The Victorian Building Authority (VBA) has appointed Weng Poh as its Principal Fire Safety Engineer in a bid to raise the issue of fire safety among the state’s 24,000 builders, building surveyors and other practitioners.

Mr Poh, who is an Adjunct Professor at Melbourne’s Victoria University, is at present lead fire safety engineer and technical director at building services engineering consultancy Umow Lai.

He will advise the VBA on strategic issues relating to fire safety in the building and plumbing industries, including regulatory frameworks and practitioner competencies.

State Building Surveyor Andrew Cialini says Mr Poh will also work with him , the statewide cladding audit and other operational areas of the VBA on matters related to fire safety.

“Dr Poh’s extensive experience as a fire engineer will increase our regulatory oversight of this critical area of building safety while raising awareness of the profession throughout the industry,” he said.