An ATS Working Group revising AS 4825 – Tunnel Fire Safety has produced an important position paper, and we are seeking input from those in the industry.

The paper distils a four-hour public workshop held on 11th October 2024 that was attended by designers, operators, proponents, fire-service and government officers, advisers and recognised international experts, plus subsequent written input.

If you are interested in providing comment on AS 4825 Tunnel Fire Safety, please:

  1. Review this draft ATS Position Paper from the AS 4825 Working Group, titled: “Achieving, Demonstrating and Accepting Appropriate Fire Safety in Australian Tunnels.”
  2.  Complete this comment spreadsheet template for ease of capturing feedback.

Please note that this is not proposed wording for the revised standard.

The intention of this position paper is to address key issues that emerged during the development process.

The workshop and this position paper were convened to explore those issues, build consensus, and document the collective position of the Australian Tunnelling Society (ATS).

Once finalised, this paper will guide the drafting of the revised AS4285 Tunnel fire Engineering standard for submission to Standards Australia.

The ATS proposes to formally issue this document and is now seeking feedback from various stakeholders and industry parties.

PLEASE NOTE: The Working group committee will accept feedback and Comments until COB 19 September 2025 to ats@engineersaustralia.org.au 

Upon review, if feedback indicates the need for further discussion to reach consensus on any significant matter, a follow-up workshop may be arranged.

Please submit your comments via email as an electronic file attachment.

A spreadsheet template is provided for convenience, but you may use any format that suits you—such as a scanned markup, spreadsheet, or written commentary.

The team request that:

  • File names include your surname or organisation name eg. Please save as “your name” comments sheet AS4825 Position paper 1.xls
  • Comments are numbered – please use subject, page number, section number in column A if using the comment sheet as an identifier
  • Suggestions for change are accompanied by justification
  • eg. Comment: “This statement is not current tunnel design practices”

suggested change:

“A risk-based methodology shall be applied to target assessment of hazards relevant to the tunnel scope and functionality.”

Thank you in advance for your contribution to this important work.