Pre-Renovation Evacuation Diagram Audit (Australia, AS 3745): What to Capture Before Construction Starts

Capital projects, renovations, fit-outs, building extensions, refurbishments, are the single biggest disruption to evacuation diagram accuracy in Australian buildings. Walls move, exits shift, fire equipment relocates, assembly areas get cordoned off behind hoardings. The construction phase often runs three to twelve months while the building is still occupied, and the diagrams hanging on the wall reflect a layout that no longer exists.

AS 3745:2010 does not pause during a renovation. The Work Health and Safety Act does not pause. The duty of care for occupants, contractors, and visitors continues for every shift the building is open. The pre-renovation audit is the discipline that closes the gap before construction starts. This post is the project manager and facilities manager checklist for what to capture before the first hoarding goes up.

Why pre-renovation audits get skipped

Most Australian renovations skip the pre-audit step. The reasons are predictable, and the costs only show up months later.

• The diagrams are assumed current. In practice they are often three to seven years old, drawn by a supplier no one has contact details for, and have already drifted from the actual building layout before construction even starts.
• The architect proposed drawings are treated as the post-renovation diagram. They are not. Architectural drawings are not AS 3745 compliant; they show building geometry but not the symbol set, "you are here" indicator, assembly area markings, or pictograms the standard requires.
• The defect liability period ends with no diagram refresh on the snag list. The builder closes out the project, the operations team inherits an undocumented building, and the next compliance audit is the moment everyone realises the diagrams were never updated.
• Construction-phase compliance is treated as the builder problem. It is partly the builder problem, but the PCBU (the building owner or operator) keeps the duty of care for occupants regardless of who is on site.
• Master files for the existing diagrams are missing. The original supplier moved on, the source files were never delivered, and the post-build refresh becomes a full rebuild from blank floor plans rather than an amendment.

These are the same root causes that show up in the five signs your diagrams need updating and how often diagrams should be updated: drift between the building and the diagram, surfaced when something forces a check. A renovation is a forcing function whether the operator schedules an audit or not. The pre-renovation audit pulls the check forward to the controllable point in the project.

The construction-phase compliance gap

Renovations in occupied buildings create a compliance window where the existing diagrams are stale and the new diagrams do not exist yet. The window typically runs the full duration of the works.

• Hoardings block normal exit routes. The "primary exit" on the existing diagram leads to a closed corridor or a barricaded stairwell.
• Fire equipment is temporarily relocated. Extinguishers, hose reels, and break-glass alarms get moved to accommodate the works. The relocated equipment is rarely on any diagram.
• The assembly area is cordoned off or shifted. A renovation that touches the ground-floor lobby, the loading dock, or the rooftop terrace often forces a temporary new assembly point.
• Pedestrian pathways through the building become non-standard. Occupants reach their workspace by routes the diagram does not describe.
• Construction zones are adjacent to occupied floors. The hazard mix changes (welding, sparks, dust, partial fire-suppression coverage), and the response procedure has to account for it.

The compliance answer to this gap is a transition diagram (covered later in this post). The pre-renovation audit produces the baseline that makes a credible transition diagram possible.

The pre-renovation audit checklist

A workable pre-renovation audit captures the building state on a day before construction starts and overlays the scope of works onto it. The checklist below is the minimum content; larger projects extend it but rarely shrink it.

• Diagram inventory. One photograph per mount point, with the location captured (level, room, and orientation). Includes diagrams in cleaner cupboards, plant rooms, and after-hours staff areas, not just the visitor-facing lobby.
• Master file location for each diagram. Note the file format, supplier, and contact, or note "no master file" for diagrams that need rebuilding from scratch later.
• Date of last review or revision on each diagram. If the date is unknown, record that fact.
• Scope of works overlay. Which diagrams will be invalidated by the works (replace), partially affected (amend), or unchanged (leave). Mark each on the inventory.
• Architect proposed plan versus current as-built. The gap between the two is informative; existing diagrams may already disagree with the current building before the renovation begins.
• Fire equipment register cross-check. Locations of extinguishers, hose reels, panels, manual call points, against both the diagram and the architect plan. Note any equipment scheduled for relocation by the works.
• Assembly area status during construction. Will it remain accessible, will it move, is the after-hours assembly point different, who is the building manager confirming the access route during the works.
• Exit route impact analysis. Which primary and alternative routes will be affected, when, and for how long. Per-floor and per-zone, not just at building level.
• Drill schedule alignment. When is the next scheduled drill, will it fall during construction. If yes, the drill plan needs to assume the construction-phase layout, not the pre-construction layout.
• PEEP holder review. Any Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan currently in force whose egress path is affected by the works. PEEPs need to be rewritten for the construction period.
• Ownership of post-build refresh. Named person responsible (operator, builder, project manager, or external diagram supplier under contract). Date and source for the refresh costed into the project budget.

