Planning approvals for dental and medical fitouts in NSW continue to get more complicated. As of the 1st October we have had to engage a qualified fire engineer to provide a statement of compliance for all fitout designs. Previously the certifier used to ensure the fire provisions in the fitout emulated those throughout the rest of the building. Now we are required to engage a separate fire engineer to asses the plans and provide a statement of compliance. As with all these things, because the fire engineer is putting his name on the line, it’s relatively expensive for what it is. Typically, we are finding costs of about $1,500 to $2,000 for normal size fitouts. It’s just another little hurdle that we help our clients get over.