Some consents need an assessment by the Fire Engineering Unit of Fire and Emergency New Zealand. Find out if you need to get a fire engineering review before starting your building work.
About fire engineering reviews
Certain building consents need an assessment by the Fire Engineering Unit (FEU) of Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ).
Formerly known as the New Zealand Fire Service Commission, FENZ has been part of the building consent application process since 2004. This means Building Consent Authorities (i.e. Hutt City Council) must provide a copy of certain applications to FENZ for design review before granting a building consent.
The types of applications we must forward to the FEU for review are listed in the New Zealand Gazette.
How it works
The review process starts when the Building Consent Authority (BCA) contacts the FEU by email. Once the FEU receives the building consent application, the design review takes place within ten working days.
The FEU prepares a review giving advice to BCAs about:
- recommendations for escape if the building catches fire
- the needs of firefighters and other emergency services people entering the building in the case of a fire.
The advice given by the FEU will only be within the requirements of the building code, but FENZ might give you additional recommendations, on a case-by-case basis, to improve the overall safety of the building design.
What it costs
There is currently no cost to for this review.
When to ask for a review
To avoid unnecessary project delays, we'll ask the FEU for a review as soon as we receive any consent applications that require a review to ensure that the review is supplied back to us within the required processing timeframes.