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Fire Evacuation Plans for Commercial Builders: Your Guide to AS 3745 Compliance

For Commercial Builders, fire safety is more than a regulatory requirement—it is a critical part of delivering a safe, compliant and fully operational facility to your client. Whether you’re constructing a commercial complex, warehouse, hospital or mixed-use development, ensuring the building is equipped with a compliant Fire Evacuation Plan is essential.

These plans must align with AS3745 – Planning for Emergencies in Facilities, the national standard that outlines how buildings should prepare for, respond to, and recover from emergency situations. Below is a practical overview tailored specifically for builders who need to understand what’s required before handover.

Understanding AS 3745 for Commercial Projects

AS 3745 sets out the framework for creating and maintaining a site’s Emergency Plan—part of which includes Evac Plans.

For builders, this means ensuring the structure and documentation of the project support safe evacuation, correct placement of equipment, and clear occupant guidance once the building becomes operational.

Core Elements of a Fire Evacuation Plan

1. Emergency Evacuation Diagrams (Evac Plans)

Evacuation diagrams are mandatory under AS 3745 and must be installed in strategic, high-visibility locations.
For commercial buildings, they typically show:

• Floor layout with clear pathways to exits
• Assembly points or evacuation zones
• Firefighting equipment (extinguishers, hose reels, hydrants, sprinklers)
• “You Are Here” location
• Emergency exits, doors and stairwells
• Accessibility considerations (ramps, refuge points, lifts not in use)

These diagrams must match the final as-built layout. Any site changes or renovations—from moving walls to relocating equipment—require updated diagrams.

2. Evacuation Procedures

A Fire Evacuation Plan is not just a diagram—it also includes actionable, written procedures. These outline how occupants should behave when an alarm or emergency is declared.

For compliance, procedures should cover:

• The immediate steps occupants must take during a fire
• Identification of primary and secondary evacuation pathways
• How occupants are accounted for at assembly points

Commercial builders do not normally draft these procedures themselves, but they must ensure the documentation aligned to the as-built drawings is available for the building owner or tenant.

3. Emergency Assembly Areas

All commercial facilities are required to have designated assembly areas located at a safe distance from the building.

These areas must be:

• Clearly labelled on the evacuation diagrams
• Accessible and unobstructed
• Suitable for the expected number of occupants

During an actual evacuation, Emergency Wardens or building management use these spaces to confirm that everyone has evacuated safely.

4. Fire Safety Equipment

Fire equipment placement is a major compliance item for commercial builds. AS 3745 requires that evacuation plans accurately show all relevant firefighting and safety equipment, including:

• Fire extinguishers
• Fire hose reels
• Fire Blanket
• Hydrants
• Fire indicator panels
• Manual Call Point
• Emergency exit

Builders must ensure these installations align with both the approved design and the final evacuation diagram layout. Ongoing responsibilities—such as regular maintenance, clear labelling and the mandatory five-year updates.

Why It Matters

For commercial builders, delivering a compliant evacuation plan is more than a checklist item:

• It forms part of a safe handover package
• It protects occupants in the event of an emergency

Ultimately, a well-prepared Fire Evacuation Plan supports both safety and operational readiness for the building’s future users.

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