The audit output is a single document that travels with the project from kickoff through to post-build sign-off. It feeds the transition diagram brief, the construction-phase emergency plan, and the post-renovation diagram refresh scope. The PEEP holder review row is the easiest to miss; the Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans guide covers what a construction-period PEEP rewrite should include for any holder whose egress path the works will disrupt.

Transition diagrams during the works

A transition diagram is a temporary, project-phase-specific diagram showing the current navigable layout while construction is in progress. It is not a substitute for the permanent compliant diagram; it is the artefact that closes the construction-phase compliance gap.

• Current functional exit routes, with any blocked or restricted exits clearly marked.
• Current functional fire equipment locations, including any temporarily relocated units.
• Current assembly area, with after-hours assembly point if it differs.
• Construction zones outlined and marked "no entry".
• Temporary egress paths, including egress through neighbouring tenancies under cross-easement agreements where applicable.
• Date range for which the transition diagram is valid (start and expected end of the relevant construction phase).
• Visual marker that distinguishes the transition diagram from the permanent diagram. Common conventions: coloured paper or a coloured border, plus a "TEMPORARY DIAGRAM, valid YYYY-MM-DD to YYYY-MM-DD" header.

Transition diagrams are reissued at each construction phase change. A six-month renovation may produce two or three transition diagrams as the work fronts move through the building. The phase markers usually align with hoarding-relocation events or major exit-route changes.

Wardens and occupants need to be briefed each time a transition diagram is issued. The briefing is short, often a five-minute toolbox talk on the new layout, with the new diagram pinned in place. The briefing record is part of the WHS construction-phase documentation.

Post-renovation diagram refresh

Once construction completes, the new permanent diagrams need to land before the construction barriers come down. This is the step most often deferred and most often regretted at the next compliance audit.

• Replace every diagram affected by the works. Some are unchanged, some need partial updates, some are full rebuilds.
• Cross-check against the architect as-built drawings. The as-built often differs from the proposed; the diagram refresh follows the as-built, not the original proposal.
• Re-verify exit clearance, fire equipment locations, and assembly area position after the works finish. Walls that were proposed at one position sometimes land at another.
• Update the version archive with new master files. The post-renovation refresh is the natural moment to consolidate all building diagrams under a single supplier and a single master file format.
• Schedule a drill as soon as practical after refresh. A fresh diagram needs a drill validation pass before being trusted as compliance evidence.

The post-build refresh should be costed into the renovation project budget at kickoff, not deferred to the next financial year. The diagram cost is small relative to the renovation total; the cost of an audit finding citing non-current diagrams six months after handover is much higher in audit response time and remediation cost.

For chain businesses managing renovation programs across portfolios, the post-build refresh is most efficient when bundled into the multi-site supplier master agreement so the renovation site rolls into the same rate card and version archive as the rest of the portfolio.

Coordinating with the architect, builder, and certifier

A pre-renovation audit pulls four roles into a coordination thread that does not always exist on a renovation project: facilities manager, architect, builder, and certifier or fire safety inspector.

• Architect. Provides pre-construction drawings (proposed) and post-construction drawings (as-built). Both feed the diagram process; as-built is the source of truth for the post-renovation diagram. The architect is rarely the diagram producer, but the diagram producer cannot work without the as-built.
• Builder. Needs to know which diagrams remain in force during construction and which transition diagrams have been issued. The builder site induction should reference the current transition diagram so subcontractors entering the building have the correct emergency information.
• Certifier or fire safety inspector. The post-renovation certification touchpoint will check diagrams. In NSW the AFSS process is annual; in other states the trigger varies. The diagram refresh should land before the certifier visits, not after.
• Project manager. Owns the diagram audit and refresh as a project deliverable, not as a "facilities will sort it later" item. The project manager is the right escalation point if the architect does not produce as-built drawings on schedule.

