The Renmark Paringa Council forms part of the Riverland Regional Building Fire Safety Committee. The Committee is responsible for ensuring that the level of fire safety within existing buildings is maintained to a satisfactory level.

The Building Fire Safety Committee is chaired by an independent technical expert and consists of Council building surveyors, along with representatives from the South Australian Metropolitan Fire Service and the Country Fire Service.

The committee meets regularly to undertake inspections of buildings and, where necessary, will request that the level of fire safety within buildings be upgraded to a satisfactory standard.

The level of upgrades required depends on a variety of factors, including the use, age and size of a building as well as changing legislation. For instance, the introduction of non-smoking legislation within South Australia has resulted in the committee requiring hotels and similar buildings to install smoke detectors in lieu of thermal heat detectors to trigger an occupant warning system. Smoke detectors are considered a more effective method of detecting a fire in its earlier stages and were previously not feasible in areas where smoke would normally be present.

The Building Fire Safety Committee targets buildings based on a risk management approach. In general, the committee focuses on the following building types:

• Aged care and supported residential facilities
• Hotels/motels and other accommodation buildings
• Buildings where large numbers of people may congregate
• Warehouses, factories, shops, offices and other commercial buildings.