ESSENTIAL SAFETY MEASURES

Essential Safety Measures (ESM)

The upkeep of ESM will ensure that the safety systems which deal mainly with fire situations within the building remain at the required operational level throughout the life of the building. The type of maintenance depends on the complexity of the service and the piece of equipment or feature.

 

What are Essential Safety Measures

When the construction of a building is complete, the owner of the building is responsible by law for its maintenance, in particular the building’s fire safety features or Essential Safety Measures (ESM).

ESM installed in your building may include, but are not limited to:

Active Systems – sprinkler systems, fire hose reels, fire detectors and alarms.

Passive Systems – fire doors and penetrations in fire rated materials.

Management Systems – fire training for evacuation and warden training.

 

How compliance is achieved

Compliance is achieved by consideration and assessment of the testing documentation and installation in accordance with the relevant ESM maintenance Australian Standard. Procedures are reviewed and scrutinized for all testing undertaken through the previous 12 months. This is certified annually as setailed in the table below.

How is compliance inforced

The maintenance requirements for ESM are administered under each state’s respective acts and regulations. This legislation requires that the ESM installed into a building are maintained routinely by the building owner (to the relevant Australian Standard), reviewed annually and certified in the prescribed format. Penalties apply for failure to comply with the above ranging from $10,000 for individuals to $100,000.00 for companies and jail terms apply in some instances.

Who determines what to maintain

Maintenance is determined from the issue of a maintenance schedule/ statement issued on completion of new building work. For buildings constructed prior to the introduction of this requirement a maintenance determination can be issued buy your local council or in some states your private building surveyor/certifier.

 

Stokes Safety also run seminars and briefing sessions on ESM for Companies and Maintenance Personnel.

 

What essential safety measures certificate is required?

The necessary compliance certificate required to satisfy the respective legislation differs from state as detailed below.

 

State	Act	Regulation	Compliance Certificate
Victoria	Building Act 1993	Building Regulations 2006	Annual Essential safety measures report.
Tasmania	Building Act 2000 W	Building Regulations 2004	Form 56
South Australia	Development Act 1993	Development Regulations 2008 Minister Spec SA76	Form 3
Western Australia	Local Gov (miscellaneous prov) Act Occupiers Liability Act 1985	Occupation Safety and Healthy Regulations 1996	N/A
Northern Territory	Building Act 1993	Building Regulations 1993	N/A
Queensland	Fire & Rescue Services Act 1990	Building Fire Safety Regulations 2008	Occupiers statement
New South Wales	Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979	Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulations 2000	Annual Fire Safety Statement
Aus Capital Territory	Building Act 2004 Emergencies Act 2004	Building Regulations 2008 Fire Safety Policy -05	Annual Verification Certificate