent necessary to certify that the building has been constructed in accordance with the requirements of the performance solution (s) and other associated fire safety aspects of the building development approval. The fire engineer should also verify that all ongoing fire safety management requirements are in place.
Prior to issuing a final inspection notice, we may request that the fire engineer provides a report/certification confirming satisfactory completion and implementation of all performance solution and associated requirements.
Occupation and maintenance
Queensland legislation imposes obligations on various parties to ensure that a performance solution is maintained to its designed standard and that critical fire safety information is available for the life of the building.
Certificate of occupancy
Section 103 of the Building Act 1975 specifies the form and content requirements for the certificate of occupancy, including information about any performance solutions, including the materials, systems, methods of building, management procedures, specifications and other things required under the performance solutions.
Section 107 of the Building Act 1975 requires that the building certifier provide us with a copy of the certificate of occupancy, a list of all fire safety installations and drawings identifying their locations.
Permanent notice about performance solutions
While not legislatively required, we strongly recommend that a notice identifying any performance solution(s) and a statement of their impact/function is permanently fixed at the building’s entrance (e.g., at the fire indicator panel) to assist in the coordination of our response to a fire emergency at the building.
Maintenance of performance solution aspects
Section 104D of the Fire Services Act 1990 requires the occupier of a building to always maintain every prescribed fire safety installation to a standard of safety and reliability in the event of a fire. This includes maintaining all aspects of performance solutions which formed part of the building’s approval certificates.
The definition of fire safety installation is provided by schedule 2 Building Act 1975 and includes any “thing” required to comply with the performance solution.
Part 5 of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 requires that prescribed fire safety installations be maintained in accordance with the Queensland Development Code Mandatory Part 6.1. It includes maintenance requirements for performance solutions and specifies, to the extent of any inconsistency, that the requirements of the performance solution prevail. In other words, if the performance solution specifies maintenance requirements that differ from those set out in MP6.1, then those specified requirements must be complied with.
Fire and evacuation plan
Section 104D of the Fire Services Act 1990 requires the occupier of a building to always maintain a fire and evacuation plan for the building. This must include the information as specified by Part 4 of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008.
Section 24 of the Regulation requires that a fire and evacuation plan must include any fire safety management procedure required under a performance solution, where the fire safety management procedure is a condition of the occupation and use of the building.
Information storage and sharing
Section 25 of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 requires the occupier of a building to take reasonable steps to obtain and keep relevant approval documents (e.g., the fire engineering report relied upon for approval) with the building’s fire and evacuation plan. Therefore, it is important that stakeholders to a performance solution share, or make readily available, relevant approval documents to parties who hold an obligation described above and impart the importance of transferring that information to the appropriate party upon each change of occupation or ownership of a building.
Management-in-use plan
While not legislatively required, we strongly recommend that a management-in-use plan is produced to supplement the certificate of occupancy, fire and evacuation plan and relevant approval documents with a clear summary all performance solution aspects to be maintained/observed to comply with the above obligations.