SAFE Laboratories currently offers some services associated with fire protection and life safety systems. Some of these services include:
Evaluation and analysis of the design, installation, inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based fire protection systems that may have resulted in a failure of the system. These systems are typically governed by National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) standards including but certainly not limited to NFPA 13 Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, 13R Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Low Rise Residential Occupancies, 13D Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One and Two Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes, NFPA 14 Standard for the Installation of Standpipes and Hose Systems, NFPA 20 Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection and NFPA 25 Standard for the Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems.
Some considerations in evaluating potential failures include but are not limited to: pipe selection, sizing and layout; pipe support and restraint, sprinkler head selection, installation and placement; water supply source testing and reliability, selection of wet or dry system configurations; selection of hazard types to be protected; proper control valve selection, location and installation; protection from freezing. Periodically required inspection, testing and maintenance (ITM) is another key element in considering potential failure modes.
Evaluation and analysis of the design, installation and maintenance of non-water based automatic or manual fire suppression systems that may have resulted in a failure of the system. Such systems are typically found for example in commercial cooking operation hoods and are governed by NFPA standards including NFPA 96 Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations and NFPA 17A Standard for Wet Chemical Extinguishing Systems, ANSI/UL 300, Fire Testing of Fire Extinguishing Systems for Protection of Commercial Cooking Equipment.
Some considerations in evaluating potential failure modes include but are not limited to: proper installation in accordance with the manufacturer’s installation instructions; proper sizing, selection, location and positioning of nozzles, proper positioning and placement of fusible links, proper installation of activation cables and control panels, proper gas and electrical power shutoff, proper periodic inspection, testing and maintenance of the system after installation.
Evaluation and analysis of the design, construction and maintenance of fire rated construction, penetrations and opening protectives that may have caused or contributed to the spread of fire and smoke within a building. Fire rated construction (eg. walls, floors, ceilings, roof/ceiling assemblies, shaft enclosures including stairs and other elements) is integral to the protection of lives and mitigation of property damage via limiting or preventing fire spread in a structure. Such systems are typically regulated by the International Codes including the International Residential Code (IRC), International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC).
Evaluation and analysis of the design, construction and maintenance of the means of egress, exits and exit discharges within or from a building or structure that may have caused or contributed to injuries or fatalities during a fire, other emergency or even during normal use. These may include for example interior or exterior stairs, corridors, walkways, escalators and doorways with or without fire-rated enclosures. Such systems are typically regulated by the International Codes including the International Residential Code (IRC), International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC). The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 101 Life SAFEty Code also provides a regulatory framework in some states as well as an industry standard practice.
As briefly noted above, there are many applicable codes, standards and regulations that apply to the fire and life safety systems discussed above. SAFE Labs maintains a large and continuously growing library of codes, standards and regulations that we review, analyze and incorporate into each incident we investigate.