The Building Confidence Report (BCR) and work completed by the Warren Centre highlighted the need for fire safety engineers to be more holistic when developing fire engineering designs. As a result, Warringtonfire have expanded our services in Australia to include fire safety code consulting, using our team's already strong fire safety code knowledge. We are proud to be first in our field to offer this specialized service, strengthening our industry leading position.
When should I have a National Construction Code (NCC) Review?
Getting your fire strategy right at the beginning of your project will save time and money throughout the project lifecycle. To enable this, Warringtonfire encourage early engagement with all key stakeholders and an early assessment of departures from to the deemed-to-satisfy (DTS) provisions of the NCC. This can result in simple design changes instead of having to develop more complex performance solutions later in the process.
Do I really need expert Code Consulting?
To avoid conflict of interests concerns, building certifiers should rely on expert code consultants to help design teams achieve compliance with the NCC. Warringtonfire's fire safety code consulting offering is a unique service which allows us to provide clients with design advice early in the process – resolving compliance issues through both DTS or performance solutions and helping guide the project through to successful completion.
Warringtonfire has been involved in multiple projects across all Australian states and territories. We therefore have a good understanding of jurisdictional issues and common compliance issues identified by certifiers.
We can cover all your fire safety consultancy needs for NCC compliance.
Complying With The NCC
The National Construction Code (NCC) is a performance-based code that contains all performance requirements for the construction of buildings.
Compliance with the performance requirements of the NCC is achieved by complying with the Deemed-To-Satisfy (DTS) provisions, the use of performance solutions or a combination of both methods - refer to the diagram on the left.
A DTS solution is a set of solutions noted in the NCC that are deemed to meet the performance requirements.
A performance solution is a flexible solution that has been designed for each individual situation to meet the level of quality of the building and is deemed to meet the performance requirements on a performance basis.
This performance-based approach allows designer options to achieve compliance with the NCC. Compliance with the prescriptive requirements (DTS) of the NCC and associated referenced documents (mostly Australian Standards) often limit designers in achieving their vision and goals for a building project.
Industry practice generally attempts to achieve compliance through DTS solutions, however this not always achievable. In these circumstance Warringtonfire can provide advice on methods to achieve compliance with the DTS provision or recommend a performance solution to achieve compliance with the NCC.
Regulatory and Compliance Services
Fire Safety Engineering
Expert Witness
Fire safety issues on projects can lead to significant claims against contractors, engineers and architects. The most severe fire safety issues can also lead to prosecutions, injury or loss of life. It is during these situations that an expert in fire safety engineering and regulatory fire safety compliance can be called as an expert witness to assist with identifying the root cause of an issue.
NCC Reviews and Code Consultancy
We encourage early engagement with all key stakeholders, as getting the fire strategy right at the beginning of a project will save time and money throughout the project lifecycle. An early assessment of departures from to the deemed-to-satisfy (DTS) provisions of the NCC can result in simple design changes instead of having to develop performance solutions later in the process.
Compliance Inspections
Warringtonfire undertake non-destructive visual inspections of buildings to confirm, where practicable, that the fire safety measures outlined in our fire engineering reports have been provided. As part of this inspection, we witness testing to confirm that the active fire safety systems are interfaced and operate as intended by the performance solution.
Peer Reviews
Peer reviews (also called third party fire systems reviews) are often required in construction projects. This is because they can support submission paperwork under the building regulations, or help you understand and evaluate a submission that a third party has presented to you.