Essential Safety Measures, Fire Maintenance & Inspections

What Are Essential Safety Measures?

If you are the owner of a building (other than a house or outbuilding) you are responsible for its upkeep and maintenance, particularly its safety features. These are known as essential safety measures. Maintaining the essential safety measures will ensure that the building’s important safety systems are working at the required operational level throughout the life of the building. The type of maintenance needed depends on the complexity of the safety measure and on the maintenance program expected at the time of installation.

Examples Of Essential Safety Measures:

Exit Doors/Signs
Fire Extinguishers/Hydrants
Emergency Lifts
Fire Detection Alarms
Emergency Lighting/Power Supply
Smoke Alarms/Control Systems
Emergency Warning Systems
Sprinkler Systems

A full list of essential safety measures is available on the VBA website. There are a number of mandatory documents to be produced to ensure annual compliance.

Required Documents Include:

Occupancy Permits
Annual Essential Safety Measures Reports
Essential Safety Measures Schedules
Routine Inspections
Service Reports

Our office can assist in preparing all types of maintenance documentation.

Do I Need A Fire Safety Inspection?

Yes. If the building was built after 1 July 1994, Code HQ can write a list of safety measures and fire maintenance needed for the building. This will then be included within the Occupancy Permit or Certificate of Final Inspection.

Maintenance Determinations And Annual Compliance Reporting

Occupancy permits must include a maintenance program indicating the type of fire services provided within a building and the level of maintenance required for each fire service. This is called a “Maintenance Determination” and is used in preparing an annual essential safety measures report (or AESMR), which is required to be reviewed annually. Our consultants can advise on the maintenance requirements for all building types.

Our team can also review maintenance records, contractor logbooks, annual certification statements, provide guidance on and complete the Annual Essential safety measures report.

Annual Essential Safety Measures Report (AESMR)

AESMRs are required to be completed and reviewed annually as part of the maintenance program of the building. Building owners are required to produce a completed AESMR annually. Our office can prepare and review AESMRs for buildings of all types. We can carry out the required inspections and review the required documentation for compliance.

Fire Safety Inspections And Compliance Audits

Our building surveyors can carry out visual inspections to determine the nature of compliance or risk in all types of buildings. In addition to the mandatory requirements, our office can assist with fire safety consulting and defect reports. We provide online reporting and can work with various online portals to upload compliance information. For residential bushfire protection inspections please refer to our bushfire attack level requirements page.