Marina Compliance Audit Checklist: What Australian Facilities Are Assessed On

1. Structural and asset condition

The physical asset is assessed for condition, load path integrity and remaining service life. Photographic evidence is attached to every defect so remediation can be scoped and priced without a second visit.

• Pontoon flotation, freeboard and connection hardware
• Gangway hinges, rollers, handrails and slip resistance
• Piles, walers and fender condition
• Cleats, bollards and mooring hardware load ratings
• Ladder, life ring and rescue point placement and spacing

2. Electrical, fire and services compliance

Shore power on a marine berth is a high-consequence risk. Audits verify RCD protection, pedestal condition, test-and-tag currency, isolation labelling and the currency of fire equipment servicing and hydrant access.

• Shore power pedestals, RCDs and earthing arrangements
• Fire extinguisher, hose reel and hydrant servicing records
• Emergency lighting and egress signage
• Potable water backflow prevention

3. WHS systems and documentation

Physical condition is only half the audit. The systems layer determines whether a facility can demonstrate compliance after an incident, and it is where most facilities score poorly.

• Risk register currency and review dates
• Safe work method statements for high-risk work
• Contractor induction and permit-to-work records
• Incident and near-miss reporting trail
• Emergency response and man-overboard procedures
• Training matrix and competency records for dock staff

4. Environmental and fuel handling

Fuel dispensing, waste oil, sewage pump-out and spill response are assessed against the facility's environmental approvals. Spill kits are checked for placement, contents and whether staff can actually deploy them under time pressure.

What the report should give you

A written asset and compliance report with photographic evidence, a defect register prioritised by risk, recommended remediation with indicative costs, and a re-inspection interval. Anything less is a walk-around, not an audit.

Audit cost and duration

A standard marina site inspection and asset audit is quoted as a flat package scoped to facility size and berth count, typically covering a three to four hour site attendance plus documentation time. Ongoing WHS and compliance advisory is quoted separately as an hourly or day-based engagement. Contact us with your facility details for a written quotation.

How a marina audit runs, hour by hour

A facility audit is not a walk-around with a clipboard. It follows a documented sequence so the findings can withstand review by an insurer, a council, a landlord or a WHS regulator. Understanding that sequence is the fastest way for a marina manager to prepare and to keep the site running while the audit happens.

The opening session confirms scope, boundaries and who holds duty-of-care for each part of the facility — a question that is surprisingly often unresolved between the marina operator, the berth licensees and the land owner. From there the auditor works through structures, services, operations and records, photographing and referencing each observation so it can be traced back to a specific asset rather than a general impression.

The closing session is a verbal summary of the material findings while the auditor is still on site. Nothing in the written report should ever be a surprise. Where an immediate hazard is identified — an unsecured gangway, an exposed conductor, a failed fire appliance — it is escalated on the spot rather than held for the report.

• Opening meeting: scope, duty-holders, access and site induction
• Structural inspection: pontoons, piles, gangways, walkways, hardware and fixings
• Services inspection: shore power, lighting, water, fuel systems and bunding
• Operational review: berthing procedures, emergency response, contractor control
• Records review: maintenance logs, test certificates, inductions, incident register
• Closing meeting and written report with prioritised, costed remediation actions

The findings that come up most often

Across facilities of very different size and age, the same issues recur. Almost none of them are exotic. They are the predictable outcome of a salt-water environment, staged capital works over decades, and record-keeping that lives in one long-serving person's memory rather than in a system.

Corrosion at connection points is the standout. Pontoon-to-pile hardware, gangway hinges and handrail fixings degrade from the inside out, so a member that looks sound from above can be well past its design capacity. The second most common is electrical: shore power pedestals with failed or untested RCDs, damaged leads left in service by berth holders, and no current test-and-tag regime covering the assets the marina actually owns.

Third is documentation. A facility can be physically in good order and still fail an audit because it cannot produce evidence — no maintenance log, no contractor induction records, no incident register, no test certificates for fire appliances. In a claim or a regulator visit, undocumented maintenance is treated as maintenance that did not happen.

What separates a defensible report from a checklist

A defensible report ties every observation to a specific asset identifier, a photograph, a risk rating and a remediation action with an indicative cost and a timeframe. It distinguishes clearly between a legal obligation, an insurer expectation and a best-practice recommendation, because those three carry very different consequences and very different budgets.

It also has to be usable by people who were not on the walk. A board, a landlord or an incoming manager should be able to open the report a year later and understand exactly what was found, what was fixed, and what remains open. Reports that read as generic checklists rarely survive that test.

Audit frequency, budgets and who pays

Most facilities benefit from a full audit annually, with a lighter structural and services inspection at the six-month mark in higher-exposure locations — open water, heavy commercial traffic, or ageing infrastructure. Facilities undergoing a sale, refinance, lease renewal or insurance renewal usually need a current audit regardless of where they sit in that cycle.

On cost, marina site inspections and audits are engaged at professional advisory rates rather than trade labour rates, and are quoted per facility based on size, berth count and the depth of reporting required. WHS and compliance systems work is scoped and quoted the same way, either as an advisory engagement or a fixed-price project. Attendance outside standard hours, on weekends and on public holidays carries a loading, which is always set out in the written quotation before we attend.

Where responsibility sits between an operator and a land owner, we recommend agreeing the split before the audit rather than after the findings land. The report will identify duty-holders, and it is far easier to allocate remediation cost when that conversation happened in advance.

Preparing your facility before the auditor arrives

Preparation does not change the findings, but it materially shortens the audit and therefore the fee. Have your maintenance logs, contractor inductions, test-and-tag records, fire appliance certificates and incident register in one place — digital is ideal, a single folder is fine. Confirm site access to every pontoon arm, including any that are gated or leased. Nominate one person who can answer questions about the facility's history without needing to make calls.

If there is known damage, say so up front. Auditors are not there to catch anyone out; a manager who volunteers a failing gangway gets it prioritised properly in the report and usually gets practical advice on staging the repair. Concealed defects that surface later cost far more, both in remediation and in credibility with an insurer.