In shaping the guidelines, Health NZ, which is responsible for improving services and outcomes across the health system, joined up with Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the country’s urban and rural firefighting body, as well as the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.

Effective from the start of this month, the ‘Design Guidance Note: Fire Engineering Design for New Zealand Public Hospitals’, which can be applied to hospital refurbishments and new developments, sets out the minimum requirements for fire safety and design procedures expected by Health NZ. It promises to be a useful reference for regulatory bodies, such as FENZ and Building Consent Authorities, when carrying out their responsibilities.

“In developing the guidance, we worked with leading fire engineers and a health Architect who have experience in the fire engineering design for New Zealand public hospitals. MBIE and FENZ were active participants in the group,” says Stacey Marsh, Health New Zealand’s Head of Infrastructure Asset Management.

“To have this finalised guidance also endorsed by FENZ and MBIE means that, for designs following the guidance, BCAs and the FENZ Engineering Unit as reviewers can have greater confidence when considering the issue of building consents. It was important for Health NZ to standardise practice across our buildings, meet legal requirements, provide for occupant safety, and follow good fire engineering practice.”

Health NZ developed the design guidelines in an effort to improve consistency in the design of infrastructure. The key benefits for Health NZ in adopting these guidelines include:

• nationally consistent design guidance, which supports fit-for-purpose facility development and provides clear and consistent design principles;
• standardisation of fire design processes, which will reduce the risk of time and cost overruns on health infrastructure projects; and
• clarity of requirements covering fire design and evacuation, when applying to health facilities.

The fire design guidance note applies to the design of all new public hospitals, in the concept design stage or earlier.