Ensuring industry competence is one of Fire Protection Association Australia’s (FPA Australia) key Strategic Directions, and since its launch in 2013 the Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme (FPAS) has been a primary vehicle with which FPA Australia has made progress in this area.
FPAS is the only nationally-harmonised accreditation system designed to recognise the skills and competencies of individuals working in the fire protection industry across all state and territory jurisdictions in Australia. It’s set up to align with the industry’s job roles, and underpin them with minimum competency and professional conduct.
The most recently-launched class of FPAS accreditation, Fire Safety Assessment (FSA), was developed to meet the requirements for individuals who undertake assessment of the performance capability of fire safety measures for the purpose of informing an annual or supplementary fire safety statement, under the NSW Government’s 2017 fire safety reforms.
FSA accreditation has proven to be an encouraging template for the kind of industry-government partnership the fire protection sector needs to see more of. To develop FSA, FPA Australia drew on deep industry knowledge along with feedback from industry and government stakeholders to produce a new class of accreditation that would meet the NSW Government’s regulatory requirements, improve fire safety standards and meet the operational needs of businesses.
In February 2019 the NSW Government gave their approval to FSA and another class of FPAS accreditation, Fire Systems Design (FSD). The NSW Government announced it would formally gazette that approval in January 2020, following a phase-in period of nearly a year.
After it is gazetted, individuals conducting the two areas of work covered by FSA and FSD accreditation will be required to hold the appropriate accreditation under FPAS, or any other future scheme recognised by the NSW Government.
It’s fantastic recognition of the work the industry has done to lift standards of professional competence, and represents arguably the biggest change to the state’s fire protection regulations since the introduction of mandatory smoke alarms in homes.
The move will improve the quality and consistency of fire protection work in NSW by ensuring these two important roles are conducted by individuals with the right skills and knowledge, the right level of insurance, and who undertake continuing professional development.
It will give the community an extra degree of confidence in the fire safety of the buildings they live and work in, which they so desperately need after the revelations about building quality and compliance that have emerged over the past two years.
More information on the NSW Government’s recognition of FPAS is available on NSW Fair Trading’s Fire Safety Practitioners webpage.
For more information, go to http://ow.ly/XxFw50vE0HM
