Fire Safety Upgrades in Strata Buildings: What's Actually Mandatory

A council can issue a fire safety order, and your owners corporation can appeal it in the Land and Environment Court. Fire and Rescue NSW can issue the same kind of order under the same legislation and in most cases, you can't appeal it at all.

That difference matters more than most guidance on this topic lets on. Not every fire safety upgrade obligation carries the same weight, and which authority is asking and under what power, changes what options are actually on the table.

Building Commission NSW has set out exactly when a fire safety upgrade is mandatory, when it isn't, and where a voluntary improvement fits in. Five triggers create a legal obligation. Everything else, including a fresh recommendation from your fire safety contractor after a routine inspection, is a decision your committee gets to make, not a requirement it has to meet.

This applies specifically to Class 2 buildings – the classification covering most multi-unit residential strata developments, where people live above and below each other.

The three categories at a glance

Category	What it means	Who decides
Mandatory	Legally required, tied to one of five specific triggers	Council, Fire and Rescue NSW, or a consent authority
Not required	Existing measures still meet the building's fire safety schedule	Nobody – this is the default position
Voluntary	The owners corporation chooses to exceed the current standard	The owners corporation, as a capital planning decision

When an upgrade is mandatory

1. Fire safety orders and why the appeal path matters

Local councils or Fire and Rescue NSW can issue a fire safety order under Division 9.3 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The order can mandate new installations or upgrades to bring a building into partial or full compliance with the Building Code of Australia.

If a council issues the order, it has to notify the owner first – setting out the intent and terms, a compliance timeframe, and the right to make representations. Owners can engage legal representation and appeal to the Land and Environment Court.

If Fire and Rescue NSW issues the order, none of that appeal path applies. The one exception is an order that stops someone using or entering the premises.

This is worth sitting with before a committee decides how to respond to an order: two orders that look identical on paper can put you in very different procedural positions depending on who signed them.

Ignoring an order doesn't make the obligation go away, and it carries real financial and legal exposure for the owners corporation and, in some circumstances, individual committee members, covered in more depth in our guide to fire safety liability in NSW.

2. A Development Application for a change of use

If a DA proposes changing how the building is used, the fire protection and structural capacity have to match the new use. Sprinklers, smoke detection and emergency egress all get assessed against category 1 fire safety provisions before approval.

3. A Development Application involving building work

If proposed and previous building work together exceed half the building's volume or the existing fire safety measures can't support the new work, authorities can require upgrades to current BCA standards. The 50% volume threshold catches a lot of committees off guard, particularly on buildings that have had staged renovations over several years.

4. Complying Development Certificates

CDCs for building work or a change of use get assessed for fire safety upgrades under sections 142 and 143 of the EP&A Regulation 2021. Same underlying logic as a DA, different approval pathway.

5. Smoke alarm provisions

Every building where people sleep needs smoke alarms to the locations and specifications in Part 13 of the EP&A (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021. This applies regardless of whether any of the other four triggers are in play.

When an upgrade is not required

Routine inspection and maintenance by your fire safety contractor doesn't, by itself, create an obligation to upgrade. An upgrade is only required if an existing measure fails to meet the minimum standard of performance in the building's fire safety schedule – the same document that underpins your Annual Fire Safety Statement and even then, it has to come through one of the five triggers above to become mandatory.

The fire safety schedule sets a floor, not a moving target. If your systems meet it, there's no legal obligation to replace them just because a newer standard exists elsewhere. A contractor's recommendation is professional advice worth weighing. It isn't a compliance requirement on its own.

Voluntary improvements

Owners corporations can upgrade beyond what's legally required: better detection, additional suppression, improved egress. These stay voluntary unless a later approval process pulls them in, for instance if a future DA for a change of use ends up requiring the fire safety measures to match.

Treat voluntary upgrades as a capital planning decision, not a compliance one. They belong in the 10-year capital works fund on their own merits, assessed against cost and risk reduction rather than fear of an obligation that doesn't actually exist.

Working out which category applies

The consent authority (usually your local council, or the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure for larger projects) can confirm whether a recommended upgrade is mandatory or voluntary. An accredited practitioner can also assess your fire safety schedule against the recommendation and tell you, in writing, which category it falls into.

Bring these four documents to that conversation:

• the fire safety schedule

• recent inspection reports

• the current Annual Fire Safety Statement

• any existing approvals or fire safety orders

Our strata fire safety compliance checklist covers the same documentation in more detail, along with what to keep on file year-round.

If your committee is sitting on an upgrade recommendation and isn't sure which category it falls into, EverSure Fire can review the fire safety schedule against it and give you a straight answer before you commit capital works funds either way.

FAQ

Can we get a second opinion before agreeing to an upgrade our fire safety contractor recommends?

Yes. A recommendation isn't a compliance order, so there's no obligation to act on it immediately. An independent accredited practitioner can review the same fire safety schedule and confirm whether the recommendation reflects an actual shortfall or a voluntary enhancement.

What happens if we ignore a fire safety order?

Non-compliance can lead to penalty notices, further enforcement action, and prosecution. The order doesn't expire because it's inconvenient, and delaying a response generally narrows your options rather than buying time.

Do voluntary upgrades still need council approval?

Sometimes. Whether the upgrade is legally mandatory and whether it needs a DA or CDC are two separate questions. Structural changes or works affecting fire safety measures can require approval even when nothing compels the upgrade itself.

How long do we have to comply once a fire safety order is issued?

There's no fixed statutory number. The order sets its own compliance timeframe, and council must state it as part of the notification. Timeframes vary with the scope of work and the severity of the risk identified.

This article provides general information about fire safety upgrade obligations under the EP&A Act 1979 and associated NSW regulations as of August 2026. It is not legal advice. Consult a qualified fire safety practitioner or your consent authority for guidance specific to your building.