# NSW Fire Safety Certificate (https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/docs/form-guides/fire-safety/nsw/nsw-fire-safety-certificate) The NSW Fire Safety Certificate records that each relevant essential fire safety measure for completed building work can perform to at least the standard on the current fire safety schedule. It is issued by or on behalf of the building owner at completion stage, and you download a filled official PDF for the owner, certifier, and any copy or display path that applies. [NSW Planning says](https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/buildings/fire-safety-in-buildings/fire-safety-certification) the certificate confirms a properly qualified person has installed and checked the measures listed in the schedule. This is the current NSW Department of Planning and Environment fire safety certificate. Tradie Forms follows the official section order and maps your answers onto the official PDF layout. Looking for the yearly annual fire safety statement on an existing building, not completion-stage certification of new work? Use [NSW Fire Safety Statement](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/docs/form-guides/fire-safety/nsw/nsw-fire-safety-statement) > **Warning** > > Downloading the PDF does not lodge it. Tradie Forms does not send the certificate to Fire and Rescue NSW, council, a certifier, or the building owner. Check the current copy, display, and lodgement steps for the job after you download. ## Before you start [#before-you-start] Almost every certificate problem comes from filling from last job's PDF instead of from this building's current schedule and assessment pack. Have these in front of you. - **A decision on final or interim** - Final covers the whole of the building work. Interim covers a completed part only. Check the consent, construction certificate, occupation pathway, and certifier notes before you open the form. - **The current fire safety schedule** - The source for every measure name and minimum standard of performance. Do not work from an older certificate table or an email attachment that may be superseded. - **Assessment records for each measure** - Test sheets, commissioning notes, inspection reports, or practitioner records that support the dates and status you will enter. - **Building and owner identity** - Address, lot and DP or SP where known, and the legal owner name from the project record, not a managing agent or tenant alone. - **Who will sign the declaration** - The person issuing the certificate by or on behalf of the owner, with contact details and authority for this building. Certificate type, building street address, state and postcode, owner address fields, declarant address fields, and the matching final or interim declaration fields gate the download. Pages 3 and 4 of the finished PDF are owner guidance only. You do not fill those pages in the app. ## Certificate Type [#certificate-type] Chooses whether this certificate is for the whole of the building work or only a completed part. The declaration section later switches to match this choice, so only one declaration path is available while you fill. - **Certificate type (Choice, Required)** - **Final fire safety certificate** when the relevant building work as a whole is complete. **Interim fire safety certificate** when only a completed part of the building is being certified. Read the consent, construction certificate, occupation pathway, and certifier instructions if the stage is not obvious. Getting the type wrong is the most common reason the PDF comes back for reissue. ## Building [#building] Identifies the building or part of the building this certificate covers. These values must match the development consent, construction certificate, and current fire safety schedule, not a casual site nickname. The street address you enter here is copied into the footer on every page of the downloaded PDF. Use address search for the building. Search is limited to New South Wales and fills the street line, suburb, state, and postcode. Check the result against the schedule and approval, because search returns the current postal address and a consent can predate a street rename or subdivision. - **Street address (Address, Required)** - The street line for the certified building or part. Match the schedule and approval. On multi-tenancy or staged sites, keep unit, level, or stage language consistent with those documents so the footer and the building description tell the same story. - **State (Address, Required)** - Filled by address search. Confirm `NSW` when typing by hand. - **Postcode (Address, Required)** - Filled by address search. Confirm against the schedule or rates notice when typing manually. - **Lot No. (if Known) (Text, Optional)** - Lot number from the title, rates notice, or approval when you know it. On new estates the street address may not resolve cleanly, so lot and plan help identify the land. - **DP/SP (if Known) (Text, Optional)** - Deposited plan or strata plan reference, for example `DP123456` or the SP number from the title. Fill whenever the schedule or approval carries it. - **Building Name (if Applicable) (Text, Optional)** - Named building or complex when the site uses one, for example `Harbour Offices`. Leave blank rather than inventing a marketing name that does not appear on the project record. - **Provide a Brief Description of the Building or Part (Building Use, Number of Storeys, Construction Type Etc.) (Textarea, Optional)** - Short description of use, storeys, and construction type. On an interim certificate, name the part that is certified: stage, wing, level, tenancy, or building section. Without that part label, later readers treat an interim certificate as covering the whole site. - **Useful** - Commercial office building, 8 storeys, concrete construction, Stage 2 eastern wing only - **Too vague** - Warehouse ## Building Owner [#owner] Records the owner of the building or part being certified. The certificate is issued by or on behalf of the owner, so this block is not a spare contact field for the agent or tenant alone. Use address search for the owner's postal address. Search is limited to New South Wales. The owner address can differ from the building address. - **Full name (Text, Optional)** - Full legal name of the owner. For a company, trust, owners corporation, or other entity, use the entity name that belongs