The challenges of fire separation for modular buildings and the National Construction Code (NCC)
Presentations from:
Promat: Adapting standard fire testing to whole of building complexity
We will discuss if the way we build things now works with fire test standards that were designed last century. Over the last three years, Promat has undergone a journey to change the way we approach fire testing. This change has resulted in ad-hoc “Promatised” fire testing of systems technically non-compliant with the standard, but which provides valuable data to allow holistic passive fire protection certification. We will delve into these learnings and hope to provide attendees with a high-level understanding of what is required to meet NCC compliance on their current or future projects.
Speaker: Michael Simpson, National Business Development and Offs
ite Construction Manager, Promat ANZ
Michael has been in the passive fire industry for over 10 years in various commercial and technical based roles. He is a member of TAC19, technical advisory committee for bushfire protection with the FPAA, and is a volunteer firefighter and training officer. Michael is a fire science enthusiast and keen advocate of Australia’s growing prefabricated construction industry. He hopes to help the industry understand the complexities of passive fire protection, the need to engage early in the design phase with manufacturers, and the technical issues of applying standard fire tested systems to non-standard construction techniques.
Western Sydney University (WSU): Recent research on connection systems for prefabricated steel-concrete composite building structures under ambient and elevated temperature
Speaker: Dr Md Kamrul Hassan, Lecturer in Fire Safety Engineering, Western 
Sydney University (WSU)
Dr Md Kamrul Hassan did his PhD at Western Sydney University (WSU), and now is a Lecturer in Fire Safety Engineering at WSU. Dr Kamrul has around ten years of multi-disciplinary research and teaching experience in the fields of fire engineering, post-fire behaviour of steel and concrete materials, steel-concrete composite technology, prefabricated composite structures, sustainable building construction materials, energy-efficient and fire-retardant materials, cladding material testing, finite element modelling using ABAQUS, and FDS (Fire Dynamic Simulator) modelling.
He has outstanding knowledge and experience for the supervision of 10 PhD Students, 30 Master students, and 25 Undergraduate students as either principal supervisor or co-supervisor. He has published more than 70 research articles, including books, journal articles, and national and international conference papers. He has experience working on ARC and Industrial Partnership projects. He has secured five Industrial Fire Related Projects and developed mapping tools for the Fire Protection Industry and associated professions.
Panelist: Alan Smethurst, General Manager for New South Wales, Fleetwood Australia
With more than 20 years’ experience in regional, general and sales management for large volumetric modular building companies, Alan brings a vast understanding of the prefab industry.
Alan’s deep expertise includes risk management, building and construction, architectural and design, business to business, government, merchant, distributor, commercial and retail channel sales.
His work history includes General Manager, State Manager, Sales Manager, Key Account Manager and National Business Development roles within the prefab industry and for Tarkett, TAFE NSW, Rentokil-Initial, Sulo MGB, Caroma Dorf, Ardex Building Products and Deloitte.
Moderator: Scott Hearne, Director, Innovation and Integration, Sensum
Scott is a passionate leader and strategic thinker with a love for collaboration and innovation to support a core focus around people and our planet. He gets great joy in bringing diverse people together to tackle the challenges of projects and life. He gets excited by helping individuals and businesses identify and realise their dreams and aspirations… as well as finding and connecting likeminded collaborators and conspirators.
He has a particular drive and passion to see the construction industry evolve through research, development and implementation of Modern Methods of Construction, exploring and understanding new and emerging technologies.
While seeking to change and evolve both himself and those around him, he understands the natural resistance and uncertainty driven by change. This understanding guides my approach and engagement.
Event schedule:
4:30 pm - Arrive and check-in
5:15 pm - Presentations and panel discussion/Q&A
6:15 pm - Join us for a drink and catch-up with industry colleagues
7:00 pm - Event close
prefabAUS Focus Forums aim to:
- Share genuine knowledge and data
- Challenge the status quo and provide space for debate
- Encourage collaboration
- Inform prefabAUS advocacy to government, regulators and industry bodies
The formalities (presentations and panel sessions) are generally kept to the hour as the networking opportunity is given equal weight.
