When is the annual fire safety statement due in NSW?

Within 12 months after the previous statement was given to council or, if a fire safety certificate was issued in that period, within 12 months of the certificate, whichever is later. The assessment must fall within the 3 months before the statement is issued.

Who can sign an annual fire safety statement?

The owner, or an agent with the owner's prior authority. Under the approved form, the signer cannot be an accredited practitioner named on the statement, or that practitioner's employer, employee or direct associate.

Do I need AS 1851 records for the AFSS?

Since 13 February 2026, measures covered by AS 1851-2012 must be inspected, tested and serviced to it, unless an approved performance solution sets the routine, and the records must be kept on site for at least 7 years. AS 1851 is separate from the statement, and not every AS 1851 item has to be complete before lodgement. The practitioner must still inspect and verify each measure, and may take the AS 1851 results into account.

What happens if the AFSS is late?

Each week late is a separate offence, with penalty notices rising from $1,000 in the first week to $4,000 from the fourth. Tell council as soon as you know you may be late. Telling council does not change the due date.

Where does the annual fire safety statement go?

To council (for premises in the Alpine Region, to the Minister instead), to Fire and Rescue NSW with the current fire safety schedule, and on display in the building with the schedule.

Can software produce the annual fire safety statement?

No. The statement is the approved NSW form, issued by or for the owner on an accredited practitioner's assessment. Software can hold the records for each measure and put them in front of the practitioner. It does not replace the signed AS 1851 logbook record left on site.

NSW annual fire safety statement checklist

Once a year, the owner of a NSW building with essential fire safety measures, or an agent with the owner's authority, signs an annual fire safety statement (AFSS). It says an accredited practitioner (fire safety) has assessed every measure and inspected the exits. The signature takes a minute. Whether you can sign with confidence depends on what you collected in the 12 months before it.

By Arbab Shah, asset and facilities manager. A practitioner's guide, not legal advice. It reflects the NSW regulation and NSW Government guidance as at October 2026. Check the current regulation, your building's fire safety schedule and your council's requirements before you rely on specifics.

What the statement says, and what it does not

The duty sits in Part 12 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021. It covers every building with essential fire safety measures other than a class 1a or class 10 building or a temporary structure (section 87).

The statement is issued by or on behalf of the owner, and it says two things. An accredited practitioner (fire safety), the APFS, assessed each essential fire safety measure as capable of performing to at least the standard in the building's fire safety schedule, or to its original design standard if it is not on the schedule. And an APFS inspected the building and found nothing that would ground a prosecution under Part 15, the part of the Regulation covering fire safety notices, fire exits, paths of travel and fire exit doors.

The notes to the approved form are plain: the signer is not declaring that each measure meets its standard, only that an APFS assessed it and found it capable. The practitioner carries the technical judgement. The owner carries the duty to maintain the measures all year (ss 81 and 81A), and cannot hand that duty to an agent.

So the pack has two jobs: let the practitioner verify each measure, and let the signer see what the assessment found.

Who does what

The owner maintains every essential fire safety measure and gives council the statement each year. The owner can be a person, a company or an owners corporation.
The owner's agent, such as a strata manager or an authorised employee, can sign with the owner's prior authority.
The APFS assesses each measure and inspects the exits. Owners choose one from the register of an approved scheme, at the time of writing FPA Australia's Fire Protection Accreditation Scheme. For a measure the scheme does not cover, the owner decides who is competent to assess it, and the form records that person's name instead of an accreditation number.
The fire contractor carries out routine service under AS 1851-2012, or under the approved performance solution where there is one. That work does not need accreditation, though specialist trade work may need a licence.
Council receives the statement and is the main enforcer. Fire and Rescue NSW receives a copy, can inspect the building and ask to see the logbooks, and can act on blocked exits and missing fire safety notices.

One rule on the approved form catches facilities teams out. The person who signs must not be an APFS named on the statement, or that practitioner's employer, employee or direct associate. If your fire contractor employs the APFS, the contractor cannot sign for you as your agent, so keep the declaration with the owner or with an agent who has no tie to the practitioner.

The evidence pack, item by item

1. The current fire safety schedule

The schedule is the spine. It lists every fire safety measure for the whole building and its minimum standard of performance, and it names any critical measures with the intervals, shorter than 12 months, at which they need a supplementary statement. A later schedule replaces an earlier one, so hold the latest and check it still matches the building after fit outs.

If the schedule is lost or destroyed, or council is satisfied it has errors or omissions, the owner can ask council to reissue it (s 80A). That route is not available where the errors come from building work the approvals did not authorise or from changed fire safety plans, so take a mismatch after a fit out to your certifier or council. The owner of a building with original measures but no schedule can ask council for a schedule of them (s 81(2)). A copy of the current schedule goes with the statement, to Fire and Rescue NSW, and on display.

2. One record per measure

The approved form has a table: each measure, its minimum standard of performance, the dates it was assessed, and the accreditation number of the APFS who assessed it (or their name, where accreditation is not required). Build the pack in the same shape. One record per measure, carrying its standard from the schedule, serves the practitioner and the signer alike.

3. The routine service record behind each measure

Since 13 February 2026, section 81A requires the owner to have each essential fire safety measure inspected, tested and serviced in line with the approved performance solution where one covers that activity, and otherwise in line with AS 1851-2012 (including its amendments) where the standard covers it. The records AS 1851 or the performance solution calls for must be kept on site at the building for at least 7 years and shown to council or Fire and Rescue NSW on request.

Building Commission NSW's good practice guide lists routines from monthly to every 30 years. For each measure, hold the logbook entry for every routine (date, result, who did it), the tags and summary records for equipment such as extinguishers, and the yearly condition report, which the guide calls strong supporting evidence that the owner has taken reasonable steps to maintain the measures.

