MINUTES
WELLINGTON BRANCH
TRAINING AND NETWORKING EVENT
held on
TUESDAY, 20th FEBRUARY 2018
at
FIRE AND EMERGENCY NEW ZEALAND, NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS
LEVEL 12, 80 THE TERRACE,
WELLINGTON
Welcome:
Attendees were welcomed by Wayne Goodfellow the Wellington Branch Chairperson
Attendance: Richard London (MBIE), George Mason (Porirua City Council), Te Zhang (Wellington City Council), Dwayne Murphy (WCC), Jeremy Strongman (WCC), Pete Burnet (WCC), Bruce Symon (Realsure), Craig Watson (Kapiti Coast District Council), Sharleen McArtney (KCDC), Mark Fitzpatrick (WCC), Barry Harlen (WCC), Tom Edhouse (BRANZ), Gary Higham (MBIE), Murray Usmar (MBIE), Pete Geraghty (WCC), Steve Kallahar (WCC), Maggie Kay (WCC), Jason Goei (BOINZ), Inke G-Humphris (WCC), James Firestone (FENZ), Nirav Patel (Vishnu Fire Safety), Wayne Goodfellow (FENZ), Trent Fearnley (FENZ), Nicola Hakes (BOINZ).
Apologies: Michael Portenes (Realsure Ltd), George Mason (Porirua City Council), Rob Tierney (Holmes Farsight), Richard Nation (NPI), Adrian Cullen (South Wairarapa District Council), Chris Scott (Wellington City Council), Katharine Wheeler (Kapiti Coast District Council), Peter Webb (Mainland Claims), Matt Grant (MBIE), Tim Watson (Holmes Farsight), Natalie Hardy (Holmes Farsight), Mike Reedy (MBIE), Craig Ewart (Hutt City Council), Bruce Glasgow (Artisan), Brad Hislop (MBIE), Derek Kerite (Hutt City Council).
Minutes and Matters Arising:
Postponed
Correspondence In/Out:
Discussed informally the during training event
• The 51st BOINZ Conference 2018 is in Dunedin this year.
• Training Calendar is available on the BOINZ Website, a new qualification rollout is about to be announced and training providers are gearing up to deliver it.
General Business:
• Introduction of Jason Goei and Nicola Hakes as new support staff at BOINZ Head Office.
• Discussion regarding PS4’s (producer statements) and co-ordination statements under IPENZ Practice Note P22, it would be good to get a legend of passive fire protection and penetrations. it was noted that this was a specialist field and that it could be provided through a third-party installer. There was a Suggestion to follow up with FPANZ as they have a special interest group.
Main Presentation:
National Fire Risk Management – Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Trent Fearnley (National Advisor Fire Risk - Fire Risk Management Unit)
James firestone (Fire Engineer - Fire Engineering Unit)
Members were welcomed to the National Head Quarters of the recently formed Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ).
Trent Fearnley outlined the structure of the new organisation and briefly discussed the new FENZ Act that they operate under. Under the new organisation; urban, rural and volunteer fire fighters work under one umbrella – FENZ. Also, the functions of Urban search and rescue, medical response, vehicle accidents, hazardous emergencies and public assistance are also covered, which more reflects the services and expertise of the modern fire service.
Trent then introduced the Four R’s which underpin the organisations management and response of fire in New Zealand. He then went on to explain each R - Reduction, Readiness, Response and Recovery.
Reduction – Fire Risk Management. This aspect looks at managing the risk through the Resource and Building Consent process. Trent discussed the introduction of the Code of Practise Fire Fighting Water Supplies. It is produced by FENZ through the Standards NZ process then offered to Territorial Authorities (TA) to use. The Code of Practise specifies the amount of water required to fight a fire and provides options for the suitable provision of water. While the document is voluntary a number of TA’s have adopted it as part of their District plan, for example Gisborne. Trent noted that it was the owners risk to supply adequate water, but that a tension existed when land is developed by developers rather than individuals as the end user may not have control of the water being provided.
