The National Fire Authority’s outdated service fees and limited staffing make it difficult to meet the growing demand for fire safety and building compliance services.
Its safety, compliance and properties manager Joel Israel said the current fees no longer covered the costs of professional staff time, inspections or compliance work.
“We only have about eight to nine officers processing hundreds of submissions nationally,” Mr Israel said.
The increase in complex building designs and the need for advanced training and equipment, he said, added pressure to already stretched resources. “The demand for qualified professionals in engineering, fire safety and building compliance continues to grow, and our current fees cannot support this need.”
During the last financial year, NFA received more than 200 submissions across the Central, Northern and Western divisions. To address the issue, he said they were proposing a revision of fees to reflect the actual cost of services and support upgrades in staff capacity and technology.
