The operational readiness of essential safety measures is critical for fire systems, and Integrated Fire Services can provide all the tests and quality checks required to ensure that your system is up to scratch. Integrated Fire Services can also improve the efficiency of you system with regard to both water savings and testing frequency.

  • Bushfire Protection
  • Fire detection and false alarms
  • Pressure settings adjustment project (PSA)
  • Sprinkler maintenance
  • Adoption of monthly testing under AS 1851-200
  • Diesel fire pump water conservation

Bushfire Protection

Victoria is coming into the Bushfire season and the Society of Fire Safety along with the Building Commission and the Country Fire Authority have discussed the problem at length.  Clients concerned about bush fires need to consider the following:

  • Are you prepared to stay and fight
  • If you plan to leave have some where to go and go early
  • Reduce the fuel around the house
  • Reduce hot brands and ember ingress into the roof space and through cracks 

Fire Australia and the Society of Fire Safety have provided the following tips for reducing the risk in bushfires:

  • Vent LPG gas cylinders away from the house (and not onto the neighbours house)
  • Look at your windows - toughened glass or Trend Xtreme provide resistance of up to 40 kW/sqm
  • Look at providing screens in front of windows to protect against radiation and flying obstacles
  • Catastrophic fire conditions are associated with high winds and external wetting systems are not effective in these conditions.  Internal sprinkler system should be considered.
  • When hiding in the house from the flame front choose a room that has two exits
  • Permaculture (use of trees that will not burn) should be considered as a shield from radiation
  • Petrol driven engines driving pumps are dangerous when it is hot and dry - consider diesel and how long the fuel will last (you don't want to be filling tanks in the middle of a threat)
  • While the flame front will pass over quickly the radiant heat from the burnt bush is still very intense and this can cause houses to burn afterwards - keep a watchful eye in the roof space and corners where embers may be trapped.
  • Combustion engines placed near a plastic tank or combustible structure will cause damage - keep engines clear of combustibles.
  • A tight house will reduce ember attack but the high winds may open up roofs and embers can be forced in.  Keep an eye out in these spaces or better still protect with a residential sprinkler system

Fire Detection and False Alarms

The subject of preventing false alarms in fire detectors and fire alarm systems needs to be considered in light of the risk and the need for early warning versus reliability and stability.  False alarms will cost building owners money in brigade attendance fees and risk occupants' lives due to complacency and unwillingness to respond to an emergency fire cue.

The Australasian Fire and Emergency Services Authorities Council have provided the following document for your information.  The paper provides information on the types of detectors and their application and comments on the problems and how to solve these.  It is well written and easy to follow.  A great resource for all stakeholders responsible for building facilities.

Testing operating pressures

Pressure Settings and Adjustments

The Pressure Setting Adjustment Project (PSA) can save millions of litres per year, be achieved effectively and economically in fire sprinkler system testing and is considered a 'quick win' for fire sprinkler water conservation.
    
The Victorian Fire Sprinkler Water Conservation Project identified seven major opportunities for saving fire sprinkler water in Victoria's existing building stock. Of the seven options, the PSA project provided the greatest potential for realising substantial water savings in a fast and affordable manner. 
    
The main aim of the pressure settings adjustment project is to reduce the excessive amount of water that is discharged to drain through operating pressure relief valves in pump boosted sprinkler systems.  In the last six months Integrated Fire Services have implemented PSA projects at nine Melbourne sites with the result of saving around 16,277,000 litres of water. These significant savings were achieved at properties that ranged from high rise office buildings to shopping centres and large manufacturing sites.
    
In order to achieve the water savings a full investigation of a site sprinkler water supply needs to be undertaken.  Determining the suitability of adjusting the operating pressures of the pressure relief valves requires knowledge of the operational properties of the jacking pumps, maintenance pumps, main pump capabilities, pressure switch settings, town main characteristics and pressure rating of pipework & equipment. 

Implementation of the PSA project was achieved by a specially trained technician (sprinkler fitter) working with an Engineer to: 

  • test and label pressure gauges
  • adjust pressure maintenance pump operating zones
  • adjust the operating zones of jacking pumps
  • adjust the cut in pressures for electric and diesel pumps
  • adjust operating pressures of the pressure relief valves
  • create a pressure gauge schedule for all pump stages and control valve sets.

These steps offer a low cost solution to saving large quantities of water.  When looking at the total building life cycle these savings are in the area of around 42.5 million litres (when assuming the building has a further life span of at least 25 years). Aside from water conservation, adoption of the Pressure Setting Adjustment project ensures the following additional benefits;

  • important contribution to better maintenance of the fire sprinkler system
  • fine tuning the entire system's pressure settings provides better system operations and lowers ongoing maintenance costs
  • the pressure gauge schedules fulfils one of the pre-requisites for adopting AS1851-2005 and monthly testing (Another of the seven water saving opportunities).

The changes undertaken as part of the Pressure Setting Adjustment project reach a balance between minimising consumption of Victoria's precious supplies of drinking water and ensuring that there is no compromise to the fire protection of a building.

Faulty fire fighting sprinkler

Sprinkler Maintenance

Maintenance contractors do not provide water flow tests as part of their annual contracts. Flow tests are required annually as part of essential services maintenance and can be provided for by Integrated Fire Services trained engineers

Adoption of Monthly Testing Under AS1851-2005

Clients may consider maintaining their fire services to the new standard which can provide the following benefits:

  • Possible reduction in costs of 30 to 40% (as quoted by a recent consultant working in this field)
  • Higher level of accountability by the service providers with the administration processes
  • Greater details provided for essential safety measures
  • Higher standard of maintenance

In Victoria the ability to change the maintenance standard is dependent on a number of items and this should be considered in light of the occupancy permit, the year of installation and any special design requirements that may be in place.

If you wish to change to the new standard and receive the benefits a professional should be engaged to review the design and conditions relevant to your building.  Integrated Fire Services will give you a comprehensive guide on how this can be achieved. Email Paul to request a copy of this guide. 

The standards committee are working on the 2010 version of AS 1851 and it is expected that a lot of the barriers will be removed from the current 2005 version.  This means that the capital expense of added items such as electronic fuel monitoring in diesel pumps is expected to be removed. 

Adoption of monthly testing is more in line with worldwide practice, as Australia is one of the few countries that requires weekly testing.

Diesel Fire Pump Water Conservation

Diesel fire pumps can use over 200 kL of drinking water annually.  Integrated Fire Services has been researching this issue and come with up with a proven methodology to reduce the water lost to drain.

Click here to read more about water conservation opportunities.