Are You Designing Fire Alarm System In Accordance with the Code – 1

ABSTRACT

This paper was presented at a Seminar on Fire Alarm and Detection System organised by The Institution of Engineeers Malaysia (IEM) and The Malaysian Fire Protection Asscoiation (MFPA) in Kuala Lumpur on the 22nd July 2004.

Fire detection and alarm as passive system is the most commonly prescribed system for fire protection. The types of system available ranges from the simplest one or two point manual alert system to the most complex detection, monitoring and alarm system with interlinks to central monitoring stations and building automation and security systems. This paper focuses on wiring practice and power supplies for fire detection and alarm system. The subject is presented as a comparative analysis of BS5839-1 and NFPA72 and include the following topics (1) Introduction ('proficiency and the law', 'current state of industry practice'); (2) A quick overview of BS5839 and NFPA72; (3) Circuit design and survivability; (4) Power supply, emergency supply, fail-safe supply; (5) Cable types, fire tests of cables and installation practice; and (6) Trends

INTRODUCTION

Statutory and civil liabilities require professionals to have proficiency in technical standards. Fire Protection is an important component in the design of building systems. In Malaysia, the requirement for fire protection is made mandatory under the provision of the following Acts:

~The 'Fire Services Act'; Act 341, 1988' and 'Fire Certificate Regulations, 2001'; and

~'The Streets, Drainage and Building Act'; (Act 133, 1974) and the 'Uniform Building By-Law (1984)' (UBBL).

Under the provision of the above Acts, Regulations and By-Laws, professional engineers and architects are the principals responsible for the implementation of fire protection systems in new buildings. This responsibility (though conferring privilege on the professional) carries liabilities which is both statutory and civil in nature.

The right to submit engineering or architectural plans granted by the law is a privilege which can be said to be economically exclusive in nature. Liabilities concomitant to such privilege are (1) Statutory and (2) Civil. Statutory liabilities pertain to responsibilities arising from 'The Engineers /Architects Acts', The UBBL, and The Fire Services Act. Civil liabilities stem from 'The Civil Law Act' which requires that persons practicing a vocation as a professional owes a duty of care to the public. In the first case, the government can punish the offender by deregistration and/or fine whilst in the second case, the public can sue the offender for negligence and damages.

Currently under 'Certificate of Completion and Compliance' (CCC) procedures, the submission of engineering plans for fire protection systems requires a statutory declaration by the professional attesting that the systems are designed to and (in the final 'act' of C.F. certification) installed in conformity with accepted technical standards. Proficiency in technical standards is therefore very important expertise required of the building services engineer.

Current state of the fire protection Industry is less than satisfactory
Without denigrating the profession (and apologies to professionals who are steadfast in their commitment to high standards of technical expertise and professionalism), it is the personal opinion of the author that current standards of practice in the fire protection industry (in Malaysia) is less than satisfactory:

àFire protection system as an engineering science do not attract as much attention as other engineered systems such as ACMV and Electrical. This result in less attention spent on design, specifying, updating knowledge and attending CPD on fire protection.

àKnowledge of and proficiency in technical standards of fire protection systems is inadequate or outdated even amongst practicing professionals. This is especially evocative given the relative lack of CPD courses on technical standards and design issues on fire protection compared with other engineering sciences such as electrical engineering and ACMV. A quick survey of current design practice find wide gaps between actual practice and practice prescribed in international standards.

Gaps between actual design practice and technical standards; anecdotal survey by the author in his capacity as Project Management Consultant overseeing works by more than 25 different consultants for small and large projects (from RM10 million to RM600million) in the period from 1999 to 2004. This is especially pertinent given that the submitting professional has to declare that systems submitted are designed to specified technical standards (BS, NFPA or AS).

àCurrent industry practice (at least among the consulting engineering industry) of delegating fire protection systems to mechanical engineers or mechanical engineering departments constitute a 'sidelining' of the issues and practice of the science of fire protection. In truth, fire protection is a multi-disciplinary science which requires knowledge of architecture, space planning, building materials, hydraulics, electricity and even I.CT. Fire protection as an engineering science deserves recognition as a specialised expertise within its own rights.

The issues listed above have taken on particular urgency, given current trends in the building industry:

àImplementation of 'self-certification' procedures under CCC demand that cogent steps be taken to address issues related to proficiency and awareness of technical standards.

àGlobalisation and the pursuit of 'Mutual Recognition Agreement' (MRA) will promote the cross border movements of professionals and engineering contractors. Malaysian professionals in this context will therefore need to constantly maintain and upgrade their standards of expertise to face the challenges of globalisation.

MRA are agreements harmonising recognition of professional accreditation programme and technical standards between nations. At a regional level (ASEAN), Malaysia (led by the Board of Engineers Malaysia) is spearheading the promotion of engineering and architectural MRA within ASEAN. Works currently conducted by the sub committee on MRA (current up to July-2004) include a study of all laws and regulations prescribing technical standards and/or pertaining to regulation of general and specific sector of the registered professionals in Malaysia, with the objectives of streamlining such prescription in preparation for MRA.

àThe growing stature of the international standardisation movements (a sub-agenda of globalisation) is an important trend which demand the attention of professionals. This include the withdrawal of British Standards (which is currently the norm in Malaysia) and the adoption of EN (European) and International Standards (ISO) at the international level. Malaysian engineers are therefore required to re-educate themselves on current international practice on fire protection. This trend is similar for the community of civil and structural engineers in Malaysia, who are now required to relearn decades of practice (using British Standards and CP Codes) due to the scheduled withdrawal of British Codes on concrete and structures (sometime around 2008) in favour of European Codes.

àThe ever increasing complexity and size of building projects are having impact on the design of engineering systems. Current trends within this thread include integration of fire protection systems with building systems, the increasing importance of automation and total solution in building systems and the movements towards performance based standards.

Performance based standards Current trends in technical standards are now evolving towards a more performance based approach or at least allocating larger significance or recognition to ‘Performance-Based’ standards. This can be seen in the latest editions of BS5839-1 (2002), EN54 (2002) and NFPA72 (2002).

The theme of this paper. In keeping with the theme of this seminar which focuses on fire detection and alarm systems and with the issues described in preceding as background, this paper will attempt to present a summary of international practice on wiring standards pertaining to design and installation of fire alarm system. The presentation is structured around a comparative analysis of BS5839 and NFPA72.

By a presentation of information in this paper, it is hoped that Malaysian professionals in the fire protection industry will be able to measure the gaps between actual design practice and international standards on wiring practice for fire alarm system.

Next à Quick Overview of BS 5839-1 and NFPA72

(1) Abstract and Introduction
(2) Overview of BS5839-1 and NFPA72
(3) Circuit Design and Survivability
(4) Appendix B – Circuits By Class and Style NFPA 72-2002
(5) Power Supply, Emergency Supply, Fail Safe Supply
(6) Cable Types, Fire Tests of Cables and Installation Practice
(7) Fire Tests – Figures 3 to 12
(8) Conclusion & Trends