Part C1 Fire resistance

The Objective of Parts C1, C2, C3 and C4 is to—

1. safeguard people from illness or injury due to a fire in a building; and
2. safeguard occupants from illness or injury while evacuating a building during a fire; and
3. facilitate the activities of emergency services personnel; and
4. avoid the spread of fire between buildings; and
5. protect other property from physical damage caused by structural failure of a building as a result of fire

A building is to be constructed to maintain structural stability during fire to—

1. allow occupants time to evacuate safely; and
2. allow for fire brigade intervention; and
3. avoid damage to other property.

A building is to be provided with safeguards to prevent fire spread—

1. so that occupants have time to evacuate safely without being overcome by the effects of fire; and
2. to allow for fire brigade intervention; and
3. to sole-occupancy units providing sleeping accommodation; and
4. to adjoining fire compartments; and
5. between buildings.

A building must have elements which will, to the degree necessary, maintain structural stability during a fire appropriate to—

1. the function or use of the building; and
2. the fire load; and
3. the potential fire intensity; and
4. the fire hazard; and
5. the height of the building; and
6. its proximity to other property; and
7. any active fire safety systems installed in the building; and
8. the size of any fire compartment; and
9. fire brigade intervention; and
10. other elements they support; and
11. the evacuation time.

(1) A building must have elements which will, to the degree necessary, avoid the spread of fire—

1. to exits; and
2. to sole-occupancy units and public corridors; and
3. between buildings; and
4. in a building.

(2) Avoidance of the spread of fire referred to in (1) must be appropriate to—

1. the function or use of the building; and
2. the fire load; and
3. the potential fire intensity; and
4. the fire hazard; and
5. the number of storeys in the building; and
6. its proximity to other property; and
7. any active fire safety systems installed in the building; and
8. the size of any fire compartment; and
9. fire brigade intervention; and
10. other elements they support; and
11. the evacuation time.

A building must be protected from the spread of fire and smoke to allow sufficient time for the orderly evacuation of the building in an emergency.

To maintain tenable conditions during occupant evacuation, a material and an assembly must, to the degree necessary, resist the spread of fire and limit the generation of smoke and heat, and any toxic gases likely to be produced, appropriate to—

1. the evacuation time; and
2. the number, mobility and other characteristics of occupants; and
3. the function or use of the building; and
4. any active fire safety systems installed in the building.

A concrete external wall that could collapse as a complete panel (e.g. tilt-up and pre-cast concrete) must be designed so that in the event of fire within the building the likelihood of outward collapse is avoided.

A building must have elements, which will, to the degree necessary, avoid the spread of fire from service equipment having—

1. a high fire hazard; or
2. a potential for explosion resulting from a high fire hazard.

A building must have elements, which will, to the degree necessary, avoid the spread of fire so that emergency equipment provided in a building will continue to operate for a period of time necessary to ensure that the intended function of the equipment is maintained during a fire.

Any building element provided to resist the spread of fire must be protected, to the degree necessary, so that an adequate level of performance is maintained—

1. where openings, construction joints and the like occur; and
2. where penetrations occur for building services.

Access must be provided to and around a building, to the degree necessary, for fire brigade vehicles and personnel to facilitate fire brigade intervention appropriate to—

1. the function or use of the building; and
2. the fire load; and
3. the potential fire intensity; and
4. the fire hazard; and
5. any active fire safety systems installed in the building; and
6. the size of any fire compartment.

Compliance with C1P2(1)(c) to avoid the spread of fire between buildings on adjoining allotments is verified when it is calculated that—

1. a building will not cause heat flux in excess of those set out in Column 2 of Table C1V1 at the location on an adjoining property set out in Column 1 of Table C1V1; and
2. when located at the distances from the allotment boundary set out in Column 1 of Table C1V1, a building is capable of withstanding the heat flux set out in Column 2 of Table C1V1 without ignition.

Compliance with C1P2(1)(c) to avoid the spread of fire between buildings on the same allotment is verified when, for the distances between buildings set out in Column 1 of Table C1V2, it is calculated that a building—

1. is capable of withstanding the heat flux set out in Column 2 of Table C1V2 without ignition; and
2. will not cause heat flux in excess of those set out in Column 2 of Table C1V2.

