NSW Guidelines on Fire Safety in Heritage Buildings

State of New South Wales (Australia) has published the Guidelines on fire safety in heritage buildings. In the introduction to the guidelines it is stated that fires in buildings are life threatening and often occur without warning. This gives building occupants little time to react – to fight the fire or evacuate the building. Prevention of fires is the most effective method of dealing with this threat and is the responsibility of both building owners and statutory authorities.

Current building regulations are encompassed in the Building Code of Australia (BCA). Most of NSW heritage buildings were built prior to the adoption of these regulations. In fact some of our very old buildings predate the existence of any formal building regulations in Australia. Many heritage buildings do not meet the full requirements of current building regulations and may need upgrading for fire safety.

The Guidelines, published also in the official Cost C17 Action website, can be downloaded also here: NSW_maintenance_8_1_fire_heritage