How Many Fire Wardens Does a NZ Workplace Need?

The short answer

No New Zealand statute or regulation specifies a number of fire wardens, a ratio of wardens to occupants, or a warden per floor. Fire and Emergency New Zealand puts it directly in its evacuation scheme guidance: wardens are not a requirement of the Act or the regulations, though they are commonly used to effectively evacuate people.

FENZ's own FAQ, answering "Do I need to have fire wardens?", is worth quoting in full because it contains the actual test:

"No, but the person in charge of the evacuation has to be in a position to know if all occupants have been evacuated from the building or the location of anyone remaining inside... Having wardens may assist with this. If your approved evacuation scheme includes wardens, the wardens must be appropriately trained."

Read that last sentence twice. Wardens are optional. Trained wardens are not, once you have put them in your scheme. Naming wardens in an approved scheme and then never training them is worse than having none at all, because you have told FENZ you rely on a control that does not work.

What the law actually requires

There are two layers, and they get mixed up constantly.

Layer one: most non-residential buildings need an evacuation procedure

Regulation 7 of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018 requires the owner of a building to have a procedure for the safe, prompt and efficient evacuation of occupants in a fire emergency. It has to cover escape routes, alarm signals, firefighting equipment, provision for people needing particular assistance, and how to alert FENZ.

Two points of precision here that a lot of published guidance gets wrong. There is no occupancy threshold on this duty, so it bites well below the scheme thresholds below. But it does not apply to literally every building. "Building" is defined for this Part by Schedule 2, which is a closed list of about 25 types: factories, shops and malls, commercial premises, government offices, restaurants and bars, hotels and motels, hospitals and rest homes, educational institutions, childcare centres, places of assembly, places of worship, transport terminals, service stations, car parking buildings, and other buildings the public are admitted to, among others. Standalone household units are not on it. If you run a workplace, you are almost certainly on that list.

Layer two: some buildings need an approved evacuation scheme

Section 75(1) of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 defines a "relevant building". If your building, or part of it, is used for any of these, you need an evacuation scheme approved by FENZ:

the gathering together, for any purpose, of 100 or more people
providing employment facilities for 10 or more people
providing accommodation for 6 or more people, other than in three or fewer household units
an early childhood education and care centre, other than in a household unit
providing nursing, medical or geriatric care, other than in a household unit
providing specialised care for people with disabilities, other than in a household unit
providing accommodation for people under lawful detention
any other prescribed purpose
or where hazardous substances are present in quantities exceeding the prescribed minimum amounts, whatever the building is used for

Section 75 defines the term. Section 76 imposes the duty to provide and maintain the scheme, and section 77 requires the application for approval. Note also that section 75(1) was replaced on 30 November 2022 by the Statutes Amendment Act 2022, so older guidance you find online may be quoting superseded wording.

The ten employee threshold is the one that catches most New Zealand businesses. If you employ ten or more people in a building, you are almost certainly in scheme territory.

The sprinkler exemption is narrower than people think. Section 76(3) allows an exemption where a qualifying automatic sprinkler system is fitted, but only for buildings used only for the 10 or more employment purpose, the 6 or more accommodation purpose, or both, and only if the owner notifies FENZ in writing in the prescribed form. It is not available to buildings where 100 or more people gather, or to early childhood, care or detention facilities. Section 76(3)(a) was also replaced on 30 November 2022, so check the current text rather than an old summary.

So how do you decide on a number?

Because there is no legal figure, you work backwards from the standard the law does set: evacuation that is safe, prompt and efficient, with someone able to account for everyone. FENZ's own exemplar schemes for office and multi-use buildings show the shape of an answer. They use a two-tier model, one head warden and a number of area wardens, with the area warden responsible for physically checking that every room in their area is clear, including storage areas and bathrooms, then reporting to the head warden at the alarm panel.

That gives you the real sizing question. It is not "how many people do we have", it is "how long does it take one person to sweep this area and get out, and is that time acceptable". An open plan floor of 60 people might need one warden. A floor of 25 with a maze of meeting rooms, a plant room and two bathrooms might need three.

