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The Queensland Occupier's Statement, and the Step Most Buildings Miss

An occupier statement is not just a form you sign and file. Under section 55A of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) it has to be prepared to a set standard, kept with your maintenance records for two years, and lodged with the Queensland Fire Department. Missing the lodgement is the single most common fire compliance failure we find on buildings that otherwise look well maintained.

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Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 QDC MP 6.1 10 Business Day Lodgement QBCC Licence 1143420

The Short Answer

What Is an Occupier's Statement?

An occupier statement is a signed declaration by the occupier of a building that the prescribed fire safety installations in that building have been inspected, tested and maintained as required, and that the records to prove it exist.

It is the document that converts a year of maintenance visits into a legal position. The maintenance itself is done under AS 1851-2012. The statement is the occupier standing behind that maintenance in writing, to the standard set by Queensland Development Code MP 6.1.

The word that matters is occupier. The obligation does not sit with your fire contractor, your building manager or your body corporate committee by default. It sits with the occupier of the building, which is why it is worth knowing exactly what the regulation asks for rather than assuming somebody else has it covered.

Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) QDC MP 6.1 AS 1851-2012

Section 55A

What Section 55A Actually Requires

Section 55A of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) creates three separate obligations. They are separate, and each one carries a penalty if it is missed.

Prepare the statement

The occupier must prepare an occupier statement that complies with Queensland Development Code MP 6.1, at the required intervals. It has to reflect what was actually inspected, tested and maintained, which means the underlying AS 1851 routines need to have been done and recorded first.

Keep a copy for two years

A copy must be kept with the maintenance records for the building for two years, and produced when it is asked for. In practice this means the statement and the records that support it need to live together, not in two different systems.

Lodge it within 10 business days

The occupier must give the commissioner of the Queensland Fire Department a copy of the statement within 10 business days of preparing it. This is the obligation buildings miss. Preparing and filing the statement satisfies two of the three requirements and still leaves you non-compliant.

The lodgement is the trap. We regularly review buildings with a complete set of AS 1851 records, a properly prepared statement, and no evidence it was ever sent to the commissioner. On paper that building looks well run. Under section 55A it is not compliant, and the gap only surfaces when somebody asks for proof of lodgement.

Scope

Which Buildings Does This Apply To?

Queensland Development Code MP 6.1 is the maintenance standard behind the statement, and it applies to Class 1b buildings and Class 2 to Class 9 buildings under the National Construction Code.

In everyday terms that captures the great majority of buildings that are not a standalone house: apartment and unit blocks, offices, shops and shopping centres, warehouses and factories, hotels and short stay accommodation, hospitals and aged care, schools and childcare, and public assembly buildings.

What it does not do is set one identical schedule for all of them. The prescribed fire safety installations in a small strata block and in a cold storage warehouse are completely different, so the maintenance that sits underneath the statement is different too. That is why the honest first step is always a survey of what is actually installed, not a quote against an assumed asset list.

Apartment, unit and strata residential buildings
Offices, retail and shopping centres
Warehousing, industrial and cold storage
Hotels, motels and short stay accommodation
Hospitals, medical and residential aged care
Schools, childcare and education facilities

Before You Sign

What Has to Be True Before You Can Sign

A statement is only as good as the maintenance behind it. Before an occupier signs, these things need to be genuinely true, not assumed.

Every installation is actually on the schedule

Systems get added during fitouts and forgotten. A stairwell pressurisation fan, a second booster, an aspirating detector added for a cold room. If it is a prescribed fire safety installation and it is not on the maintenance schedule, it is not being maintained and the statement is overstating your position.

The routines were done at the required intervals

AS 1851-2012 sets monthly, six-monthly, yearly and five-yearly routines depending on the system. Frequencies have defined tolerances. A routine done far outside its window is not simply late, it can break the continuity the records are supposed to demonstrate.

Critical defects have been actioned

AS 1851 separates critical defects, which stop a system doing its job in a fire, from non-critical defects. A critical defect that is still open is not a paperwork problem, it is a system that will not perform. It needs to be rectified, not noted.

The records meet section 55

Each record has to contain specific things, including the licence number of the person who did the work. A report that does not carry them is not a compliant record even if the work was done properly. We cover this in detail in our guide to fire safety maintenance records.

Non-Conformance

What Happens When Something Does Not Conform

If a QBCC licensed fire protection technician finds that an installation does not conform to the required standard, there is a formal path, and it does not stop at a note in the report.

QBCC Form 71 is the notice the licensee gives the owner advising that a fire protection installation is non-conforming. QBCC Form 72 is the escalation to the QBCC where the non-conformance has not been rectified. Both are non-conformance instruments. They are not aspect certificates, and they are not interchangeable with the Form 12 and Form 15 used to certify building work.

For an occupier this matters because a Form 71 sitting unactioned is a documented, dated record that you were told about a problem. It is the opposite of the position you want to be in when you sign a statement.

How We Handle It

How Safe QLD Handles Occupier Statements

We build the statement obligation into the maintenance program rather than treating it as an afterthought at the end of the year.

We survey the building first and schedule every prescribed installation we find, so nothing sits off the list
Routines are programmed to their AS 1851 frequencies and tracked, so the year is complete rather than nearly complete
Defects are classified critical or non-critical, quoted and tracked to closure, not just listed
Records are issued in a form that satisfies section 55, including licence numbers
Statement provisions are built into the program so it is ready when it falls due, with the lodgement step included rather than assumed

We are not a certifier. Safe QLD is a QBCC licensed fire protection contractor. We do the maintenance, produce the records and support the statement. Where a building needs building certification, we coordinate with the certifier rather than claiming that role.

Questions We Get Asked

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is responsible for the occupier's statement in Queensland?

Section 55A of the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) places the obligation on the occupier of the building. It does not automatically transfer to your fire maintenance contractor, your building manager or your body corporate committee. Contractors provide the maintenance and the records that make the statement possible, and a good contractor will build the statement into the program, but the legal obligation to prepare, keep and lodge it stays with the occupier.

Does the occupier's statement have to be lodged, or just kept on file?

Both. Section 55A requires the occupier to keep a copy with the building's maintenance records for two years, and separately to give the commissioner of the Queensland Fire Department a copy within 10 business days of preparing it. Preparing and filing the statement without lodging it leaves the third obligation unmet. This is the most common gap we find on buildings that are otherwise well maintained.

What standard does the occupier's statement have to comply with?

The statement must comply with Queensland Development Code MP 6.1, which is the maintenance standard for prescribed fire safety installations in Queensland. MP 6.1 applies to Class 1b buildings and Class 2 to Class 9 buildings under the National Construction Code. The underlying inspection, testing and maintenance routines are carried out to AS 1851-2012.

What happens if a critical defect is still open when the statement is due?

A critical defect is one that stops a system performing its function in a fire, and AS 1851-2012 requires it to be actioned immediately rather than carried forward. If a critical defect is open, the honest position is that the installation is not in proper working order, and signing a statement that implies otherwise is not something we would support. The right sequence is to rectify first, then state.

Is QFES still the body the statement goes to?

No. The Queensland Fire and Emergency Services was dissolved on 1 July 2024. The relevant body is now the Queensland Fire Department (QFD), with Queensland Fire and Rescue as its firefighting arm. Section 55A refers to giving a copy to the commissioner. Documentation and templates still referring to QFES are out of date and worth reviewing.