Generally, fire safety measures are to comply with the standards that were in force when the DA for the building was stamped by the local council.
In NSW, recent legislation requires a “competent fire safety practitioner” (CFSP) of the class “fire safety assessor” (FSA) to certify that the measures comply with the relevant standards & BCA clauses on the Annual Fire Safety Statement (or fire safety certificate for new or recently updated buildings.
Prior to the new regs, some fire protection companies would just sign off on the AFSS & not bother with some defects, as there were no penalties for doing so.
If a FSA signs off & it doesn’t comply, they can lose their accreditation & as a result, the FSAs are finding & documenting defects that could have been there since the building was built.
JT (CFSP/FSA)