Update

UFBA, IFE and NZFBI Submission on FENZ Fleet Management

Issue date:
Topic:
Sector advocacy

In April 2026, the UFBA, alongside the NZ Fire Brigades Institute and the Institution of Fire Engineers (NZ) Branch, submitted a joint paper to Parliament’s Governance and Administration Select Committee informing their public inquiry about FENZ fleet management.

The submission was spoken to at the Select Committee meeting on Wednesday 27 May by UFBA CE, Bill Butzbach and President of the IFE New Zealand Branch, Scott Lanauze. You can watch the live stream recording here: Watch public meetings of the Governance and Administration Committee - New Zealand Parliament

Why this matters

Fire appliances and the wider FENZ fleet are critical to keeping firefighters safe and ensuring effective and efficient service delivery. Concerns about fleet design, allocation and deployment and misalignment with international best practice along with the modern risk profile within NZ communities prompted this submission.

Key messages in the submission were:

  • Fleet issues exist but are uneven: While much of the fleet is in reasonable condition, there are well-documented problems - particularly with some Type 3 (heavy) pumps and the relief fleet, which is often in poor condition.
  • Operational readiness is a concern: Delays in getting new appliances into service, maintenance challenges, and inconsistent data about fleet condition have raised confidence issues.
  • Volunteers are central: Volunteers make up 86% of the frontline workforce and respond across most of New Zealand, so fleet decisions must reflect their needs and the risks and the operating environments and conditions in their communities. 

Recommendations from the submission - what needs to change:

  • Shift to a risk-based model: Fleet design and allocation should be driven by community risk, not historical practices or whether crews are paid or volunteer.
  • Treat fleet as a system, not just vehicles: Effective fleet management must include maintenance, training, telematics including GPS, lifecycle planning, and operational readiness - not just procurement.
  • Improve procurement and design: Over-customisation, design flaws, and poor engineering decisions have led to costly delays and reliability issues.
  • Modernise planning: Future fleet needs must account for population growth and town planning, urban densification, climate related risks, changing building design, pending changes to the firefighting water supplies code of practice and a wider all-hazards emergency role.
  • Strengthen governance and accountability: Clear ownership, standards, and lifecycle funding are essential for an effective and sustainable fleet. 

Opportunities highlighted:

  • To develop a new national, strategic fleet model aligned to risk and demand
  • Standardise vehicles while allowing limited local adaptation
  • Improve replacement programmes and funding certainty
  • Ensure the fleet supports a modern, all-hazards emergency response system 

Bottom line

There is significant opportunity to improve FENZ’s fleet, so it is reliable, fit-for-purpose, and future-ready. The UFBA, NZFBI and IFE submission calls for a comprehensive rethink that is based on risk, supported by strong governance, and focused on delivering better outcomes for firefighters and the communities that they serve.

 

The full UFBA, IFE and NZFBI Submission can be viewed here:

UFBA IFE and NZFBI submission to Select Committee re FENZ Fleet.pdf
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