Annual Fire Safety Statement Program

Owners of certain buildings have an obligation under Clause 89 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 to submit Annual Fire Safety Statements to Council and Fire and Rescue once a year. Annual Fire Safety Statements confirm fire safety measures installed in a building (e.g. fire hose reels, portable fire extinguishers etc.) are capable of performing to the required standard and the building complies with the Regulations in terms of fire exits. 

This is an important process to ensure buildings are as safe as possible for occupants in the event of a fire. Council assists building owners meet their statutory obligations by administering a program which:

• reminds building owners of their responsibilities.
• assesses submitted statements.
• follows up with appropriate compliance action where building owners do not meet their obligations.

Download the Annual Fire Safety Statement form (effective from 1 September 2022)

What is an Annual Fire Safety Statement?

Owners of certain buildings have an obligation under Clause 89 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 to submit Annual Fire Safety Statements to Council and Fire and Rescue once a year. Annual Fire Safety Statements confirm fire safety measures installed in a building (e.g. fire hose reels, portable fire extinguishers etc.) are capable of performing to the required standard and the building complies with the Regulations in terms of fire exits.

This is an important process to ensure buildings are as safe as possible for occupants in the event of a fire. Council assists building owners meet their statutory obligations by administering a program which:

• reminds building owners of their responsibilities.
• assesses submitted statements.
• follows up with appropriate compliance action where building owners do not meet their obligations.

Although it is not required to do so by law, Penrith City Council endeavours to send a courtesy reminder letter to the owners of premises, prior to the annual fire safety statement due date. This service is to assist building owners to arrange having their premises inspected by an accredited practitioner (fire safety) and to submit an annual fire safety statement by the due date. However, Penrith City Council accepts no responsibility for any reliance upon this service and the sole legal responsibility for providing the statement by the due date rests with the owner of the premises.

If an owner chooses to receive the reminder letter via email, it is their responsibility to ensure Council is notified of any changes (via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) to the advised email address and monitor the advised email account for notifications. Please note that changes made to your rates account will not automatically update AFSS records.

What is a Fire Safety Measure?

A fire safety measure is any measure (including any item of equipment, form of construction or fire safety strategy) that is, or is proposed to be, implemented in a building to ensure the safety of persons using the building in the event of fire. These measures will vary from building to building and may include; exit signs, portable fire extinguishers, smoke alarms, fire hydrants, evacuation plans etc.

Who is responsible for maintaining Fire Safety Measures?

Under the provisions of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (the EP&A Regulation) it is the building owner’s responsibility to maintain each essential fire safety measure installed in the building premises. The fire safety measures are to be maintained whether the building is occupied or vacant.

While legislation requires the property owner to submit to Council fire safety statements on an annual basis, some Australian Standards require more regular maintenance inspections of your equipment. It may therefore be necessary to have certain fire safety measures inspected at intervals of less than 12 months (i.e. six (6) monthly inspections) as per Australian Standards in order to obtain a Fire Safety Statement Annually.

Who is responsible for providing an Annual Fire Safety Statement?

Under the provisions of the EP&A Regulation it is the building owner’s responsibility to ensure the annual fire safety statement is submitted to Council.
A copy of the statement is also required to be given to the Fire Commissioner (NSW Fire & Rescue) and another copy is prominently displayed in the building.

Please note than from 1 July 2023 NSW Fire & Rescue no longer accept AFSS submissions via email. Submissions must be made via their webpage https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/afsssubmission If you have any questions regarding the Fire & Rescue webpage, please contact the Fire Safety Branch Administration Unit on 02 9742 7434 or send a detailed email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Fees and charges associated with Annual Fire Safety Statements

Significant costs are incurred by Council to administer this program. As these requirements apply only to owners of buildings with fire safety measures, it would be unreasonable to recover these costs from all ratepayers. Council has therefore adopted a set of fees associated with Annual Fire Safety Statement submissions. These fees enable us to recover some of the costs associated with the program. View Council's Fees & Charges.

Requirements of Annual Fire Safety Statements

The required assessment and inspection of the fire safety measures must have been carried out within the period of three (3) months prior to the date on which the statement is issued.

