Fire Safety Assessment
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FPAS is now mandatory in NSW
The Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS) was formally
approved by the Secretary of the Department of Customer Service
under section 59 of the Building and Development
Certifiers Act 2018.
This means that if you:
- endorse plans and specifications for designs, and do not hold
C8 or C14 registration with the Department, you must be Fire
Systems Design (FSD) accredited; or
- endorse fire safety measures on annual or supplementary fire
safety statements, you must be Fire Safety Assessment (FSA)
accredited.
All other fire protection roles are unaffected by the
announcement.
Read more
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To apply, log in to CONNECT and go the
FPAS > Fire Safety Assessment page, or click on the link
below:
The Fire Safety Assessment (FSA) class of FPAS accreditation
accredits individuals who undertake assessment of the performance
capability of fire safety measures (FSMs) for the purpose of
informing an annual or supplementary fire safety statement.
This class of accreditation has been designed to address the
requirements for certain fire protection work in New South Wales to
be carried out by a 'competent fire safety practitioner', under the
state's 2017
fire safety reforms.
To gain FSA accreditation, individuals must demonstrate a level
of required knowledge, skill and experience to perform the fire
safety assessor role, must hold appropriate insurance, and must
agree to and abide by the FPA Australia Code of Professional
Conduct.
In February 2019 the NSW Government approved both the FSA and
Fire Systems Design (FSD) classes of FPAS accreditation under the
state's 2017 fire safety reforms, meaning that individuals holding either FSA or FSD
accreditation will be recognised as 'competent fire safety
practitioners'
(CFSPs)
under the reforms.
Recognition of the two classes is expected to be formalised on 1
July 2020, after which relevant fire protection work in NSW will be
required to be undertaken by a CFSP accredited by FPAS or other
future approved schemes.
The FSA class of accreditation will ultimately be available
across multiple jurisdictions, however the initial launch will be
focused on NSW.
To get full details on the FSA
class of accreditation, read the full FSA NSW Scheme Document, available here.
Fire Safety Assessment Accredited Practitioner Register
To find an FSA accredited practitioner near you, or verify the
accreditation of your service provider, check the Fire Safety
Assessment Accredited Practitioner Register. The Register contains
a list of all practitioners who have been granted FSA accreditation
under the Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS).
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Scope of the role
The role of the fire safety assessor is to satisfy the competent
fire safety practitioner aspects of Part 9 Division 5 of the
EP&A Regulation to:
- Identify the standard of performance to which FSMs are required
to operate and perform;
- Assess (inspect and verify) that FSMs are operating and
performing as required;
- Inspect exits and paths of travel to exit to ensure there is no
offence under the Regulation (as applicable); and
- Complete the CFSP aspects of the approved Fire Safety Statement
Form for annual or supplementary fire safety statements.
A more detailed description of the Fire Safety Assessment role
commensurate with the requirements of the EP&A Regulation and
validated via the FPAS accreditation process is expressed in
section 4.9 of the NSW Competent Fire Safety Practitioner
document, available here.
This assessment and inspection role is to satisfy
clause 175 of the
Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Regulation
2000 (the Regulation).
Restricted and unrestricted FSA accreditation
FSA accreditation is available in both Restricted and
Unrestricted categories.
- Restricted accreditation is available to individuals who
demonstrate competency to assess a nominated FSM or number of
nominated FSMs. These individuals are accredited to work on those
nominated FSMs only.
- Unrestricted accreditation is available to individuals who
demonstrate competency to assess all FSMs.
Individuals are able to nominate and qualify for 32 separate
FSMs under the FSA class of accreditation. Access a full
list here.
Both FSA categories are accredited to assess the operating
performance of these FSMs regardless of whether they are subject to
a performance (alternative) solution.
Insurance
The Scheme requires accredited individuals to be appropriately
covered by insurance for the fire protection services they
undertake.
The Scheme requires an accredited individual to have a minimum
insurance cover of:
- $10 million for Public and Product liability; and
- $2 million (inclusive of defence costs) for any claim for
Professional Indemnity; or
- $1 million (exclusive of defence costs) for any one claim for
Professional Indemnity.
Professional Indemnity insurance held by an accredited individual
must:
- include in the list of business activities, all work activities
relevant to the accreditation class and category held; and
- be in the name of the accredited individual or the company name
only and not be a joint policy with any other party; and
- cover all past work of an accredited individual whilst
accredited with Fire Protection Association Australia (FPA
Australia) up to a maximum of 10 years. (Note: This is done by
electing a Retroactive Date that is years past or electing a
Retroactive Date of Unlimited).
Accredited Individuals must provide a Certificate of Currency
from their insurer as proof of their insurance cover for both
Public and Product and Professional Indemnity insurance.
In relation to run-off provisions, which is when a sole trader
retires or sells their business or a company or partnership is
sold, FPA Australia recommends that individuals obtain professional
indemnity insurance for seven (7) years after they cease working as
a competent fire safety practitioner, so as to indemnify their work
activities during the period for which they were accredited under
the Scheme.
You can read the details of what your Certificate of Currency
needs to provide here.
If you have more questions, visit the Insurance
FAQ page.
Accreditation pathways
Transitional Accreditation
pathway
Transitional Accreditation recognises the experience of an
individual who has worked in the fire protection industry for a
period of time and holds the minimum appropriate level of
competency (knowledge, skills and experience) to perform the fire
safety assessor role.
Individuals holding FSA Transitional Accreditation are required
to transition to Qualified Accreditation within four years of
formal approval (gazetting) of FSA by the NSW Government, and once
an appropriate qualification becomes available, is specified by FPA
Australia and approved by the NSW Department of Finance, Services
and Innovation.
To gain FSA Transitional Accreditation, individuals are required
to:
- Demonstrate a minimum of three years of practical experience on
several buildings for each FSM applied for;
- Complete an FSA Awareness Session;
- Pass the FSA Fundamental written assessment;
- Pass a written assessment covering each FSM applied for;
- Hold a minimum of $10 million Public & Products Liability
Insurance and $2 million Professional Indemnity; and
- Sign and abide by FPA Australia's Code of Professional Conduct.
Qualified Accreditation pathway
(currently not available)
Qualified Accreditation recognises individuals who have
fulfilled the FSA class of accreditation requirements for relevant
nationally-recognised qualifications or a set of competencies
designated by FPA Australia.
Qualified Accreditation is not currently available for the FSA
class of accreditation. FPA Australia is currently developing
minimum qualification requirements, and will offer a Qualified
Accreditation pathway once this is complete, subject to approval by
the Secretary of the NSW Department of Finance, Services and
Innovation.
To apply, log in to CONNECT and go the
FPAS > Fire Safety Assessment page, or click on the link
below: