Fire Services Call Out Fees
Last April your building manager would have received a letter from the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES), advising that a revision of their policy on attendance to a Direct Brigade Alarm (DBA).
After repeated false alarms, there will be a charge applied for each attendance, commencing from 1 July 2015.
Minimise false fire alarms in your building
In order to minimise the occurrence of these false alarms you can:
- Analyse the cause and modify room occupant behaviour, or
- Consider replacing the basic smoke detectors with a modern “multi-head” detector.
After repeated false alarms, there will be a charge applied for each attendance, commencing from 1 July 2015.
Multi-Head Detectors
The latter solution will ensure the occupants remove the source of the smoke within minutes of the sounder activating in their room, thus negating a false DBA. In the case of a genuine fire, excessive continuous smoke coupled with a heat sensor, will trigger a genuine alarm and consequently a DBA to the Brigade.
HFM have recently refurbished one of our client’s properties involving 73 short stay apartments. Over the past 5 months, there has been only 2 DBA’s. Prior to the conversion, the Brigade was called on average 4 times per month. The cost of refurbishing the detectors would be recovered within 6 months of ongoing charges for false DBAs.
Should you wish to discuss the process of refurbishing your property’s fire detectors, please feel free to call our Facilities Management Consultant, Rod Cridge on 9201 0855 or 0408 385 822. You can also visit our contact page to send us any questions or comments you may have.