Practical factors that should drive the number:

Searchable areas, not headcount. Every space someone could be in needs to be swept by someone.
Sweep time. If a warden cannot clear their area and reach the assembly point in a reasonable time, the area is too big.
Cover for absence. Wardens take leave, work from home, and go to meetings offsite. Name deputies.
Shifts and after hours. FENZ's multi-use exemplar acknowledges that outside normal hours there may be limited wardens or staff present. If you run shifts, your scheme has to work at 2am.
People needing particular assistance. Anyone who cannot self-evacuate needs a named person and a plan, not a general intention.
Visitors and contractors. They are in the building and nobody knows their names.

A common starting point in New Zealand offices is one warden per floor or defined area plus a deputy for each, and a head warden with a deputy. That is a reasonable default and it is what many schemes look like. It is not a legal requirement, and you should be able to explain why it works for your building rather than citing it as a rule.

Trial evacuations: the deadline people miss

Most published summaries say a blanket "trial evacuations every six months". The regulations are slightly more particular than that, and the difference is worth knowing.

Under regulation 29, trial evacuations at intervals of not more than six months are compulsory for early childhood facilities and educational institutions. For any other building, the scheme takes one of two routes: trial evacuations on that six-monthly cycle, or an evacuation training programme with training and assessment at intervals of not more than six months, with trial evacuations only if and when FENZ requires them. Most commercial schemes use the six-monthly trial route, so in practice the six months usually applies, but check which route your own scheme is on before you diarise anything.

An unscheduled evacuation can count as a trial provided you report it properly.

The reporting is where businesses slip. You must notify FENZ in writing no later than 10 working days after the evacuation. The notification covers the building name and address, the date and time, how long it took, any injuries, whether alarms, exits, signs and equipment worked, whether everyone evacuated in line with the scheme, confirmation it was completed safely, the systems for assisting people unable to self-evacuate, and the date of the last training.

Schemes on the training programme route have their own notification cycle, starting within 30 days of first approval and then at six-monthly intervals.

FENZ also recommends calling your local Fire Communications Centre 10 to 15 minutes before and after a trial, so a monitored alarm does not turn into a real turnout.

The duty most businesses forget

Everything above sits on the building owner. There is a separate duty that sits on the PCBU, and in a leased building those are usually different legal entities.

Regulation 14 of the Health and Safety at Work (General Risk and Workplace Management) Regulations 2016 requires a PCBU to ensure an emergency plan is prepared for the workplace. It must cover an effective response to an emergency, evacuation procedures, notifying emergency services at the earliest opportunity, medical treatment and assistance, and effective communication between the person authorised to co-ordinate the emergency response and everyone else at the workplace. It must also set out how the procedures will be tested and how often, and the information, training and instruction relevant workers get.

The plan must be maintained so it stays effective, and implemented in an actual emergency. WorkSafe's guidance is that emergency plans should be tested at least yearly, and that you must engage with workers when making decisions about them.

Note the phrase in regulation 14(2)(a)(v): "the person authorised by the PCBU to co-ordinate the emergency response". That is the closest thing in New Zealand law to a required warden role. It implies at least one designated co-ordinator. It still does not give you a number.

If you lease your premises: the landlord's approved evacuation scheme does not discharge your regulation 14 duty, and your emergency plan does not discharge their scheme obligation. Both run at once. Get a copy of the building scheme and make sure your plan actually matches it.

What non-compliance costs

Under section 76(4) of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017, a person who knowingly fails to provide or maintain a required evacuation scheme commits an offence, and for an individual the maximum is six months imprisonment or a fine up to $75,000, or both. In any other case the maximum is a fine up to $150,000.

Failing to have an evacuation procedure under regulation 7 is a strict liability offence carrying a maximum fine of $15,000 for an individual and $30,000 for other persons. That penalty sits in a different instrument from the duty, which trips people up: the duty is regulation 7 of the Evacuation Procedures and Evacuation Schemes Regulations, while the offence is regulation 7 and Schedule 3 of the separate Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Offences) Regulations 2018. Two instruments, both with a regulation 7. A number of the fire safety regulations also carry infringement fees.

The emergency plan duty is enforced separately by WorkSafe through improvement and prohibition notices and the general duty offences in the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.

