Our 3-Step Escape Plan

  • First Escape Route
  • Second Escape Route
  • Meeting Place
Notes

Use this space to note any additional information about your escape plan, i.e. who will assist

Your checklist

  • Get low

    Smoke is poisonous and more deadly than flames.

    If you breathe smoke for more than a few breaths it can kill you.

  • Be fast

    A house fire can kill you in less than three minutes.

    Don't spend time trying to save possessions.

  • Close doors

    A closed door buys you time.

    It slows down the spread of fire, giving you more time to get to safety.

  • Get out - stay out!

    People have died by going back into a fire.

    Don't leave the meeting place to go back inside for any reason.

Call emergency services as soon as you are out and safe. Ask for FIRE.

Clearly state your address and let the operator know it anyone is still inside or has not made it to the safe meeting place.

Emergency call 111 Emergency text 111
Fire & Emergency New Zealand

Designers guide to firefighting operations

The Fire and Emergency New Zealand Designers Guide to Firefighting Operations provides reference information to help designers and building consent authorities verify that building designs will comply with the New Zealand Building Code C5 – Access and safety for firefighting operations. 

This guide aims to inform you how Fire and Emergency is likely to undertake firefighting and rescue operations in buildings.

Audience

The guide is for:

  • building designers
  • officers of Building Consent Authorities (BCAs) and Territorial Authorities (TAs)
  • building facilities professionals
  • evacuation specialists
  • anyone else with an interest in designing safety strategies in buildings.

How the guide was presented

For the original 2018 release, we presented each chapter of the guide separately for consultation, giving three months to review each one.

The key stakeholders we consulted were:

  • designers, architects
  • the wider engineering community
  • Building Consent Authorities (BCA)/Territorial Authorities (TA)
  • Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE)
  • Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE)
  • Fire Protection Association New Zealand (FPANZ)
  • Building Officials Institute of New Zealand (BOINZ)
  • Ministry of Business Innovation and Enterprise (MBIE).

Updates for some chapters have been released in 2025. 

Chapters