Five of 92 Loafers Lodge residents died in a fire at the boarding house in May 2023, prompting a review of building fire safety rules. Photo: Local Democracy Reporting / George Heard
Warehouses using robots and shuttles present firefighting challenges that need examination - this is one of 10 brand new issues raised in a welter of submissions on changing fire-safety regulations.
The review of rules around high-density accommodation sprang from the fatal Loafers' Lodge fire two years ago.
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- Loafers Lodge fire a year on: What's changed and what has not
The official summary out on Friday said warehouses with automatic storage and retrieval systems (ASRS) have not come up before. Some are 38 metres high and chock full of racks.
They "have limited access for people" and "can be challenging to extinguish the fire and for firefighters to access the buildings".
"Further consideration is required for the fire protection and access needs for these types of facilities," one fire engineer told the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. The engineer declined to comment to RNZ.
Submissions highlight concerns
Among the total of 112 submitters - the largest number on any fire rules change - the highest priority was making the fire regulations clearer, and cutting out gaps and inconsistencies - 92 percent agreed on that.
The biggest concern was "inconsistent treatment of risk, in particular with regard to sleeping occupancies", a submitter said.
Five people died in Loafers Lodge and 70 similar buildings were identified. Inspections found many had at least one fire-safety issue.
Some submitters argued people in some type of buildings could be at greater risk in a fire, such as old or disabled people.
"Requirements are not always set at the right fire risk level for different types of buildings" was noted as another high priority among submitters.
"Occupant load densities for early childhood centres also require further consideration," said one.
The Building Code was not up to it on that front and not performing well, 37 submitters said, although councils generally thought it was doing OK.
"The operation of specific buildings, such as early childcare centres, hospitals, courthouses and police stations, are not addressed well in the Building Code and this results in unnecessary costs, when trying to demonstrate compliance."
Those costs could inhibit compliance.
"Some raised concerns that consideration of the financial implications would result in lowering life safety to an unacceptable level," the MBIE summary said.
Submitters were most vocal about lack of clarity for both new construction and renovations.
This was "alongside the disconnects" to other legislation and regulation such as the Resource Management Act, Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act, and Health and Safety Act.
MBIE will feed the submissions into its proposals for Cabinet to consider changing the Building Code early next year.
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