Accredited Practitioners (Fire Safety): Who They Are, What They Do, and Why Your Building Needs One

An Annual Fire Safety Statement isn't valid just because someone signed it. It's valid because the person who signed it was legally entitled to. Under NSW's fire safety reforms, certain functions, including endorsing your AFSS, can only be carried out by an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety), and getting that wrong doesn't just risk a rejected statement. It can leave a building owner exposed at exactly the moment they thought they were covered.

This article sets out who these practitioners actually are, which specific tasks require their accreditation (and which don't), and how to check that the person signing off on your building is actually entitled to.

The name changed, and a lot of the industry hasn't caught up

If you've been managing fire compliance for more than a few years, you've probably seen the title "Competent Fire Safety Practitioner" (CFSP) more often than "Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety)" (APFS). That's not a coincidence — CFSP was the term introduced when the requirement first came into effect in October 2017, and a large share of the industry, including plenty of council and strata guidance still in circulation, never updated the wording.

The current framework sits under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 and the Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021, with accreditation authorised under the Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018. Fire Protection Association Australia's (FPA Australia) accreditation scheme, the one that actually accredits individual practitioners, was formally approved in July 2020. "APFS" is the term used in the current regulations and by NSW councils; "CFSP" is the older term you'll still find on plenty of legacy documents, including, until recently, our own compliance page.

The practical takeaway: if a contractor, a council notice, or a strata manager refers to a "CFSP," they mean the same role that's now formally called an APFS. What matters isn't which term is used — it's whether the person is actually accredited, for the right things.

What an Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety) is actually accredited to do

APFS accreditation isn't a general fire safety qualification — it authorises specific functions under the regulation. An accredited practitioner is required for:

• Endorsing plans and specifications for relevant fire safety systems

• Endorsing fire safety performance solution reports

• Endorsing exemptions to the Building Code of Australia for minor works to existing fire safety systems

• Assessing the ongoing performance of essential fire safety measures and endorsing the Annual Fire Safety Statement

Notably, there's no requirement to be accredited to install, maintain, test, or service essential fire safety measures. A licensed technician can carry out your fire pumpset servicing or your hydrant and sprinkler testing without holding APFS accreditation. Where accreditation becomes mandatory is the sign-off — the point where someone formally assesses that a measure meets its required standard and puts their name to it on your AFSS.

This distinction trips up a lot of building owners. The person who serviced your system all year and the person legally entitled to endorse that it's compliant on your Annual Fire Safety Statement aren't necessarily the same qualification.

Accreditation is measure-specific, not a blanket licence

This is the part most guidance skips entirely: accreditation is granted per essential fire safety measure, not as a single all-purpose credential. A practitioner accredited to assess fire doors and passive fire protection isn't automatically accredited to assess sprinkler systems or emergency lifts, each falls under its own competency.

Your building's Fire Safety Schedule, shaped by its building classification, can list well over thirty distinct essential fire safety measures — everything from fire doors and dampers to hydrant systems and evacuation planning. A practitioner needs to hold accreditation for every measure on that specific schedule before they can endorse your statement. "They're APFS accredited" isn't actually a complete answer — accredited for what, and does it cover everything your schedule requires?

How to actually verify someone's accreditation

FPA Australia maintains the Fire Safety Assessment practitioner register at fpaa.com.au, where you can search by name and see exactly which essential measures a specific practitioner is accredited to assess.

Before you rely on anyone to endorse your AFSS, it's worth checking three things: that they appear on the register at all, that their listed accreditation actually covers every measure on your Fire Safety Schedule (not just the ones they mentioned), and that their professional indemnity insurance is current. A practitioner accredited for eight measures out of your schedule's eleven can still sign, but only for those eight, and a statement missing coverage for the remaining three isn't a complete AFSS.

What happens when no one is accredited for a measure

Occasionally a building has a fire safety measure for which no practitioner in the area holds accreditation. The regulation has a specific answer for this: under clause 65 of the Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2020, a certifier can treat someone as competent to perform that function, but only once the Commissioner of Fair Trading is satisfied no accredited practitioner is available to do it. It isn't a workaround a building owner or contractor can invoke on their own, and it isn't intended as a routine substitute for accreditation.

What happens if the wrong person signs

An AFSS endorsed by someone without the right accreditation isn't a technicality — councils can and do query or reject statements where the assessor's credentials don't check out. That puts you back at square one close to (or past) your due date, with the same exposure the AFSS process exists to prevent: potential enforcement action, fines, and personal liability for the owner or owners corporation if the building's fire safety measures were never properly verified in the first place.

Why this matters at every stage, not just AFSS time

Accredited practitioners aren't only relevant once a year. Their sign-off is required at several distinct points:

During design or construction — endorsing the fire safety plans and specifications before work proceeds, and signing off any BCA exemption for minor works to existing systems.

When a performance-based solution is proposed — rather than a standard deemed-to-satisfy design, endorsing the fire safety performance solution report.

Annually, or on any supplementary statement — assessing every essential measure on the schedule and endorsing the AFSS itself.

For strata committees and commercial owners, the annual cycle is usually where this becomes visible, but if your building is mid-upgrade or relying on a performance solution rather than a standard system, you'll need APFS sign-off well before your next AFSS is due.

Questions worth asking before your next AFSS is due

• Do you actually know which essential fire safety measures are listed on your building's schedule, or are you assuming your provider has it covered?

• Has anyone checked that your practitioner's accreditation covers every one of those measures, not just most of them?

• If a council queried who signed your last statement, could you produce evidence they were accredited to do it?

If any of those questions gives you pause, it's worth resolving before your next statement is due, not after a council notice arrives.

FAQ

What replaced the term "Competent Fire Safety Practitioner"?"

Accredited Practitioner (Fire Safety)" is the term used in the current regulations. CFSP was the original name introduced in 2017; APFS is the same accredited role under the current framework, and the two terms are still used interchangeably in a lot of older documents.

Do I need an accredited practitioner for routine fire equipment servicing?

No. Installation, maintenance, testing, and servicing of essential fire safety measures don't require APFS accreditation. Accreditation is only mandatory for endorsing plans, performance solutions, BCA exemptions, and the Annual Fire Safety Statement itself.

Can one accredited practitioner sign off my entire AFSS?

Only if their accreditation covers every essential fire safety measure listed on your building's Fire Safety Schedule. Accreditation is granted per measure, so a schedule with a wide range of measures may need a practitioner accredited across all of them.

What happens if no practitioner is accredited for a measure on my schedule?

A certifier can deem a person competent under clause 65 of the Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2020, but only once the Commissioner of Fair Trading is satisfied no accredited practitioner is available. It isn't something a building owner can determine independently.

How do I check if a practitioner is legitimately accredited?

Search FPA Australia's Fire Safety Assessment register at fpaa.com.au, and confirm their listed accreditation covers every measure on your specific schedule, not just the ones they've told you about.

Is a Fire Safety Certificate the same as an Annual Fire Safety Statement?

No — the Fire Safety Certificate applies to new building work at completion, while the AFSS is the recurring annual (or supplementary) statement covering an existing building's essential fire safety measures.

This article is general information only, not legal advice. Regulations, registers, and accreditation requirements are subject to change. Always verify current requirements directly with FPA Australia or your local council before relying on any practitioner's accreditation.