'A litany of disasters': Fire station bungles cause concern

These are just a few of the "litany of disasters" in the construction and renovation of Canberra's fire stations identified by the United Firefighters Union's ACT branch secretary.

The union is pushing for an agreed set of standards for all future construction and renovation at fire stations. The case, part of a safety dispute with the Emergency Services Agency over the renovation of Ainslie Fire Station, is being heard by the Fair Work Commission.

The union and the agency are required to report back to the commission on Wednesday, detailing the progress they have made in developing those standards as part of an agreement reached through conciliation.

United Firefighters Union ACT branch secretary Greg McConville said agreed standards were critical in "saving the ESA from themselves" and that the agency's track record with construction and renovation showed it couldn't be trusted to deliver quality work through its own internal standards.

He said solar panels on the roof at the South Tuggeranong Fire Station, which opened in March 2015, were only connected in February 2018.

"They are yet to be activated," he said.

"The result is that they are still not returning electricity to the grid."

Mr McConville said there were other longstanding issues at the South Tuggeranong station, including a faulty airconditioning system that ultimately failed and had to be replaced.

This reporter has seen 20 pages of tables detailing faults and safety issues logged at the station, which has been open less than four years.

Mr McConville said CCTV cameras were installed to cover the rear yard at the Tuggeranong station, but it was only discovered they were never turned on when police requested footage for an investigation three years later.

There was a similar situation at the new Belconnen Fire Station in Aranda, the union secretary said. Police requested CCTV in early 2018 but discovered only one of the cameras had ever been switched on.

Mr McConville said the new Belconnen station had been "fraught with problems", including a slippery engine bay floor that caused four people to fall over the day the station opened in September 2016.

"Ambulance employees have since fallen, with provisional improvement notices filed by [work health and safety] representatives."

The result was that the floor was repainted with expensive paint three times, he said.

Among other faults and issues, The Canberra Times has previously revealed a shed upgrade at the Molonglo rural fire station was seven months overdue and over budget because it was lacking a fire hydrant.

The Emergency Services Agency was unable to answer questions about specific issues in fire station construction and renovations before deadline.

An agency spokeswoman said the ACT government had been investing in "state-of-the-art"  emergency response facilities since the station upgrade and relocation program was announced in 2011, and that the program was designed to improve community safety and minimise response times.

The spokeswoman also addressed concerns raised by the union about whether the removal of a demountable structure from the agency's Hume Training Centre in December would impact on its ability to run upcoming training colleges for firefighter recruits.

The union's 2019-20 budget submission, which calls for the ACT government to fund a $5 million upgrade to facilities at the training centre, describes several work health and safety issues with the demountable.

"The concerns included a sewerage overflow and extreme temperatures causing freezing of washing water and toilets," the submission said.

"This facility urgently requires replacement."

The Emergency Services Agency spokeswoman said a temporary replacement building would be in place at the training centre before the next ACT Fire and Rescue recruit college started in June.

"The building will include meal facilities, change rooms, toilets and showers, as well as a transition area," she said.

"A long-term solution will be considered as part of the future development of the Emergency Services Agency training centre."

Budget papers show the Emergency Services Agency did not spend $12.2 million allocated to projects in 2017-18, with the money rolled over to future financial years.

"There's a question here about [the agency's] ability to spend the money allocated to them and to deliver projects on time and to appropriate standards," Mr McConville said.

"What we're seeking is an agreed set of standards for any works that are required and we are confident that we will get this through the Fair Work Commission proceedings relating to Ainslie."

The agency spokeswoman said the development of those standards was an ongoing process and there had already been a number of meetings with the union.