Some councils report that 45% of buildings fail fire safety compliance at their first inspection. The reality for most building owners is that the warning signs were there well before the auditor arrived. They were just easy to miss.
The good news is that almost every common audit failure is preventable, and most are visible if you know what to look for. Here are five signs that your building is at risk of failing its next fire safety audit, and what to do about each one.
Worried your building might fail its next audit? Fire Safe ANZ provides fire safety audits and compliance assessments across Australia. Request a quote today
Walk your building and look closely at every fire-rated door. Is it wedged open for airflow or convenience? Does it have a gap larger than 10mm at the base, or visible damage to the frame or leaf? Has a peephole, extra lock, or non-standard handle been added without checking it is fire-rated?
Each of these is a common reason fire doors fail inspection. A fire door is a complete tested assembly, and a single non-compliant component, even something as small as a plastic peephole, can invalidate the entire certification. Doors propped open compromise compartmentation entirely and are flagged immediately during any audit.
What to check: Every fire door should close fully and latch under its own power from any open position, without needing a push. If it does not, it is already a defect.
For a full breakdown of what auditors look for, read our guide: Fire Door Compliance Tags: What Building Owners Need to Know
A leaking hydrant booster or a broken exit light may seem minor on its own, but when an auditor reviews your service history and finds gaps, missing reports, or inconsistent intervals, it signals a much bigger problem: your essential fire safety measures have not been maintained to the standard the law requires.
From 13 February 2026, all essential fire safety measures must be maintained in line with AS 1851-2012, which sets out servicing frequencies well beyond a single annual check, including monthly, six-monthly, and five-yearly inspections for different systems. If your records do not show evidence of every interval, your building is exposed.
What to check: Pull your maintenance logbook and confirm there are no unexplained gaps in the past 12 months, and that records go back at least seven years where required.
Read more in our essential services maintenance guide.
Fire safety signage is one of the most overlooked compliance areas, and auditors notice it immediately. Common issues include exit signs with failed illumination, signs blocked by stored materials or temporary fit-out, missing directional signs along long corridors, and fire extinguishers with no sign or a sign obscured by equipment placed in front of them.
Fire door signage is a frequent gap too. Builders often sign the corridor face of a fire door but forget the stairwell or room-facing side, leaving half of the required signage missing for years without anyone noticing.
What to check: Walk every exit path and confirm every extinguisher, hose reel, and fire door has clear, legible, unobstructed signage on both required faces.
Emergency lighting and illuminated exit signs are tested under AS 2293, and battery backup failures are one of the most common defects identified during routine testing. The issue is that these failures are often invisible day to day, since the lights work fine on mains power. It is only when the backup battery is tested, or when an actual power failure occurs, that the fault becomes obvious.
If your building has not had emergency lighting tested recently, there is a real chance some units will fail when they are actually needed.
What to check: Confirm your most recent emergency lighting test report and look for any units flagged with reduced duration or failed battery backup that have not yet been rectified.
A fire indicator panel showing an active fault, even one that has been acknowledged and silenced, is a serious red flag. FIP faults that are noted but not investigated or resolved are one of the most common reasons buildings fail a fire safety audit, because it demonstrates that known issues are not being acted on.
This is also one of the easiest defects to overlook day to day, since a silenced fault light can sit unresolved for months without disrupting normal building operations, right up until an auditor or, worse, an actual fire event reveals the gap.
What to check: Walk to your FIP and confirm there are no active fault indicators. If there are, find out how long they have been present and whether a technician has been engaged to resolve them.
Learn more about FIP requirements in our guide: Fire Indicator Panel Testing by Certified Technicians
Spotted one or more of these signs in your building? Fire Safe ANZ can assess your building and fix issues before your next audit or AFSS lodgement. Get in touch
Individually, each of these signs might seem minor. Together, they paint a picture of a building where fire safety has become reactive instead of proactive. Industry guidance recommends starting your AFSS or audit preparation at least 90 days ahead of your due date, specifically because issues like these take time to identify and rectify properly.
Buildings that fail their first inspection are rarely the result of one major fault. They are usually the result of several smaller issues that were never followed up on, accumulating until an audit brings them all to the surface at once.
For more on what auditors specifically assess, read our guide: What to Expect From a Fire Safety Audit in Australia
The most effective way to avoid failing a fire safety audit is to stop treating compliance as an annual event and start treating it as an ongoing program. This means:
If you manage multiple buildings, this becomes significantly more complex. See our guide for facilities managers staying compliant across multiple sites.
Fire Safe ANZ provides comprehensive fire safety compliance services designed to catch these issues well before an audit, not during one. Our services include:
Don’t wait for an audit to find out your building has a problem. Talk to Fire Safe ANZ about a proactive compliance program. Call 1300 553 566 or request a quote online
