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This is a Bill, not an Act. For current law, see the Acts databases.
South Australia
Fire and Emergency Services (Fire Risk Assessments)
Amendment Bill 2013
A BILL FOR
An Act to amend the Fire
and Emergency Services Act 2005.
Contents
Part 1—Preliminary
1Short
title
2Amendment provisions
Part 2—Amendment of Fire and Emergency
Services Act 2005
3Insertion of Part 4B
Part 4B—Fire Risk
Assessment
105LInterpretation
105NFire risk
assessment
105OFire
risk assessor may authorise owner etc to take steps to reduce fire
risk
105PReport to
Minister
The Parliament of South Australia enacts as
follows:
This Act may be cited as the Fire and Emergency Services (Fire Risk
Assessments) Amendment Act 2013.
In this Act, a provision under a heading referring to the amendment of a
specified Act amends the Act so specified.
Part 2—Amendment
of Fire and Emergency Services
Act 2005
After Part 4A insert:
Part 4B—Fire Risk Assessment
105L—Interpretation
In this Part—
fire risk assessment means a fire risk assessment conducted
in accordance with
section 105N;
fire risk assessor means an officer or other member of SAMFS
or SACFS authorised by the Chief Officer of SAMFS or SACFS (as the case
requires) to conduct fire risk assessments;
relevant Chief Officer means—
(a) if the land in respect of which a fire risk assessment is to be
conducted is within a fire district—the Chief Officer of SAMFS;
or
(b) if the land in respect of which a fire risk assessment is to be
conducted is outside a fire district—the Chief Officer of SACFS;
105N—Fire risk assessment
(1) An owner or occupier of land may, during the prescribed period for the
part of the State in which the land is located, or at any other time with the
approval of the relevant Chief Officer, apply to the relevant Chief Officer for
an assessment of the risks to the land in the event of fire (a fire risk
assessment).
(2) An application—
(a) must be made in a manner and form determined by the relevant Chief
Officer; and
(b) must be accompanied by—
(i) the information required by the regulations; and
(ii) the prescribed fee.
(3) On receiving an application under this section, the relevant Chief
Officer must cause a fire risk assessment to be carried out in accordance with
this section in relation to the land the subject of the application.
(4) A fire risk assessment must be carried out within 3 months after an
application is made under this section (or such longer period as may be agreed
with the applicant).
(5) A fire risk
assessment will only be taken to have been conducted in accordance with this
section if—
(a) a fire risk assessor personally attends on the land the subject of the
application; and
(b) the fire risk assessor carries out an assessment of the land in
accordance with any requirements set out in the regulations; and
(c) the fire risk
assessor provides a written report to the applicant setting out—
(i) any measures relating to the prevention of fire on the land that, in
the author's opinion, require urgent action; and
(ii) general measures that can be taken to reduce the likelihood or
severity of fire occurring on the land; and
(iii) any other information required by the regulations.
(6) In this section—
prescribed period, for a part of the State, means the
period—
(a) commencing on the day following the day on which the fire danger
season finishes in the part of the State in any year; and
(b) concluding on 1 October of that year.
105O—Fire risk assessor may authorise owner etc to
take steps to reduce fire risk
(1) Without limiting
any other provision of this Act, a fire risk assessor conducting a fire risk
assessment may, by notice in writing, authorise the owner or occupier of the
land in relation to which the fire risk assessment has been conducted to take
specified steps to reduce the risk of fire, or the severity of a potential fire,
on the land.
(2) Without limiting the generality of
subsection (1),
an authorisation under this section may—
(a) authorise a person to clear vegetation (including native vegetation);
or
(b) authorise a person to take water.
(3) An authorisation under this section may be included in the report
required under
section 105N(5)(c).
(4) An owner or occupier of land authorised to take action under this
section may do so without any further authorisation under any other Act or
law.
105P—Report to Minister
(1) The relevant Chief Officer must, on or before 30 September in each
year, deliver to the Commission a report on the operation of this Part during
the preceding financial year.
(2) The report must include—
(a) the number of applications for fire risk assessments received in the
preceding financial year; and
(b) the number of fire risk assessments conducted in the preceding
financial year; and
(c) the number of directions given under this Part; and
(d) any other information required by the regulations.
(3) A report under this section may be included in the annual report of
SAMFS or SACFS (as the case requires).