Mounting the Plan:
The 2026 NSW Standard

The Death of "Good Enough" Installation

We see it every week: high-rise commercial towers and sensitive healthcare facilities with evacuation diagrams mounted behind doors, at a child's eye level, or gathering dust in a maintenance cupboard. A diagram that people cannot see or read does not do its job. It points to a gap in Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) oversight, and it can raise awkward questions from insurers and WHS regulators after an incident.

1. The Height Rule: 1200mm to 1600mm

We mount evacuation diagrams between 1200 mm and 1600 mm above finished floor level, the range commonly used in Australian practice. AS 3745-2010 expects diagrams to be placed where occupants can see and read them.

Why this specific range? Accessibility. A diagram mounted too high (the "builder's reach") is illegible to wheelchair users and people of shorter stature. A diagram mounted too low is obscured by furniture or passing foot traffic. At Compliance Ready, we measure every diagram. If we find one well outside that range, we flag it for correction. After a serious incident, "close enough" is hard for a PCBU (person conducting a business or undertaking) to defend.

2. Strategic Placement: The "Dwell-Time" Protocol

Standard practitioners put diagrams next to exit doors because it's easy for the installer. At Compliance Ready, we call this the **"Exit Myth"**. If a person is already at an exit door, they don't need a map to tell them to exit—they are already there. The exception is education and care services: Regulation 97 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations requires the emergency and evacuation floor plan to be displayed in a prominent position near each exit, so childcare services must keep a copy there as well.

Effective evacuation planning places diagrams in **High Dwell-Time Areas**:

• Elevator Wait Lobbies (High visual engagement)
• Staff Break Rooms & Kitchenettes
• Major Corridor Junctions
• Entry Foyers (Immediate situational awareness)
• Inside Meeting Rooms (For transient visitors)
• Beside First Aid Stations and Hydrants

3. The Fatal "Unsure" Response

In our Assessment Audits, when a facility manager selects "Unsure" for "Is your evacuation hardware compliant?", we flag it as a priority gap in EPC oversight.

Why? Because under AS 3745, the Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) is responsible for the emergency plan and its evacuation information. Being "Unsure" suggests the EPC is not meeting. If the EPC is not meeting and the six-monthly AS 1851 Section 14 inspections are not happening, you will struggle to show you met your duty of care.

"In twenty years of compliance, I have never seen a person 'unsure' of their requirements survive a WorkSafe audit. Ignorance is not a mitigation strategy; it is a confession of negligence."

— Managing Director, Compliance Ready

4. Specific Industry Logic: Aged Care & Childcare

If you operate in the **Aged Care** or **Childcare** sectors, the standard mounting requirements are only the baseline.

• Childcare (Reg 97)

  Regulation 97 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations requires a floor plan and instructions displayed in a prominent position near each exit, and centre-based services must rehearse their procedures every 3 months. If your diagrams are outdated or poorly placed, every rehearsal practises the wrong thing.

• Aged Care Act 2024

  The Aged Care Act 2024 and the strengthened Aged Care Quality Standards put residents' individual needs at the centre of care, including emergencies. Diagrams mounted where residents cannot see or reach them, or that ignore how residents move and evacuate, undermine that.

5. The Audit Protocol: AS 3745 vs AS 1851

Let's look at the "Diagram Audit Date" logic. Where Section 14 applies, if your last diagram inspection was more than 6 months ago, it is overdue.

Why the discrepancy between AS 3745 (5 years) and AS 1851 (6 months)? AS 3745 is the planning and design standard. It tells you what the diagram should look like and where it should go. AS 1851 is the routine service standard. Where Section 14 applies, competent persons inspect the diagrams every 6 months to check they remain relevant.

If your facility has undergone a minor fit-out (moving a single desk, adding a partition, changing a room function) and your diagram hasn't been reviewed, it may no longer be accurate. This is why the six-monthly check matters.

For the wider legal picture, read our guide to evacuation diagram requirements in NSW.

Conclusion: Our Verdict

A diagram either helps people get out, or it doesn't.

Many providers will tell you that a 5-year replacement cycle is enough. They are wrong. They are ignoring the AS 1851 Section 14 inspections that section 81A now requires of NSW building owners where emergency planning is an essential fire safety measure. At Compliance Ready, we don't just provide diagrams. We manage the whole lifecycle of your emergency documentation.