Compliance with C1P2 to avoid the spread of fire via the external wall of a building is verified when—

1. compliance with C1P2(1)(c) to avoid the spread of fire between buildings, where applicable, is verified in accordance with C1V1 or C1V2, as appropriate; and
2. the external wall system—
   1. has been tested for external wall (EW) performance in accordance with AS 5113; and
   2. has achieved the classification EW; and
   3. if containing a cavity, incorporates cavity barriers and these cavity barriers have been included in the test performed under (i) at the perimeter of each floor; and
3. in a building of Type A construction, the building is protected throughout by a sprinkler system (other than a FPAA101D or FPAA101H system) complying with Specification 17 and has—
   1. sprinkler protection to balconies, patios and terraces, and where overhead sprinkler coverage is not achieved alongside the external wall, sidewall sprinkler heads are provided at the external wall for the extent of the balcony, patio or terrace where overhead sprinkler coverage is not achieved; and
   2. for a building with an effective height more than 25 m—
      1. monitored stop valves provided at each floor level arranged to allow the isolation of the floor level containing the stop valve while maintaining protection to the remainder of the building; and
      2. the sprinkler system being capable of providing sufficient flow to serve the design area required by AS 2118.1 for the relevant hazard class on each floor level plus the design area required by AS 2118.1 for the floor level above, except where the former level is either the floor level below the uppermost roof, or any floor level that is wholly below ground; and
4. in a building of Type B construction, the building is—
   1. a Class 5, 6, 7 or 8 building or Class 4 part of a building; or
   2. a Class 2, 3 or 9 building that—
      1. is protected throughout by a sprinkler system (other than a FPAA101D or FPAA101H system) complying with Specification 17; or
      2. has any openings in external walls separated by a slab or other horizontal construction complying with C3D7(1)(d) as if the building were of Type A construction.

(1) Compliance with C1P1, C1P2, C1P3, C1P4, C1P5, C1P6, C1P7, C1P8 and C1P9 is verified when a building is designed in accordance with—

1. the requirements of (2), (3), (4), (5) and (6); and
2. the Fire Safety Verification Method Standard.

(2) Performance-based design brief (PBDB):

1. When using this Verification Method, the fire safety engineer must undertake a performance-based design brief (PBDB) that must—
   1. involve all stakeholders relevant to the building design; and
   2. outline the fire strategy to be adopted.
2. While full agreement on all aspects of the PBDB is the preferred outcome, it is acknowledged that in some instances this may not be possible to obtain.
3. In the event that full agreement cannot be achieved through the PBDB, dissenting views must be appropriately recorded and carried throughout the process and considered as part of the due processes of the appropriate authority when determining compliance and providing approval.
4. Consideration of whether a peer review (by an independent fire safety engineer) of some or all of the proposed Performance Solutions and the supporting analysis is required or not, must be undertaken at this PBDB stage.

(3) Fire strategy:

1. The PBDB must cover the fire safety strategy for the building, outlining the philosophy and approach that will be adopted to achieve the required level of performance.
2. The fire safety strategy must pay particular attention to the evacuation strategy to be used and the management regimes necessary.

(4) Stakeholder involvement:

1. The PBDB must be developed collaboratively by the relevant stakeholders in the particular project.
2. The following parties must be involved:
   1. Client or client’s representative (such as project manager).
   2. Fire engineer.
   3. Architect or designer.
   4. Various specialist consultants.
   5. Fire service (public or private).
   6. Appropriate authority (Authority Having Jurisdiction – subject to state/territory legislation).
   7. Tenants or tenants representative for the proposed building (if available)
   8. Building operations management (if available).
3. Conducting a simple stakeholder analysis can be used to determine who must be involved in the PBDB process.
4. This analysis must identify stakeholders with a high level of interest in the design process, and/or likely to be affected by the consequences of a fire should it occur in the building.

(5) Required level of safety:

1. Given the absence of specific safety targets in the NCC and the qualitative nature of the NCC fire safety Performance Requirements, for this Verification Method to ensure the level of safety expected, the proposed building design must be at least equivalent to the relevant Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions.
2. As the NCC Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions evolved originally from State and Territory regulations and are regularly updated to reflect technical advances and experience they are commonly accepted as providing an acceptable benchmark.
3. It is accepted that the NCC Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions reflect societal expectations in terms of fire safety, which address individual risk, societal risk and the robustness in the design by adopting a defence in depth approach.
4. In the majority of design scenarios the Verification Method requires a demonstration that the proposed level of safety is at least equivalent to the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions.
5. In relation to the required level of safety, the PBDB process must—
   1. identify the relevant Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions to be used in the equivalency process to determine whether the relevant Performance Requirements have been met; and
   2. consider the specific size, complexity and use of the building with regards to the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions to be used in the equivalency process; and
   3. consider the specific occupant profile of the building, paying particular attention to occupants with a disability and the vulnerable, in regards to the Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions to be used in the equivalency process.

(6) Final report: Once the analysis of all relevant design scenarios for all the required Performance Solutions has been completed, the fire safety engineer must prepare a final report that includes the following:

1. The agreed PBDB.
2. All modelling and analysis.
3. Analysis required to demonstrate that the proposed building provides a level of safety at least equivalent to the relevant Deemed-to-Satisfy Provisions.
4. Any other information required to clearly demonstrate that the building and its fire safety system satisfies the relevant Performance Requirements as set out in the Fire Safety Verification Method Standard.