on the project record, not a trading style or managing agent. The form helper text also asks for the full entity name when the owner is not a person. - **Street address (Address, Required)** - Owner postal street line. Use the address the owner expects for formal correspondence about this certificate, not the site address unless they are the same. - **State (Address, Required)** - Filled by address search. Confirm when typing by hand. - **Postcode (Address, Required)** - Filled by address search. Confirm against the project file when typing manually. ## Fire Safety Measures [#fire-safety-measures] Lists each relevant essential fire safety measure from the **current** fire safety schedule. One card is one measure. Add up to **14** measures with **Add Measure**. The official PDF has 14 fixed table rows; leave unused rows out rather than adding blanks. Rows beyond 14 are not written to the PDF. Open this building's current schedule beside the form. Enter each relevant measure with the standard the schedule actually requires. Do not copy the table from an older certificate unless you have rechecked every row against the current schedule. Building work, orders, reissued schedules, and corrected records all change what belongs here. The [Environmental Planning and Assessment (Development Certification and Fire Safety) Regulation 2021](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/sl-2021-0689) says a person must not issue a fire safety certificate unless the assessments required for the certificate have been carried out within the previous three months. Check assessment dates against that window before you issue. - **measures.rows (CardRows, Optional)** - Each **Fire Safety Measure** card maps to one row on the official table. Columns on the card, and on the PDF, are: **Fire Safety Measure** - the measure name from the current schedule. Common options are offered and free text is accepted. Use the schedule wording, for example `Portable fire extinguishers` or `Automatic fire suppression systems`, not a shortened site nickname. **Minimum Standard of Performance** - the standard listed on the schedule, including edition text where the schedule states it, for example `AS 1851-2012` or `AS 2118.1-2017`. Truncating the standard is a common reason certifiers query the certificate. **Date(s) Assessed** - one or more assessment dates for that measure, up to six dates per row. Today and Yesterday shortcuts are available. Future dates are not accepted. Dates must match the qualified person's records, with a test sheet, commissioning note, inspection report, or similar evidence behind them. **Status** - **New** (`N`), **Existing** (`e`), or **Modified** (`M`). Match the schedule and assessment pack, not a guess from how the measure looks on site. - **Useful** - Automatic fire sprinkler system; AS 2118.1-2017 as on schedule dated 12 March 2026; assessed 1 March 2026; Existing - **Too vague** - Sprinklers; AS 2118; various If you cannot match a measure to the current schedule, stop and resolve the schedule or assessment pack. Do not invent a close-enough row. ## Declarant [#declarant] Contact details for the person who will sign the final or interim declaration. Finish the measure rows first so empty standards do not leave the building with a signed certificate. Use address search for the declarant address. Search is limited to New South Wales. - **Full name (Text, Optional)** - Person making the declaration. Usually matches the name that appears in the final or interim declaration sentence. Use the name that should appear on the certificate, not a generic office contact. - **Organisation (if Applicable) (Text, Optional)** - Company or agency the declarant is acting through, for example `Lee Property Services`. Fill when the declarant is an owner's agent or signs on behalf of a company. - **Title/Position (if Applicable) (Combobox, Optional)** - Role on the job. Suggested values include **Building Manager**, **Owner**, **Owner's Agent**, **Strata Manager**, **Project Manager**, and **Fire Safety Practitioner**. Free text is accepted when none of those fit. - **Street address (Address, Required)** - Declarant postal street line for contact about this certificate. - **State (Address, Required)** - Filled by address search. Confirm when typing by hand. - **Postcode (Address, Required)** - Filled by address search. Confirm against the declarant's details when typing manually. - **Phone (Tel, Optional)** - Number that reaches the declarant about this certificate, for example `02 9123 4567`. - **Email (Email, Optional)** - Email that reaches the declarant for follow-up from the owner, certifier, or council pathway. **Saved detail: Declarant** - save this section to prefill it on your next fire safety certificate. ## Final Fire Safety Certificate Declaration [#final-declaration] Complete this section only when you selected **Final fire safety certificate** in Certificate Type. The form shows this block for final certificates and hides the interim declaration so you do not fill both by accident. The declaration attests that each relevant essential fire safety measure in the current fire safety schedule has been assessed as capable of performing to at least the standard required by that schedule for the whole of the building work. - **Declarant full name (Text, Required when you select final)** - Full name that appears in the final declaration sentence. Usually the same person named in Declarant. Match the spelling used on the certificate and any authority letter. - **I Am the (Choice, Required when you select final)** - **Owner** or **Owner's Agent**. Choose the role that matches who is issuing the certificate for this building. An agent without clear authority is a common reason the PDF is queried later. - **Owner/Agent Signature (Signature, Required when you select final)** - Signature of the person making the final declaration. Sign when the measure rows, dates, and role are correct, not as a blank stamp. The signature stamps onto the official PDF line. You can use a saved signature; check the preview so it sits cleanly on the declaration line. - **Date Issued (Date, Required when you select final)** - Date the final certificate is issued. Today and Yesterday shortcuts are available. Future dates are not accepted. This is the issue date of the certificate, not the assessment date of any single measure. ## Interim Fire Safety