Essential Safety Measures
ESSENTIAL SAFETY MEASURES COMPLIANCE LOGBOOKS AND AUDITING
You may have heard about your requirements to maintain the Essential Safety Measures which are the fire safety features within your buildings. Previously only owners of buildings built after 1994 were required to prepare annual reports however on the 13 June 2006 the Building Regulations 2006 was released and now requires all commercial building owners to have an Annual Essential Safety Measure Report prepared by 13 June 2009. This may seem far away however in our experience compliance can take between 6 months to 2 years, depending quantity, complexity and cost of having non compliances rectified. Therefore it is in the building owners best interest to find out now the status of their building to better plan for the future as leaving this to the last minute could be costly.
Benchmark Building Consultants are specialists auditing and implementing systems that can assist you to better understand and obtain compliance with the Essential Safety Measure legislation. Benchmark Building Consultants have had over 20 years experience in enforcing building code requirements in building works, certification, auditing essential safety measures systems and maintenance regimes throughout Victoria and would like to extend our expertise to our communities building owners and assist them in ensuring that their buildings are maintained in accordance with the relevant building regulations, codes, Australian Standards and industry standards to achieve compliance and prevent litigation.
Part 12 of the Building Regulations 2006 requires all commercial property owners to ensure the following:
- All Essential Safety Measure are inspected and maintained as required
- Maintenance records are maintained and kept in an approved location
- An Annual Essential Safety Measure Report on the anniversary date of the Occupancy permit or Determination must be prepared for buildings built or altered after July 1994 and prior to June 2009 and every year after that for buildings built prior to 1994.
Fines of $1,000 for every non compliance within a building could be imposed on the building owner and a fine of $5,000 can apply to a body corporate.
You may already be having most of your essential safety measure items maintained such as exit and emergency lights, fire equipment, air-conditioning etc…. which we call the active systems. There is however a number of other essential safety measures contained within all buildings called the passive systems such as exit doors, paths of travel, fire rated floors and walls, penetrations, vehicular access etc…. which is where our expertise as qualified Building Surveyors is required. As specialists in the Essential Safety Measures we can also assist in ensuring that other contractor logbooks are up to date and the required approval documentation is provided for all your buildings to achieve compliance.
Not maintaining your building is not something that you can insure your self against to prevent litigation. Insurance companies often make it a requirement to maintain your building in accordance with the federal and local laws and may refuse a claim if it is apparent that a compliant maintenance regime was not in place.
Maintenance of Essential Safety Measures also plays a large part of compliance with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Regulations which further addresses your risks.
We have worked closely with our clients to develop a cost effective, easy to understand and implement system that suites all types of buildings. These systems are catered to suit all types of buildings and building portfolios.
MAKES YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES EASY
SO YOU HAVE MORE TIME TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF YOUR INVESTMENTS.
