At Integrated Fire Services we recognise that their is greater potential to influence the total project cost during the design phase than during construction. With this is mind we are dedicated to delivering comprehensive design packages that provide complete design solutions for fire protection systems. Through expertise and experience Integrated Fire Services are proficient at providing the following aspects of design for fire protection systems:

• Providing alternative designs to the building code
• Protection against bushfires
• Smoke transport modelling
• Warehouse sprinkler protection
• Carbon dioxide gas systems
• Computer room fire detection
• Fire Engineering Brief
• Providing additional storage
• Sprinkler design code - which one?

Providing Alternative Solutions 

The Building Code of Australia (BCA) contains the technical provisions for the design and construction of buildings. To accommodate for a myriad of potential building designs the BCA has to be conservatively authored. This provides Integrated Fire Services qualified fire safety engineers with an opportunity to use their professional expertise to produce project specific designs that depart from the deemed to satisfy (DtS) provisions of the BCA. This can have tremendous benefits for our clients including:

• achieving an innovative cost effective design
• customising a practical solution for your building
• overcoming particular design or construction issues

Protection Against Bushfires

Do you need a Bush Fire Management Overlay (BMO) Strategy for your planning permit application?  We can provide this for you which will include the Bushfire Attack Level (BAL).  This will set the requirements for the design of your building in accordance with AS 3959-2009 Bushfire (Construction of buildings in bushfire prone areas). 

Do you need to vary the requirements of AS 3959?  We can provide an engineered alternative solution so you can build your house the way you want without meeting all the prescriptive requirements.

Smoke Transport Modelling

At Integrated Fire Services we supplement our technical expertise in Fire Engineering with computer modelling to achieve performance based designs that cater for both architectural challenges and cost effective solutions.

Smoke transport modelling helps to provide an accurate representation of the complexities involved with the dynamics of a particular fire scenario.  The outputs of a model are presented as functions of space and time and include:

• gas temperature,
• hot gas flow velocity,
• smoke visibility, and
• smoke species concentrations.

This information leads to a greater confidence in providing less conservative building designs that still comply with the performance requirements of the Building Code of Australia. This opportunity for providing innovative solutions can save our clients time, money and potential construction complications.

Warehouse Sprinkler Protection

Warehouse sprinkler protection has come a long way in the last 60 years.  With the advent of ESFR (early suppression fast repsonse sprinklers) the protection of high bay racking can be readily achieved with roof only sprinklers.

Integrated Fire Services are experienced with this new sprinkler technology and advocate its use to provide greater benefits to our clients.  ESFR sprinklers can have a larger orifice that:

• is listed to operate at a lower pressure
• can reduce pipe sizing
• reduce pump size
• may even remove the need for a pump

This means lower investment and short lead times to obtain the same results for effective fire protection.

Carbon Dioxide Gas Systems

At Integrated Fire Services we are aware of the many methods for fighting fire. Sprinklers are not always the optimum solution and sometimes total flooding CO2 gas system is required. CO2 is inexpensive and readily available as a fire fighting product and as the added benefit of not leaving any residue, which saves on potential clean up problems. Our qualified engineers have plenty of experience with these types of systems and acknowledge that the best applications for their use are with:

• power generating facilities (turbines)
• switch rooms (MMC rooms, battery storage)
• electrical rooms and network substations
• mission critical equipment (internet service providers, telecommunications)
• high tech industrial applications
• processing industries
• open pits with hydraulics
• coal silos
• quench tanks
• semiconductor wet benches
• computer room sub floors
• archive rooms
• marine applications (engine rooms, argo spaces)

Computer Room Fire Detection

Addressable fire detection systems provide great flexibility in system design and usage; but the commissioning and on going maintenance of such systems can lead to long periods of testing and verification. This must be considered for each project and time allowed to undertake comprehensive testing.

Detection systems can be very sensitive in these areas and the need for early action can be achieved through the use of VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus).

Fire Engineering Brief

The Fire Engineering Brief (FEB) is the chief document that Integrated Fire Services provide for any performance based design work. The FEB provides detailed justification to show compliance with the performance objectives of the BCA. We advocate that the relevant stakeholders be invited to a design brief meeting to ensure that their key issues and requirements are on the table early so that they can be addressed in the development of the brief. Before the actual engineering commences we insist the stakeholders forming part of the FEB team sign the brief to approve the design approach, method of analysis and acceptance criteria. This allows the Fire Engineering Brief to be an effective tool for minimizing the risks during the regulatory approval of the design.

Increase Storage Height

Building owners may be able to increase storage heights in parts of the building based on the increased performance of sprinklers closer to the water supply source. 

The capacity of storage and activities within a building are limited by the available water density coming from a sprinkler system.  Sprinkler block plans list the worst case performance of the sprinkler system which may be exceeded by 20 to 30% enabling an additional metre or more of storage in your warehouse in certain areas.

If you require additional storage height to your warehouse contact Paul Verheijden at Integrated Fire to discuss the opportunity.  

Sprinkler Design to 2006 Code

Designing your sprinkler system to the latest sprinkler code is not in accordance with the building code.  The building code references the 1999 edition of AS 2118.1.  This old standard is still the current requirement but there maybe advantages in adopting the later .

The attached design guide provides a comparison between the two and gives some clues what benefits can be obtaining by using this standard.