Building warrants of fitness

A building warrant of fitness or BWoF is a building owner's annual statement confirming the specified systems for their building have been maintained and checked for the previous 12 months in accordance with the compliance schedule.

Building owners may need to engage independent qualified persons (IQPs) to carry out this work.

Building owner responsibilities

Where a compliance schedule has been issued for a building, the building owner must provide a building warrant of fitness to Council on each anniversary of the issuing of their building's compliance schedule. This verifies that the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures of the compliance schedule have been fully complied with for the previous 12 months. For the first year, you must display the compliance schedule statement in a public place in the building.

A copy of each certificate (Form 12A) issued by the IQP for each of the specified systems, along with any recommendations for amending the compliance schedule, must be attached to the BWoF provided to Council.

The prescribed BWoF form in the Building (Forms) Regulations 2004 must be used to provide all required information to Council including:

  • building owner
  • building location
  • current lawfully established use, including number of occupants per level and per use (of more than one)
  • original date the building was constructed
  • the highest fire risk category for building use (if applicable).

A copy of the building warrant of fitness must be displayed in a public place in the building.

Record-keeping

As well as inspections by independently qualified persons, building owners may need to do regular inspections. You'll need to keep the following records for two years for auditing purposes:

  • inspections by independently qualified persons
  • inspections by the owner
  • the compliance schedule

Managing your building warrant of fitness

For more about managing your BWoF, please refer to the comprehensive guidance on the government's Building Performance website. It includes information about:

  • building owner obligations
  • keeping records
  • displaying building warrants of fitness
  • BWoF documentation
  • engaging independent qualified persons

Government guidance

A building owner needs to renew a building’s warrant of fitness (BWoF) every 12 months, signing, issuing and publicly displaying it to prove the building’s life safety systems (called specified systems) have been maintained and inspected. For detailed information, see the government guidance available on the Building Performance website.

 

 

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