Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008

On 1 July 2008 the new Building Fire Safety Regulations 2008 came into force. This new legislation has been enacted covering fire evacuation and planning to all buildings apart from detached residential buildings. The owners of all buildings must comply with the requirements of this new legislation by 1st July 2009. The requirements are onerous and heavy fines apply for those not complying.

It is critical that all building owners and managers have a clear and comprehensive understanding of their responsibilities under these Regulations. It is now not sufficient for evacuation diagrams to be drawn and hung up on the wall. These Regulations impose significant responsibilities upon building owners, occupiers and mangers to develop Fire and Evacuation Plans and conduct training of all occupants in a building.

These Regulations cover all buildings that is not a single occupancy building that is a detached house or town house with only common walls. These requirements cover all unit complexes, all commercial buildings, all places of worship, child care centers, hospitals, holiday complexes, hotels and motels, etc.

A new term has been developed to identify where the ultimate responsibility to implement these Regulations rests. The term Managing Entity refers to the person responsible for the building. This is the building owner, the Body Corporate and would refer to the property Managing Agent.