Which buildings need an annual fire safety statement?
Class 2 to 9 buildings with fire safety measures, such as exit signs, emergency lighting, fire doors, sprinklers, alarms and extinguishers. In practice that covers apartment buildings, offices, shops, warehouses and factories. Houses are not included.
When is an AFSS due?
Each year, within 12 months of the last statement. The fire safety measures must be assessed within the three months before the statement is issued, so the inspection window is the last three months before the due date. Inspect earlier and it has to be done again.
Our free AFSS due date calculator works out the due date, the inspection window and a reminder schedule for any building.
Who does what?
- The building owner is responsible. For a strata building, that is the owners corporation.
- An accredited practitioner (fire safety) or a registered certifier assesses the measures.
- The owner gives the statement to the council and Fire & Rescue NSW, and displays a copy in the building.
Fire protection firms and strata managers often carry these dates for owners, which is where they slip. Each council runs its own process and fees, so check your council’s page, such as Hornsby Council’s fire safety page.
What an AFSS is not
It is not the fire safety certificate, which is issued for a new or altered building. The first annual statement is due within 12 months of that certificate. It is not routine servicing either: the measures are serviced on their own schedule, and the AFSS is the yearly statement on top. Some buildings also have critical measures that need a supplementary statement more often.
What does it cost to keep track of AFSS dates?
The assessment is priced by your fire safety practitioner, and councils set their own fees, so we do not quote those. Our calculator is free. For a firm carrying many buildings, we build CRMs that keep every date on one record and draft the reminders for your team to send, from $4,850, one-time. We also wrote about how to stop missing AFSS dates.