Research

Fire and Rescue NSW is committed to keeping the people of NSW fire safe and we continue to conduct research that better informs building code legislation and product standards to improve fire safety.

Fire and Rescue NSW works with many government agencies and research institutions on a variety of key projects and research programs.

Safety of Alternative and Renewable Energy Technologies (SARET) Research Program

Current

Report, Management of lithium-ion battery safety risks - A literature review of current knowledge and best practices, published August 2025.

For further information, visit SARET.

Electric vehicles (EV) and EV charging equipment in the built environment

March 2025

Fire safety position paper, Electric vehicles (EV) and EV charging equipment in the built environment, published March 2025.

FRNSW battery incident data reports

Current, in collaboration with Field Operations Business Unit

Report, January to June 2024 FRNSW battery incident data breakdown, published 2025.
Report, 2022-2023 FRNSW battery incident data breakdown, published March 2024.

Fire hydrant equipment testing with Manly Hydraulics Laboratory 2017

March 2020

Report, MHL, Fire and Rescue NSW fire hydrant testing, published March 2020.
Report, FRNSW, Fire Hydrant Equipment Testing with Manly Hydraulics Laboratory 2017, published March 2020.
For further information, visit Fire hydrant testing.

Any use or application of the results in the MHL report, Fire and Rescue NSW Fire hydrant testing or FRNSW report, Fire Hydrant Equipment Testing with Manly Hydraulics Laboratory - 2017 should be discussed with the Fire Safety Policy Unit to ensure that the appropriate considerations are being made. Please email consult.firesafety@fire.nsw.gov.au.

Smoke alarms in homes

January 2018, in collaboration with Fire Investigation Research Unit

Report, FRNSW, Smoke alarms in homes: Stage 2, published December 2017.
Report, FRNSW, Fire Research Report - Smoke Alarms in Homes: An Analysis, published December 2017.
Report, ABCB, Australian Building Codes Board’s Domestic Smoke Alarm Study: Ionisation versus Photoelectric, published July 2015.
Report, CSIRO, XF3033/R1, Smoke Sensitivity Testing of Residential Smoke Alarms (Smoke alarm verification test report), published April 2016.
Report, CSIRO, XF3033/R3, Smoke Sensitivity Testing of Residential Smoke Alarms (Smoke alarm verification test report), published May 2016.
Report, Dr Paul Joseph, Centre for Environmental Safety and Risk Engineering, Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW): Fire research report - Smoke Alarms in Homes: Stage 2, published June 2017.
Peer review, Dr Vytenis Babrauskas, Fire Science and Technology Inc., Peer review of FRNSW smoke alarm studies, dated 30 October 2019.
Response to peer review, FRNSW, Response to peer review of FRNSW Smoke Alarm Studies prepared by Dr Vytenis Babrauskas (dated 28 January 2019 and received 20 June 2019) and amended version (dated and received 30 October 2019), dated 4 November 2019.