Wollongong City Council can issue Fire Safety Orders to building owners, directing them to undertake fire safety improvements to their building. A Fire Safety Order may also be issued if the Annual Fire Safety Statement has not been submitted on time.
The building owner is responsible for making sure any orders issued are complied with.
Notice of intention
Before an order is issued, Council will send the building owner a 'notice of intention' to give an order. This gives the owner an opportunity to talk about the proposed order with Council staff and to seek independent advice if required.
The owner will generally be given 21 days from the date of the notice of intention to advise if they want to make representations to Council about the proposed order.
Fire Safety Order
When a Fire Safety Order is issued, it will list:
- The reasons why the order has been issued.
- What needs to be done. For example, this could be for safer fire exits to be made, fire-safety equipment to be installed, or to provide an annual fire safety statement.
- A deadline for works to be completed. Council will give a reasonable amount of time for the owner to comply with the order. This may vary depending on how complicated the works are, and deadlines may also be set in stages in some cases.
Responding to a notice of intention or Fire Safety Order
If you receive a notice of intention or fire safety order, you can send a response to Council - this is called a Representation Request.
Any request for representation must be made in writing. Download the form below to request a representation.
Fire Safety Notice of Intention / Order – Representation Request Form PDF, 212.17 KB
Please note:
- There is no fee to apply to Council to make a representation.
- If your representation is to have an extension of the deadline to comply with an order, you must demonstrate your reasons for requesting an extension.
- You will also need to include a proposal for how and when works would be done to comply with the order.
- Building owners are encouraged to seek independent legal and / or fire safety advice if required.
Anyone who receives an order also has the right to appeal or challenge all or part of the order within 28 days to the Land and Environment Court of NSW.
Complying with an order
An order details what action is required, and provides a deadline for the completion of this action.
You or your consultant should provide progress updates to Council and supply certification documentation as required by the deadline. A Council officer will review the documentation and may inspect the completed work.
Once we are satisfied that the Fire Safety Order has been complied with, we will issue a letter confirming the completion of the order and explain the requirements for submitting an Annual Fire Safety Statement to Council every 12 months.
Compliance cost notice
Council may issue a compliance cost notice. This allows Council to recover some of the costs for preparing and monitoring orders, and compliance actions taken with an order that has been issued under schedule 5 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.
Penalties
If an order is not carried out, this can have serious implications for non-compliance. Some of the possible penalties or consequences of not following an order include:
- Council can take a building owner to court and if Council's legal application is successful, the court can issue a court order
- Council can apply to recover its legal costs
- The court can impose substantial fines for ignoring an order
- Council can issue penalty infringement notices of failure to comply with the terms of a fire safety order.
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You can also read our Fire Safety Policy PDF, 131.95 KB for information about how Council acts to promote fire safety and help people meet their obligations in this area.