Renovating Your Industrial Facility? Here's What You Need To Know About Your Fire & Life Safety Systems

Industrial & Manufacturing Articles

If you are the manager of an industrial facility that is undergoing a renovation project, it is crucial to understand that alterations to your facility can affect your building's life and fire safety systems. Renovation projects that involve changing the mechanical, electrical, and/or plumbing of your facility could compromise the safety systems. Here's what you need to know. 

Components of a Fire & Life Safety Systems & How They Could Be Affected 

• Fire & smoke barriers. Barriers that contain fire and smoke are important in keeping emergency situations contained. These barriers are built into walls, floors and doors throughout your facility. If any of the barriers are compromised during the renovation project, your facility is at risk of a fire spreading. For example, if new plumbing is installed through a firewall, the plumbing will need to have firestop caulking installed around the pipes to prevent fire and smoke from being able to get through the firewall. 
• Initiating devices. Initiating devices are fire and smoke detectors. When these devices sense extreme heat and/or smoke, they alert the system (through a signaling line circuit) to turn on the fire and life safety systems. Initiating devices are preset to a specific sensitivity setting, depending on the area usage and size. When alterations to the usage and size of the area are made, the sensitivity of the fire and smoke detectors needs to be adjusted. For example, if a new boiler system is installed in a room that was formally utilized as an employee break room, the heat sensitivity of the fire detector will need to be adjusted due to the difference in the ambient temperature that is created by a boiler system. 
• Sprinkler system. The initiating devices send signals to the computer control system that, in turn, tells the sprinkler system to activate in the area of the detected fire. The sprinkler system is designed to use water from the main plumbing lines. Any alterations in the plumbing system can affect the amount of water available for the sprinkler system. For example, if new plumbing is installed to direct water to a new cooling tower, the sprinkler system may not have enough water pressure to function to control a fire. 
• Ventilation. A key component of fire and life safety system is the ventilation system. When the monitors are activated, the ventilation system works to dispel smoke out of areas of concern, such as stairwells and emergency escape routes. A compromise in the ventilation system could cause smoke to accumulate in the areas people use to escape a fire. For example, if the installation of a new air conditioning unit on the roof of your facility blocks the flow of air from the ventilation system of a stairwell, the life and fire safety system will not be able to remove the smoke from the stairwell in case of a fire. 

Evaluation of the Fire & Life Safety Systems 

Given that there are so many variables in renovation projects that could compromise your safety systems, it is important to consult with:

• the fire protection engineer who designed your system
• the electrical construction company that installed the system
• the manufacturer of the components of the system
• the local fire code official who regularly inspects your facility

These professionals can, collectively, determine whether or not any changes also need to be made to your safety systems. Ideally, you should have them take a look at your renovation plans as a group before the project begins. They should also be available on an on-call basis during the project in case any problems arise. After the renovation project is complete, these professionals should inspect the safety systems and conduct simulations to ensure that the safety systems are functioning properly. If you are looking for an electrical company to check out your system, try a company like Albarell Electric Inc.

20 October 2015