Fire Protection
What is Fire Protection work?
Get to know the regulation
Under Part 4 of the Plumbing Regulations 2018, Fire Protection work is:
- the construction, installation, replacement, repair, alteration, routine servicing, maintenance, testing or commissioning of any part of a water service used for fire fighting, from the point of connection of the service to the water supply up to and including any fire protection equipment forming part of that service
- any design work that is incidental to, or associated with, any work described in the paragraph above.
Fire protection work does not include the commissioning of a fire system pumpset.
Typical Fire Protection work
Fire protection systems are designed, installed, tested and maintained to ensure water – which may come from water tanks, mains water connections, dams or reservoirs – can be reliably used to control fire until emergency services personnel arrive. The existence and correct design and installation of fire protection systems are critical for protecting people, buildings and assets in a fire.
Fire protection plumbing work relates to:
- hydrants and hose reels
- residential and domestic fire sprinkler systems
- commercial and industrial fire sprinkler systems
- fire system pumpsets.
In each of these areas, experienced Fire Protection plumbers typically do the following work (although it can differ):
Hydrants and hose reels
- Fabricating and installing fire hydrant and hose reel systems
- Testing fire hydrant and hose reel installations
Residential and domestic fire sprinkler systems
- Identifying and analysing faults and maintenance issues in residential and domestic fire sprinkler systems
- Installing, testing and maintaining residential and domestic fire sprinkler systems, including basic and annual system testing
- Installing sprinkler control valves
- Installing, testing and maintaining fire alarms
Commercial and industrial fire sprinkler systems
- Identifying and analysing faults and routine servicing and maintenance issues in commercial and industrial fire sprinkler systems
- Installing, testing and maintaining commercial and industrial fire sprinkler systems, including basic and annual system testing
- Installing sprinkler control valves
- Installing, testing and maintaining fire alarms
Fire system pumpsets
- Installing and connecting water pumpsets
- Inspecting and testing fire pumpsets, including conducting water flow tests.
What do Fire Protection plumbers need to know and do?
A plumber's work affects the supply of water to and from a building. So, plumbers need critical knowledge and skills to ensure the correct type of fire system protection is in place, installed correctly, tested regularly and maintained in good working order. What does this mean for you?
As a registered practitioner, you must be able to understand and apply the compliance requirements of Fire protection plumbing work. These requirements include:
- AS1851 Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment
- AS2118 Automatic fire sprinkler systems
- AS2419 Fire hydrant installations
- aspects of the National Construction Code that relate to fire protection plumbing.
To undertake Fire Protection work to a safe and competent standard, you must also be able to:
- work safely at heights, which may involve working with scissor lifts or knuckle booms, mobile scaffolding and other access equipment such as ladders
- read plans and understand the design and layout of a building's fire protection system, and the requirements of that layout
- read, interpret and apply a range of complex information, including the relevant Australian Standards and manufacturer specifications for different components of the fire protection system
- do oxy-acetylene and arc welding, and know how to weld safety
- understand the impact of different building occupancy codes on installation requirements for fire protection systems
- know the processes for isolating system interfaces correctly, and know the functionality of a wide range of system interfaces
- install and join pipe work and work with different materials, including plastic, copper and steel.
And you must have:
- good numeracy skills, so you can read gauges and make calculations for installing, testing and maintaining fire protection systems; for example, you must be able to calculate flow and pressure rates using appropriate conversion charts
- good literacy skills, so you can complete service reports that are accurate and legible.
What competencies and experience do you need?
The VBA publishes a set of units of competency for each class of plumbing work. Each unit of competency describes a work outcome, all the knowledge and skills needed to do the work to the expected standard, and how they should be assessed.
The VBA uses the units of competency to assess your skills and experience if you apply to register in a class of plumbing work.
Before applying for registration or licensing, please read the current approved units of competency for Fire Protection.
Units of competency for Fire Protection work
Units prescribed for courses commenced from late 2021 onwards
Fire Protection (PDF, 485.13 KB)
Units prescribed for older courses
Fire Protection (PDF, 351.71 KB)