Issue 30
05. Industry Matters
engineers to undertake analysis to justify their acceptance for building approval, often without all parties having a full understanding of the complete building design and the implications of particular fire safety solutions. This is set to change. Responding again to the BCR recommendations, the Warren Centre Roles Report makes it clear that fire safety engineers, who have specialist knowledge and skills in this field, should take the lead role in creative fire safety design and be involved from concept design through construction and commissioning to facility handover to the owners. Much more cost-effective and safer building designs will result. This far more holistic and creative design role will necessitate major changes in fire safety engineering education, as detailed in the Warren Centre’s Professional Development Report, expected to be released by the end of August or the first week in September. Accredited University courses will have to address not only new knowledge but also new skills and professional attributes with a pedagogy or method of teaching which emphasizes the design process, problem solving and innovation, and not just fire protection technology, fire modelling and fire safety engineering analysis. New education initiatives The Professional Development Report from the Warren Centre suggests a range of short-term and longer-term activities to lift the quality of fire safety engineering education at universities and build the capacity needed around Australia. The drivers for more graduates and demand for capacity building in fire safety engineering are coming from: • A push by governments in the post COVID-19 period for more building and infrastructure projects, all of which involve fire safety;
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I N D U S T RY M AT T E R S
• New professional engineering registration requirements and enforcement action in NSW and Victoria for fire safety engineers to match Queensland regulations which will cut out the unqualified and poorly performing practitioners who will not now be able to achieve registration; and • New extended roles for fire safety engineers to be involved from concept design through to project handover, especially through construction inspections and commissioning. This is going to require existing universities and other universities to develop new education offerings and short courses based on the new competencies to meet
these resource demands. It is envisaged that a quality university program in fire safety engineering will be required in Brisbane (which already has the accredited UQ course), Sydney, Melbourne and possibly Perth as a minimum. But in the current environment, funding support for the universities from the profession, industry and governments will be the key. To assist in this process, the Warren Centre has proposed the formation of an Australian Education Committee involving interested universities, Engineers Australia and its Society of Fire Safety, governments and other industry bodies and professional organisations. This will help universities quantify the resource demand, set the education principles, and suggest sources
