From the Fall 2023 Issue
Fire Safety: Alarming Trends & How You Can Be Prepared
Your Condo: Fire Safety
As you probably know, fatal home fires are on the rise. In 2020, we saw the highest number of deadly home fires in Ontario in over two decades. This number increased in 2021 and again in 2022, and so far, 2023 is on track to continue this alarming upward trend. Along with the rise in fatal residential home fires, in 2023, we have seen a 10% increase in fires in high-rise residential buildings. With our people and buildings at higher risk than ever since smoke alarms became mandatory, what changes can we expect?
The reality is that a growing risk of fires in residential and condo buildings has led to a new movement to ensure our buildings are as safe as humanly possible. We have seen new Fire and Building Code changes to make buildings safer right from the commissioning stage. The Integrated Test Standard, which also applies to retrofits that impact any part of a building’s fire and life safety systems, is a milestone in closing the gaps in safety. We expect to see more code changes in the coming year that will continue reducing risk and improving fire safety.
We are also seeing a stronger focus on prevention and detection. This movement, led by the Fire Marshal of Ontario, will mean an increase in inspection and enforcement mandates and a decrease in timelines for compliance and leniency across Ontario. This includes moving away from Notice of Violations to Inspection Orders. Inspection Orders allow for faster and more stringent enforcement options. You may also see that, in many cases, board members, managers, property management firms and condo corporations are all being named on Inspection Orders.
What is the goal of increased inspections and stricter enforcement? To keep people safe! The Fire Marshal’s mandates are to ensure they do everything they can to safeguard people.
It is likely that if your building has not already had an inspection this year, you can expect an inspection before the end of 2023. This feels scary and stressful for many managers, but it doesn’t have to be! Being prepared for an inspection, and knowing your building complies, will make your next inspection a breeze. So, what can you do to be ready?
Start with your Fire Safety Plan!
Your Fire Safety Plan (FSP) is the heart of your building’s Fire and Life Safety. The FSP outlines your building’s fire code requirements and responsibilities; consider it your road map to Fire Code Compliance. But like a road map, you must know how to read and follow it to know where to go. Make sure your Fire Safety Plan is up to date; FSPs must be reviewed at intervals of no more than once every 12 months and at intervals where updating is required; it is also recommended that you have your FSP reviewed by a professional every 3 – 5 years to ensure that any code changes are accurately reflected in your plan. Know what the condo corporation is responsible for, versus what the contractors are responsible for, versus what the individual unit owners are responsible for. Over 50% of your Fire Code responsibilities are not the responsibility of your contractors. Knowing what the building staff is responsible for and effectively delegating these responsibilities is vital to properly implementing your FSP and maintaining your building’s Fire Code compliance.
Train (and Re-Train) Your Staff
You have evaluated your building’s Fire Safety Plan, know what your contractor is doing and what needs to be done by your staff, and delegated these responsibilities to maintain compliance. This is a significant and crucial first step! Staff turnover, people forgetting and sometimes becoming complacent, human nature and turnover are issues likely all managers have encountered. This is why training and re-training staff is so important. Your staff are essential to keeping your building safe and maintaining compliance. Part of committing to fire safety is ensuring your staff is fully trained on your policies and procedures and aware of their roles in the big picture. Include training as part of the onboarding process for all new staff, including their Fire Code responsibilities and why they are so important. Provide refresher training; onboarding can be overwhelming and include a lot of information.
Providing refresher training helps ensure that Fire Code responsibilities are clear and performed correctly. Keep records of all training. Specific training, like fire drills, are mandatory requirements of the Fire Code, but even for non-required training, having records of when your staff were trained, by who and on what can help to reduce liability and protect you in the case of a Fire Emergency.
Fix Small Issues to Avoid Big Problems (and Fines)
You know your Fire Safety Plan, your staff are trained, you’re implementing your plan, and you are building a great fire safety culture! But Fire Code compliance is a journey; even once you’re achieved compliance, maintaining that compliance is just as important. Buildings and systems age, things break, and codes evolve. When your staff and contractors conduct regular inspections, they can catch little problems early, allowing you to fix them before an inspection or before they become a big problem involving considerable expense. Maybe suite 204 disconnected their automatic door closer when they moved in and forgot to reconnect it. Catching this during a regular inspection and fixing it can save stress and money down the road.
Being Prepared Gives You Piece of Mind
If you found out right now, “The fire department will be here in 3 hours for an inspection,” what emotional response would that trigger? If unprepared, you would probably feel a sense of panic or impending doom. But, if you’ve been on top of things, you may feel a bit of anxiety (it’s impossible not to), but you will feel much better knowing your systems are compliant, your staff are trained, and your documentation is complete.
If you’re not sure where to start, rely on your experts! Maintaining Fire Code compliance can be overwhelming, but you don’t have to do it alone!
Michele Farley is the President of FCS Fire Consulting Services Ltd, the first ULC Listed Integrated Testing Service Provider. Michele has over 25 years of experience evaluating and conducting life safety risk assessments of condo buildings as a Fire Code expert providing fire code auditing and education and life safety system engineering services.
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