A sensible order of work

Work out whether your building is a relevant building under section 75(1). The 10 employee threshold catches most workplaces.
If it is, get or review the approved scheme. If you lease, ask the building owner for it in writing.
Map your searchable areas and time a sweep of each one. That is your warden number.
Name deputies, and check the model still works on night shift and during school holidays.
Train everyone you have named, because once they are in the scheme, training them is not optional.
Diarise the six-monthly trial and the 10 working day notification, together, so one does not happen without the other.
Write or refresh your regulation 14 emergency plan and make sure it agrees with the building scheme.

Training the people you have named

Once wardens are in your scheme they have to be appropriately trained, and the training needs to cover the job as your scheme defines it: the sweep, the report to the head warden, the alarm panel, handling people who refuse to leave, and keeping people out until it is over.

Our Fire Warden Training course covers the warden role for New Zealand workplaces, and works alongside your building's own scheme rather than in place of it. For the wider duty picture that regulation 14 sits inside, Introduction to Health and Safety is the natural companion, and businesses with elected representatives usually pair it with Health and Safety Representative training.

Common questions

How many fire wardens are legally required in New Zealand?

None. New Zealand law does not require fire wardens or specify a number. Fire and Emergency New Zealand states that wardens are not a requirement of the Act or regulations, though they are commonly used. What the law requires is safe, prompt and efficient evacuation, and that the person in charge of the evacuation can tell whether everyone has got out or where anyone still inside is located.

When does a building need an approved evacuation scheme?

Section 75(1) of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Act 2017 sets the triggers. The main ones are gathering 100 or more people, providing employment facilities for 10 or more people, providing accommodation for 6 or more people, early childhood education and care centres, nursing, medical or geriatric care, specialised care for people with disabilities, lawful detention, or holding hazardous substances above prescribed quantities.

Do we still need something if we are below those thresholds?

Yes. Regulation 7 of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fire Safety, Evacuation Procedures, and Evacuation Schemes) Regulations 2018 requires the owner of a building to have an evacuation procedure for the safe, prompt and efficient evacuation of occupants, and there is no occupancy threshold on that duty. It applies to the building types listed in Schedule 2 of those regulations, which covers essentially every non-residential building including factories, shops, offices, hospitality and educational premises. Separately, every PCBU needs an emergency plan under regulation 14 of the General Risk and Workplace Management Regulations 2016.

How often do we have to run a trial evacuation?

It depends which route your scheme is on. Early childhood facilities and educational institutions must hold trial evacuations at intervals of not more than six months. Any other building can either use that six-monthly trial cycle or run an evacuation training programme with training and assessment at intervals of not more than six months, with trials only if and when Fire and Emergency New Zealand requires them. Where a trial is held you must notify FENZ in writing no later than 10 working days after it, and an unscheduled evacuation can count as a trial if you report it the same way.

If we have sprinklers, are we exempt from having a scheme?

Only in limited cases. The exemption under section 76(3) applies where the building is used only for employing 10 or more people or accommodating 6 or more people, has a qualifying automatic sprinkler system, and the owner notifies FENZ in writing in the prescribed form. It is not available where 100 or more people gather, or for early childhood, care or detention facilities.

We lease our office. Is fire safety the landlord's problem?

Partly. The evacuation scheme and evacuation procedure duties sit with the building owner. The emergency plan duty under regulation 14 sits with you as the PCBU, and it is not discharged by the landlord's scheme. Both duties run at the same time, so get a copy of the building's scheme and make sure your plan matches it.

Do fire wardens have to be trained?

If your approved evacuation scheme includes wardens, then yes. Fire and Emergency New Zealand states that where a scheme includes wardens, the wardens must be appropriately trained. Wardens are optional, but once you name them in a scheme you have declared them part of how the building is evacuated, and training them becomes a compliance obligation.

Current as at 6 August 2026. This article is general information about New Zealand law, not legal advice, and no training course makes a business compliant on its own. Check the current text of any legislation, regulation or guidance before you rely on it.

Train the wardens you have already named

Once wardens are in your evacuation scheme, appropriate training is not optional. This course covers the role as New Zealand schemes actually define it.

See Fire Warden Training