The certifier touchpoint deserves specific attention. Renovations that touch fire safety measures usually trigger a re-certification requirement; in NSW the renovated building cannot reach an Annual Fire Safety Statement without compliant evacuation diagrams in place. Project schedules that finish the building work before the diagrams are commissioned land in a hold-state until the diagrams catch up.

Common pre-renovation audit gaps

A short list of failure modes that recur across Australian renovation projects when the pre-renovation audit step is skipped or under-resourced.

• Architect proposed drawings used as the post-renovation diagram, with no AS 3745 compliance review. The drawings are not the standard.
• Defect liability period ends with no diagram refresh in the snag list. The opportunity to bill the diagram cost back to the construction budget closes.
• Construction phase runs without any transition diagrams. Staff and visitors navigate by signage alone, which is sufficient for wayfinding but not sufficient under AS 3745 occupant-information requirements.
• Original master files lost. The legacy supplier is unreachable, and the post-renovation refresh is a full rebuild instead of an amendment. Adds cost and time to the project tail.
• Fire equipment relocated by the builder without updating the equipment register or any diagram. Discovered at the next service visit when the technician cannot find the equipment listed on the maintenance schedule.
• Assembly area changes (most often: shifted closer to the new construction zone) and no one updates the diagram or trains staff. Drilled at the next exercise, when occupants assemble in the wrong location and the chief warden does not have a head count.
• PEEP holder egress paths affected by the works and no one rewrites the PEEP for the construction period. The PEEP holder remains nominally covered but practically exposed.
• New tenant moves into a freshly renovated tenancy with diagrams from the previous tenant still on the wall. The pre-renovation audit catches this when the audit timeline overlaps tenant changeover.

The tenant-changeover overlap is the same failure mode covered in the tenant fit-out evacuation diagram requirements post from the incoming-tenant perspective. The pre-renovation audit catches it from the outgoing-tenant or building-owner side; ideally both audits cross-reference each other so the diagram refresh is on someone explicit list, not split between two parties who each assumed the other was handling it.

Capital projects portfolio: pre-renovation audits at scale

For chain businesses, property portfolios, and government departments running multiple capital projects per year, the pre-renovation audit is most efficient as a portfolio process rather than a per-project deliverable.

• Annual cycle. List every site with planned capital works in the next twelve months. Each gets a pre-renovation audit slot before construction starts.
• Standard checklist. Use the same audit template across every project so the artefacts are comparable across the portfolio. The list above is one starting point.
• Supplier coordination. Bundle pre-renovation audits, transition diagrams, and post-build refreshes into the same supplier master agreement that handles routine refreshes. Saves project-by-project supplier negotiation.
• Project manager training. The first time a project manager runs a pre-renovation audit it takes the longest; the second time is faster. A short internal training pack reduces the learning-curve cost across the portfolio.
• Reporting up. The portfolio compliance lead should have visibility into pre-renovation audit completion, transition diagram status, and post-build refresh status across all in-flight projects, ideally in the same register that tracks the rest of the multi-site diagram program.

The portfolio approach is the operations-side complement to the procurement-side discussion in the managing diagrams across multiple sites post; renovations are one of the highest-frequency triggers for diagram churn in any multi-site portfolio.

How EvacPath supports the renovation lifecycle

EvacPath produces AS 3745-aligned evacuation diagrams across the full renovation lifecycle: pre-renovation baseline audits, transition diagrams during the works, and post-renovation refreshes from architect as-built drawings. Floor plan formats supported for the architect handover are covered in the floor plan formats post; accepted inputs include PDF, DWG, DXF, JPG, PNG, and clear photographs of paper plans.

We work across warehouses, offices, healthcare, retail, hotels, childcare, and aged care. Renovations in tenanted commercial buildings, hospitality refurbishments, healthcare upgrades, and aged care facility expansions are common project types.

Send your project schedule and the architect proposed drawings through the /get-started or /partners page. We respond with a pre-renovation audit scope, a transition diagram plan, and a post-build refresh quote together, so the diagram lifecycle aligns with the construction program from kickoff. Print-ready PDFs in 3 to 5 business days from supplied floor plans, with master file release terms stated in the contract up front.