Connecting and maintaining fire services

Fire services are required on most commercial and industrial properties. Goulburn Valley Water does not impose the requirement for a fire service.

All fire services are private infrastructure from the isolation valve on our water main. This includes those that run through private or public land, under roadways and/or footpaths.

As fire services are part of the building infrastructure they are attached to, the maintenance responsibility for fire services is that of the property owner unless stated otherwise within a commercial lease agreement or insurance policy.

It is the property owner’s responsibility for all regular maintenance and upkeep of the private fire service.

We do not allow direct pumping connections from our reticulated water supply.

All fire services require a break tank for testing fire suppression systems; this is to ensure there is no compromise to pressure or quality of supply to surrounding properties.

It is illegal to use a fire service for any purpose other than fighting a fire, regardless of whether it is metered or not. Misuse of a fire service can result in:

  • contaminated drinking water - there is potential for a backflow incident whereby contaminates enter the water supply due to a drop in pressure in surrounding properties
  • decreased water pressure in the reticulated system negatively impacting the firefighting capacity in the local area
  • reduced water quality
  • potential negative impact to commercial and residential surrounding properties.  

To ascertain the fire service required for your property, you may require information from us regarding water pressure and flow. To obtain this information, please complete a Pressure and Flow Application form

When requesting a fire service connection, you will be required to provide your required peak flow details.

Along with your application to connect, you will need to submit a completed tapping size request form.

You can find more information on fire service guidelines on page 44-50 of our Metering and Servicing Guidelines (PDF, 6MB)

You can find more information in our Fire Services information sheet (PDF, 262kb).