Certificate Declaration [#interim-declaration] Complete this section only when you selected **Interim fire safety certificate** in Certificate Type. The form shows this block for interim certificates and hides the final declaration so you do not fill both by accident. The declaration attests that each relevant essential fire safety measure in the current fire safety schedule has been assessed as capable of performing to at least the standard required by that schedule for the completed part of the building work named on the certificate. - **Declarant full name (Text, Required when you select interim)** - Full name that appears in the interim declaration sentence. Usually the same person named in Declarant. Match the spelling used on the certificate and any authority letter. - **I Am the (Choice, Required when you select interim)** - **Owner** or **Owner's Agent**. Choose the role that matches who is issuing the certificate for this completed part of the building. - **Owner/Agent Signature (Signature, Required when you select interim)** - Signature of the person making the interim declaration. Sign when the measure rows, part description, dates, and role are correct. The signature stamps onto the official PDF line. You can use a saved signature; check the preview so it sits cleanly on the declaration line. - **Date Issued (Date, Required when you select interim)** - Date the interim certificate is issued. Today and Yesterday shortcuts are available. Future dates are not accepted. This is the issue date of the certificate, not the assessment date of any single measure. ## Common mistakes [#common-mistakes] - **Choosing final when only a part is complete.** - A final certificate says the whole of the building work is covered. If occupation or certifier instructions only cover a stage, wing, or tenancy, use interim and name that part in the building description. - **Copying the measure table from last year's certificate.** - Schedules are reissued and corrected. Open this building's current schedule and enter each relevant measure and standard from that document, not from a previous PDF. - **Truncating the minimum standard of performance.** - `AS 2118` without the schedule's edition or clause text is a common certifier query. Copy the standard wording the schedule actually uses. - **Blank or vague assessment dates.** - `Various` or empty date cells leave no trail for the assessment window. Enter real dates from the practitioner pack and keep the evidence behind them. - **Putting only the managing agent in the owner block.** - The certificate is issued by or on behalf of the owner. Use the legal owner identity from the project record, and keep the agent's role in Declarant and the declaration choice. - **Signing the wrong declaration block.** - Final and interim declarations are different legal paths. Select the certificate type first so only the matching declaration is available, then complete that one block only. - **Issuing against assessments older than three months.** - The Regulation says assessments required for the certificate must have been carried out within the previous three months before issue. Check the oldest assessment date against the issue date before you download. ## Before download [#before-download] - Certificate type is final or interim for the real stage of work - Building address and description match the schedule and approval, with part labels on interim certificates - Owner name is the legal owner, not only an agent or tenant - Every relevant schedule measure is listed with the schedule's performance standard - Assessment dates and status fields match the practitioner records and sit within the three-month window - Declarant details and the matching final or interim declaration are complete - The PDF preview shows the official layout, footer address, measure rows, and correct declaration line ## After download [#after-download] [NSW Planning](https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/buildings/fire-safety-in-buildings/fire-safety-certification) and the Regulation set post-issue duties. As soon as practicable after issue, the owner must give a copy of the certificate and the current fire safety schedule to the Fire Commissioner, give a copy to a building practitioner where that pathway applies, and ensure the certificate and schedule are prominently displayed in the building. Check the current [Fire and Rescue NSW certificate lodgement page](https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/fire-safety/building-fire-safety/service-type-tool/lodge-a-fire-safety-certificate) for how to send FRNSW its copy. - **Name the file so the scope is obvious.** An interim certificate saved as `FSC - 42 George St.pdf` will eventually be read as whole-building completion. Use something like `FSC - 42 George St - Stage 2 interim.pdf`. - **File the certificate with the current schedule and assessment pack.** The PDF alone does not show which schedule version or evidence sat behind it. - **Send schedule and certificate together.** A certificate without the schedule leaves the owner and reviewer guessing what was certified. - **Track display and copy steps.** Note when the display copy went up and when FRNSW, council, certifier, or building practitioner copies went out, so closeout is not reconstructed later. Check the current NSW Planning, council, and certifier requirements for your job. Retention and lodgement expectations sit with the owner and the pathway for that development. > **Warning** > > Downloading the PDF does not complete lodgement or display. Confirm the current Fire Commissioner, council, certifier, and building display steps before you close the job file. ## Related guides [#related-guides] - **[Final vs interim certificate](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/resources/nsw-fire-safety-certificate-final-interim-guide)** - How to choose certificate type, build measure rows from the schedule, and handle copies after issue. - **[Certificate handover and records](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/resources/nsw-fire-safety-certificate-handover-records)** - What to gather, check, and keep with the certificate before and after lodgement. - **[Certificate vs statement](https://dev.tradieforms.com.au/resources/nsw-fire-safety-certificate-vs-statement-guide)** - When you need a completion certificate rather than the yearly annual statement.