A digital record can sit alongside the paper, but it cannot replace it. AS 1851 requires a printed and signed record left on site at the end of each routine service, and Building Commission NSW says an electronic register cannot yet replace the physical logbook. Measures the standard does not cover, such as emergency lighting, still have to be maintained to the standard on the schedule. For existing buildings, Building Commission NSW expects the first yearly AS 1851 service to be completed in February 2027.

4. The defect loop

Building Commission NSW describes three outcomes under the standard. A critical defect means the system cannot operate and must be fixed as soon as possible. A non critical defect will not critically affect its operation but should have a plan to fix it. A non conformance is usually missing or incorrect information. For each one, hold the finding and the dates, and the fix and retest where there is one.

This is where statements are often weakest. The defect went to a contractor's inbox, the repair happened, and the retest was never written down.

5. The assessment and the exit inspection

Every measure must be assessed, and the exits inspected, within the 3 months before the statement is issued (s 88(2)). The practitioner must inspect and verify the performance of each measure (s 88(4)), so paperwork alone is not enough. Each APFS signs the form, or gives you a separate signed document covering what they assessed.

The exit inspection looks for clear fire exits and paths of travel, unobstructed fire exit doors, and the fire safety notice beside each door into a fire isolated stairway, passageway or ramp. Walk these yourself first. They are the easiest findings to prevent.

6. Supplementary statements

Each critical measure needs a supplementary statement at the interval on the schedule, assessed within the month before it is issued (s 90(2)). Supplementary statements go to council, to Fire and Rescue NSW and on display, and a late one is its own offence (s 91). Keep them in the pack.

The two clocks

Three months. The assessment and exit inspection must fall within the 3 months before the statement is issued (s 88(2)).
Twelve months. The statement must reach council within 12 months after the last one was given to council or, if a fire safety certificate was issued in the previous 12 months, within 12 months of that certificate, whichever is later (s 89(2)).

Work backwards. In practice, booking the practitioner 6 to 10 weeks before the due date leaves time to fix what the assessment finds, have it reassessed, and still issue inside the window.

Lodging and displaying the statement

Use the approved form NSW Planning publishes, without changes. NSW Planning warns that altering it, even adding a letterhead or logo, may contravene the Regulation.

Lodge with council by the due date, through council's own channel. Methods vary and many councils charge an administration fee. For premises in the Alpine Region, the statement goes to the Minister instead (s 89(6)).
As soon as practicable after the statement is issued, give Fire and Rescue NSW a copy with the current schedule, through the online lodgement route set out in the notes to the approved form.
As soon as practicable, display a copy of the statement and the schedule prominently in the building (s 89(4)).

Keep council's acknowledgement and the Fire and Rescue NSW confirmation. Next year's due date runs from the day this statement was given to council.

Penalties

Failing to give council the statement is an offence (s 89(1)), and each week it stays late is a separate offence (s 89(3)). Penalty notices are $1,000 for the first week, $2,000 for the second, $3,000 for the third and $4,000 for the fourth and each later week, for individuals and corporations alike. In court the maximum is 400 penalty units for an individual and 800 for a corporation ($44,000 and $88,000 at $110 a unit). Not displaying the statement is a separate offence.

Failing to maintain the measures (s 81), or to have them inspected, tested and serviced to AS 1851 or the performance solution (s 81A), carries a court maximum of 300 penalty units for an individual and 600 for a corporation ($33,000 and $66,000). Not keeping the records on site is a separate offence.

If the assessment finds a measure that is not capable of performing, the practitioner cannot assess it as capable and the statement cannot be issued as it stands. Fix it and have it reassessed inside the window. If that puts the due date at risk, Building Commission NSW asks owners to tell council straight away and work with council on a solution. Telling council does not change the due date.

Compile it as the year runs, not in the final week

The final week scramble has a familiar shape. Chasing the contractor for logbooks. Finding the schedule is two fit outs out of date. Discovering a March defect that was never retested. Each is a record that should have been made when the work happened. Building Commission NSW's guide makes the same point: maintenance is continuous work, not an annual task.

A year that is ready for the statement looks like this:

At the start of the cycle, check the schedule against the building and make each measure one record that carries its standard, its routines and, if critical, its supplementary interval.
At every routine visit, the result lands on that measure's record the same day, and the signed hard copy stays on site.
Every defect becomes its own job with a fix and a retest, and stays open until the retest is recorded.
When the contractor changes, the history and the logbook stay with the building.
Before the practitioner visits, they receive the schedule, the record per measure, the condition report and the open defects, so the visit is verification rather than archaeology.

FMIQ Nexus is built for this way of working. Each measure can be held as an asset on its building with its routines, and visits, defects and their follow up jobs are recorded against it as the work is done, so the records are in one place before the practitioner arrives. It holds what is recorded from the day you start. It does not replace the hard copy logbook on site, the practitioner's assessment or the owner's declaration.

A short AFSS checklist

The current fire safety schedule is on file and matches the building today.
Every measure on the schedule has one record carrying its standard of performance.
Every AS 1851 routine in the cycle has a date, a name and a result, with the signed hard copy on site.
The latest yearly condition report is in hand. For existing buildings, Building Commission NSW expects the first yearly AS 1851 service by February 2027.
Every critical defect has a fix and a retest recorded. Every non critical defect and non conformance has a recorded plan.
Exits, fire exit doors and fire safety notices have been walked before the practitioner arrives.
The APFS is booked inside the 3 month window.
The signer is the owner or an authorised agent, independent of the APFS.

Eight ticks and the signature is the easy part. Fewer, and the gap is usually the defect loop.

The NSW annual fire safety statement evidence pack: what to hold before you sign