Fire Detection and Alarm System Installation SWMS

Suits fire protection contractors, electricians and builders who install smoke and heat detection, alarm panels, sounders and emergency warning systems. It follows the job in order, from planning and isolations through work at height, ceiling cabling, drilling and the licensed mains connection to power-up, testing in an occupied building and handover. Entering ceiling spaces in detail needs its own SWMS.

A SWMS is required under WHS Regulation s 299 when the installation is high risk construction work (s 291), and work on or near energised electrical installations is part of this job, so that item is ticked. Tick the fall item when ceiling spaces, atriums, stairwells or elevating work platforms put a person at risk of falling more than 2 metres (s 291(a)), powered mobile plant when plant moves around the building, and the contaminated atmosphere item if drilling concrete or masonry creates silica dust, as the Queensland silica code advises. Testing or repair work of a minor nature is not construction work (s 289(3)(d)), and for such jobs the document works as a written safe work procedure.

Learn More: What Is A Safe Work Method Statement?
Have you ever been asked to provide a SWMS on a project in Queensland? Read our guide to what a Safe Work Method Statement is and when you need one.

What Is Covered In Our Fire Detection and Alarm System Installation SWMS?

The job steps run in the order the work is done, from pre-start checks to finishing up. The hazards and controls include:

• Falls from ladders, platforms and through ceilings
• Live wiring in ceiling spaces and switchboards
• Mains connection done without the right electrical licence
• Asbestos disturbed by drilling and ceiling work
• Silica dust and hidden services when drilling
• Occupants and blocked evacuation routes
• Fire protection left disabled after the work
• Alarm noise and false alarms during testing
• Lifts, doors and air handling operating during tests
• Battery, test aerosol and chemical hazards
• Heat illness in hot ceiling spaces
• Old ionisation detectors with a radioactive source

High Risk Construction Work

These high risk construction work items (WHS Regulation 2011 (Qld) s 291) are already ticked because they are part of this work. Tick any others that apply to your job:

• Is carried out on or near energised electrical installations or services

Licences, Training and Competency

• Electrical work licence that authorises the work, for everyone who connects supply wiring or installs, tests or maintains equipment, cable or wire above extra-low voltage (figures in the planning step) (Electrical Safety Act 2002 ss 14, 18 and 55); an electrical mechanic licence authorises all electrical work (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 146), and the business needs an electrical contractor licence (Act s 56)
• QBCC contractor licence for the business: ‘Fire protection – electrical – install and maintain – fire alarm systems’ covers installing and maintaining fire alarm systems restricted to extra-low voltage systems, and is needed at any job value; electrical work under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 on a fire alarm system is not fire protection work, so the electrician’s mains work needs the electrical licences above (Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 s 30CA; Regulation 2018 sch 1AA item 2(e) and sch 2 pt 31)
• Apprentices and other training persons work under a licensed electrical worker, and in their first 6 months not where they could touch a live low voltage exposed part (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 307)
• Rescue and resuscitation competence for everyone who performs or helps with electrical work (Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 s 211)
• Fire detection technicians trained and experienced in the panel, loop devices and emergency warning equipment installed, as the manufacturer and designer require
• Asbestos awareness training for everyone who may drill, cut or open ceilings, walls or eaves, with a record kept
• Training in the safe use of ladders, platform steps and the elevating work platform used; boom-type elevating work platform licence for a boom of 11 m or more (Schedule 3 item 21); Schedule 3 has no high risk work licence class for scissor lifts or shorter boom-type platforms
• Fall protection and rescue training for harness system use
• Crystalline silica training where drilling concrete or masonry is assessed as high risk (WHS Regulation s 529CD)
• General construction induction training card (white card) for construction work, and site induction, including the building’s emergency procedures
• First aid equipment and facilities, and trained first aiders as the work and site need (WHS Regulation s 42)

Legislation and Codes of Practice Referenced

• Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld)
• Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Act 2002 (Qld)
• Electrical Safety Regulation 2026 (Qld): electrical work licences, isolation and testing (ss 195 to 211), roof space entry (ss 31 to 36) and electrical equipment used for construction work (s 140)
• Electrical Safety Code of Practice 2021 – Managing electrical risks in the workplace
• Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld): evacuation routes (ss 5 to 8), critical defects in fire safety installations (ss 49 and 53) and smoke alarms in domestic dwellings (part 5A)
• Radiation Safety Act 1999 (Qld): disposal of radioactive material (s 26)
• Radiation Safety Regulation 2021 (Qld): smoke detectors with a radioactive source (s 87)
• Managing the Risk of Falls at Workplaces Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage and Control Asbestos in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing respirable crystalline silica dust exposure in construction and manufacturing of construction elements Code of Practice 2022
• Managing Noise and Preventing Hearing Loss at Work Code of Practice 2021
• Hazardous Manual Tasks Code of Practice 2021
• Managing Risks of Hazardous Chemicals in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• Managing the Work Environment and Facilities Code of Practice 2021
• First Aid in the Workplace Code of Practice 2021
• How to Manage Work Health and Safety Risks Code of Practice 2021
• Work Health and Safety Consultation, Co-operation and Co-ordination Code of Practice 2021
• Safe Work Australia model Code of Practice: Elevating work platforms (guidance)
• AS/NZS 3012 Electrical installations – Construction and demolition sites (named in the Electrical Safety Regulation 2026)
• AS 1670 (series) Fire detection, warning, control and intercom systems – System design, installation and commissioning (named in appendix E of the Preparation of Safety Data Sheets for Hazardous Chemicals Code of Practice 2021; the system design and the building approval decide which parts apply)

What You Get

• An editable Microsoft Word document (20 pages), laid out on A4 landscape pages
• Business, client, job and document details typed once and filled in on every page, plus a space for your logo
• The high risk construction work checklist, worded as WHS Regulation s 291, and the construction project question (s 292)
• A worker and health and safety representative consultation record
• Qualifications, plant, PPE, hazardous chemicals, safety equipment, permits, references and emergency arrangements filled in for this work
• A 5 x 5 risk matrix, and job steps with initial and residual risk scores and the people responsible
• Implementing, monitoring and review requirements, an additional controls log, revision history and a worker sign-on sheet

Review and adjust it for your site, your plant and the way your crew does the job, and talk it through with your workers before work starts. If you have any trouble downloading this SWMS, you can contact us at any time. Please make sure you read our Disclaimer before downloading this SWMS.