The Road to Integrated Fire Protection Systems Testing AFAA Annual Conference

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The Road to Integrated Fire Protection Systems Testing AFAA Annual Conference 2018

Standards Council DecisionNFPA Standards Council made clear that “end to end” testing was outside NFPA 72’s scope

NFPA 72 Annex language clarified scope “NFPA 72 does not require testing of an emergency control function, such as elevator recall, but does require testing of the emergency control function interface device, such as the relay powered by the fire alarm or signaling system.” A.14.4.3.2

Creation of NFPA 3NIBS requested NFPA create a commissioning document for fire protection systems. First edition of NFPA 3: 2012 Recommended Practice for Commissioning and Integrated Testing of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems . Current edition: 2018 Standard for Commissioning of Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems.

NFPA 4 Comes out of NFPA 3NFPA 3 TC discussionCommissioning standard could be debatedInstalled systems should undergo “end to end” testing Broad consensus that that commissioning and integrated testing are different things Chapter 7 became NFPA 4

Scope/Purpose of NFPA 4Purpose of NFPA 4Provides a “testing protocol”Verification that integrated systems will work as intended

Scope/Purpose of NFPA 4Scope of NFPA 4New & existing systemsActive & passive systems Does not address testing of individual systems. Do acceptance testing to NFPA 13 Do acceptance testing to NFPA 72 Then integrated testing per NFPA 4

NFPA 4 Table of ContentsAdministration Referenced Publications Definitions General Requirements Test Methods Test Frequencies Documentation Annex A: Explanatory Material Annex B: Integrated Test Plans Annex C: Informational References

Individual SystemsDefined in NFPA 4 as a system: With NO Interconnection Within an Integrated System to the point of interconnection or to the interface OR

Interconnected SystemsA system that has component systems or devices physically connected to achieve fire protection and life safety objectives.An individual system to an interface to operate another individual system. An individual system to a person to operate another individual system.

Integrated Systems“System of Systems”Required to operate together as a whole To achieve fire protection/life safety objectives

Integrated Testing AgentA person or entity identified by the owner, who plans, schedules, documents, coordinates, and implements the integrated testing of the fire protection and life safety systems and their associated subsystems. The owner designates the agent ( ITa ), the agent(s) and ITM makes up the team.

Codes vs. StandardsBuilding and Fire Codes establish when and whereStandards are referenced by codes and establish the how

Codes vs. StandardsFire and Building Codes are adopted by administrative laws Fire and Building Codes reference the ITM standards Inspection, Testing, & Maintenance standards (like NFPA 25 & 72) list ITM tasks and frequencies General Detailed

IFC ReferencesIndustry collaboration for the 2018 IFC. High-rise   Smoke control systems   Overrides NFPA 4 and   has 10-yr intervals.  

NFPA ReferencesDuring the NFPA development cycle for the 2018 NFPA 1, 101, 5000 codes, proposals were accepted for NFPA 4 by most occupancy Technical Committee’s NITMAM’s were filed to eliminate references “all or nothing” was only option at that point in the process

Successful TIA’sAgreement was reached to pursue Tentative Interim Amendments (TIA’s) Clarify definitionsReduce scope to match ICC Task group was established involving NFSA, AFAA, and other stakeholders with help from NFPA staff

TIA Outreach Email campaign to over 300 TC members Conference calls: UL, GSA, BHMA ICC Conference Two NFSA Codes Newsletters One YouTube video One FAQ email to all TC Lots of personal responses

Successful TIA’s 1 st series of TIA’s were rejected by NFPA staff Eventually a collection of 20 TIA’s were filed and successfully shepherded through the TC’s

NFPA References NFPA 101 : Life Safety Code

Wrap UpWhere does this go…Additional occupancies?Better fire protection?More/Less interconnection?

Jeff Hugo hugo@nfsa.org Jason Webb jasonw@pottersignal.com Contact Us