It is therefore important to be aware of the due date for submission of the statement to Council. Procedures should be put in place to have the required assessment and inspection, and any required repairs, carried out within this three (3) month period.

The choice of person to carry out the assessment or inspection is up to the owner of the building.

The person who carries out an assessment must inspect and verify the performance of each fire safety measure being assessed.

Reissue of Fire Safety Schedules containing errors or omissions

In February 2023 changes were made to the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021 enabling Council to reissue Fire Safety Schedules that contain errors or omissions or have been lost or destroyed without issuing a Fire Safety Order.

Original certifier is contactable
If an owner considers that the current Fire Safety Schedule for the property is inaccurate, they should approach the certifier who issued the Fire Safety Schedule to confirm the correct requirements. If the documentation issued by the certifier contains errors or omissions the owner will need to request that the certifier who issued the OC provide written advice along with a recommended Fire Safety Schedule for the whole the building. They will need to refer to the original certificate, certificate number and date of issue that the Fire Safety Schedule was issued under. Eg: Construction Certification/Complying Development Certificate or Occupation Certificate. The advice and recommended Fire Safety Schedule is required to be received by Council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. directly from the private certifier.

Original certifier not contactable
If the original certifier who issued the incorrect Fire Safety Schedule is not contactable or cannot provide this information, an inspection and assessment of the building will need to be undertaken by a Building Surveyor (Unrestricted) who is registered with NSW Fair Trading. Written advice along with a recommended Fire Safety Schedule for the whole the building will need to be received from the registered Building Surveyor (Unrestricted) for review by Council. The advice and recommended Fire Safety Schedule is required to be received by Council at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. directly from the registered Building Surveyor (Unrestricted).

Upon receipt of this information Penrith City Council will review the information and consider issuing an amended Fire Safety Schedule under S80A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021.

Fees associated to the reissue of Fire Safety Schedule under S80A

Significant costs are incurred by Council in reviewing submissions and reissuing a Fire Safety Schedule. As these requirements apply only to owners of buildings with fire safety measures, it would be unreasonable to recover these costs from all ratepayers. Council has therefore applied a set of fees associated with the reissue of Fire Safety Schedules. The fees are payable by the owner of the property. A reissued Fire Safety Schedule will be released upon payment of the associated fee. View Council's Fees & Charges (pdf 1.5MB) – see Fire Safety and Certification - Professional and Administration fees. Fees and Charges

What will happen if an Annual Fire Safety statement is not submitted by the due date?

Failure to give Council an annual fire safety statement by the due date constitutes a separate offence for each week beyond that date for which the failure continues.

The serious nature of non-compliance with fire safety requirements is reflected by the substantial penalties provided for in the EP&A Act 1979. 

Proceedings for such an offence may be taken before a Local Court where a maximum fine of $110,000 may be imposed, or Council may issue Penalty Notices which range from:

• $1,000 for the first week of the offence
• $2,000 for the second week of the offence
• $3,000 for the third week of the offence
• $4,000 per week for the fourth and subsequent weeks of the offence. 

An incomplete statement may still attract at least a $1,000 Penalty Notice and failure to maintain an essential fire safety measure may attract an additional $6,000 Penalty Notice.In some circumstances, Council will issue one further notice in lieu of a Penalty Notice advising the building owner that the Annual Fire Safety Statement is overdue. This overdue notice will attract a further fee - see Council's Fees & Charges.

Requests to extend statement due date

Where an annual fire safety statement cannot be submitted due to legitimate unanticipated site event/circumstance, Council may consider an application to extend the due date for statement submission.

Requests for an extension of time to submit the statement can be a made via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; information as to the reason (e.g. unanticipated repair work) and the completion date must be included in the email.

Council is unlikely to grant any extension of time in the event of poor compliance behaviour and / or where development type work is proposed to be carried out.

Further information

Further information on recent changes to fire safety legislation and Competent Fire Safety Practitioners (CFSP’s) can be found on the NSW Planning & Environment website.

Useful Links

• Fire & Rescue NSW