Commission urges fire-safety reform

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 33933, 28 August 1975, Page 3

Commission urges fire-safety reform

t.\c-u Zealand Press Association

WELLINGTON. August 27.

Sweeping changes to tighten fire-safety standards for buildings have been suggested by the chairman of the Fire Service Commission (Mr J. K. Hunn). One is the replacement of fire-safety by-laws by national statutory regulations.

“New Zealand is sometimes said to have the highest fire-safety standards in the world,” Mr Hunn told the annual conference of the New Zealand branch of the Institution of Fire Engineers in Wellington yesterday. “Many places, including London and California, would challenge such a bold claim,” he said. But the point was simply that the standard was not as good as it could and should be. Mr Hunn said that, to allay public concern aroused by the film. “Towering In-| femo” a senior New York: official had said a few months' ago that a fire such as in the; film could not occur in Man-; hattan. “Only a matter erf days later l it did. It happened in one of: the twin towers of the World)

.'Trade Centre, the tallest, . building in that vertical city.! “We can do more to en-i ’.sure that it does not hap-)] ’ pen here. The economic obI Ijections are not insuperable. ■ 'Only complacency stands in Jthe way. and who wants to wear that badge?” • i Model Mr Hunn said that local , authorities were legally re-: , quired to have fire-safety by-1 I laws, but there were still 40 > which had not adopted the approved model by-laws , drafted by the Standards ; Association. [ “The fundamental weaknesses in our fire-safety sys- I , tern are these: the legal [ standards are not yet high .'enough, and dispensations : jare allowed that reduce them ! | still further. ,: ’“lf these deficiencies, were < ?. repaired, public anxiety !would be visibly and justifi- , • iably relieved,” tie said. £ “Not all modern buildings £ |lin this country are fire-proof. £ 'But be clear on this: they comply with the law as it < islands, except where dis- £ pensations have been granted t !by the local authorities.” ; Mr. Hunn said that, as a f [revised and expanded ver- c jsion of the recommendations made in 1970 by the com- | imittee of inquiry after the s i.Sprott House fire in Wei- a lington. he offered the following suggestions: t I The licensing principle r ■ should be applied to J

more and better defined, classes of building, new or old. : Fire-safety standards should be prescribed in national statutory regulations,: not at random in a variety of local by-laws. For one thing, the Crown could not be bound by: by-laws. Local authorities, or licens-. ing authorities, should not be allowed to apply' the regulations without the advice of accredited experts working for the public, not for the developer. Dispensations should be open to review by an independent authority. Advertising role Mr Hunn said the Fire Service Commission had no wish to be the final arbiter in these cases, but willingly accepted an advisory role and a watching brief with access to the Minister. Mr Hunn praised the Fire) Service Bill, tabled in Parlia- 1 ment by the Minister of In-1 ternal Affairs (Mr May). ) “It focuses responsibility) for promoting fire safety on one authority, the Fire Service Commission, instead of leaving it diffused and thinly spread among 250 . local authorities. “The commission regards this provision as a forward move of vital significance,” Mr Hunn said.