Evacuation Diagram vs Emergency Plan: What Is the Difference?

Many building owners and facility managers use the terms "evacuation diagram" and "emergency plan" interchangeably. They are not the same thing. Under Australian Standard AS 3745, they are two distinct documents with different purposes, audiences, and requirements.

Understanding the difference matters because you need both, and they serve different functions during an emergency.

What Is an Evacuation Diagram?

An evacuation diagram is a visual floor plan displayed on walls throughout a building. It is designed for everyone: staff, visitors, guests, and contractors. Its purpose is to show people how to get out of the building safely.

Key characteristics:

• A visual document (floor plan with symbols and routes)
• Displayed publicly on walls at specified locations
• Designed for immediate use by anyone, including first-time visitors
• Shows exit routes, fire equipment, and assembly area for a specific location
• Each diagram is customised to its display position ("You Are Here")
• Must comply with AS 3745 Section 3 for content, size, and placement

What Is an Emergency Plan?

An emergency plan is a written document that describes how a facility will respond to various emergency situations. It is primarily a management document, used by fire wardens, building managers, and the Emergency Planning Committee.

Key characteristics:

• A written document (typically 20 to 100+ pages)
• Not displayed publicly. Kept by building management, wardens, and the EPC.
• Covers multiple emergency types: fire, bomb threat, medical emergency, hazardous material spill, severe weather, armed intruder
• Includes roles and responsibilities for wardens, chief warden, communications officer
• Contains procedures for each emergency type (what to do step by step)
• Includes warden lists, contact numbers, equipment registers, training records
• Must comply with AS 3745 Section 4 for content and review requirements

How They Work Together

Think of the emergency plan as the instruction manual and the evacuation diagram as the quick reference card.

During an emergency:

• The emergency plan tells wardens what to do (check floors, direct people, report to chief warden, communicate with fire brigade)
• The evacuation diagram tells occupants where to go (follow exit route, proceed to assembly area)
• Wardens use the plan. Occupants use the diagram.
• Both reference the same assembly area, exit routes, and fire equipment locations. They must be consistent with each other.

Who Needs What?

The requirements depend on the building and its use:

• Every commercial building needs evacuation diagrams. No exceptions.
• Every building with an Emergency Planning Committee (EPC) needs a written emergency plan. AS 3745 requires an EPC for most workplaces.
• Small businesses in a single tenancy may have a simplified emergency plan, but still need diagrams.
• Multi-tenanted buildings typically have a base building emergency plan (managed by the body corporate or building owner) plus individual tenant plans.
• Schools, hospitals, and aged care facilities need both, often with additional requirements from their sector regulators.

Common Mistakes

The most frequent errors we see:

• Having an emergency plan but no evacuation diagrams (or vice versa)
• Diagrams that show different exit routes than what the emergency plan describes
• An emergency plan that has not been updated to reflect building changes, while new diagrams have been printed showing the current layout
• Assuming the fire safety company that installed the alarms also provided diagrams and an emergency plan (they usually do not)
• Confusing an evacuation diagram with a fire safety plan (the drawing submitted to council during development approval, which is a different document entirely)

What EvacPath Provides

EvacPath creates AS 3745-compliant evacuation diagrams. We do not write emergency plans, as these require site-specific knowledge of your operations, staffing, and emergency procedures.

If you need an emergency plan, we recommend engaging a local fire safety consultant who can visit your site. Your evacuation diagrams and emergency plan should then be developed to reference each other.

For diagrams, send us your floor plans and we will deliver print-ready PDFs in 3 to 5 business days. Pricing starts at A$70 per diagram.