Fire Engineering Unit - James discussed the Fire Engineering Unit’s (FEU) involvement with the Building Consent process. Members were reminded of the requirement to notify FENZ under sections 46/47 of the Building Act (the Act). James explained the reasoning behind some of the advice provided to TA’s regarding fire fighting provisions. Each fire appliance (truck) arrived with 4 fire fighters, the truck has approximately 1800 litres of water which is equivalent to five minutes of firefighting. What this means is that Fire fighters need to have access to water to fight fires. He reiterated the need to consider the provision of firefighting water at the time of consent. Another factor is that fire doesn’t know about legal boundaries, which is why each site needs adequate water provision.
James discussed that bringing in the fire engineer early in the design process can help start discussions to provide a technical interface for the project. Members learned that originally there were eight regions with eight fire engineers and one principal at the National Headquarters. This has now been changed to three regions with 10 fire engineers (Auckland/Wellington/ Christchurch). James noted that under the Act, Councils only had to ‘consider’ the advice from the FEU. For this reason, the FEU has a significant role in educating industry. James noted the gazette notice can be confusing at times and that the FEU is always happy to help and provide an opinion. The FEU team want to provide value to the consenting discussions. While they provide advice specific to the means of escape and provision of facilities for firefighting, they are fire engineers and are happy to discuss issues that consenting officers may have.
Members were encouraged to provide feedback to the FEU team, so they can provide better advice. The FEU team wanted to hear back about the projects they advise on. Often, they never hear back about the decisions made for a site until they turn up onsite for an inspection or a fire. James discussed that getting advice back in 10 days is a key deliverable for the FEU. Advice is first drafted and then goes through a three-tier check before being sent to Council
1) Review,
2) Quality Assurance check,
3) Approval.
The group discussed a concern over what improvements could be attributed to risk during the consenting process. This was in relation to being able to steer applicants to providing the appropriate intervention. James noted that Building officers could call the FEU to discuss any issues or to provide additional information at no charge. They would prefer to close the loop to ensure a good outcome. James also noted the value of having good fire plans. Easy to read plans made everyone more aware of fire separations and provisions for fire protection. He showed and example of some well laid out plans (below). For fire fighters turning up onsite, knowing where the Fire Alarm Panel was, could save someone’s life. Designers were encouraged to reference a fire report plan when marking up plans to ensure they included the same provisions for fire.
Reduction - Trent continued the discussion talking about evacuation schemes for buildings. New regulations for evacuation schemes were being drafted. While the schemes are sent to National Headquarters, they are approved at a local level. In the same way the approval of fire panel locations is also done locally and required an ‘approved’ stamp. Members also learned about the three tiers of the fire safety survey undertaken by FENZ.
Tier 1) Recommendations (fire calls)
Tier 2) Fire Risk Management look and inspect the whole building
Tier 3) Dangerous and Insanitary letter of recommendation
Surveys contain a report identifying any items or issues that are of concern, for example a missing fire escape ladder. A number of clarifications have been made and training has been provided, including a definition of ‘imminent danger’.
Trent finished up the presentation with a summary of the extra work FENZ do as part of the public safety awareness programmes across the country, such as ‘Fire wise, home safety checks, product recalls. He also discussed the research that FENZ is doing and the way they are helping to inform public policy through a risk reduction strategy. Finally, Trent gave a cameo for the national training programme which he heads up. Members learned about the new qualification ‘New Zealand Diploma in Fire Engineering’, which is a mid-level qualification to bridge the education to employment gap in the sector. The qualification was also open to people already in employment and interested in fire engineering as part of their career pathway.
Special Thanks to:
• James Firestone – FENZ Fire Engineering Unit
• Trent Fearnley – FENZ National Fire Risk Manager
• Fire and Emergency New Zealand for refreshments and the use of their meeting room at the National Headquarters
At 6:00pm the meeting was closed by the Wellington Branch Chairperson Wayne Goodfellow
Richard London
Wellington Branch Secretary
Richard.London@facio.co.nz
