How are fire services upgraded in an operating building?

Fire services are the one system in a building that cannot simply be turned off for the duration of the works.

That single fact governs how the upgrade is programmed.

Isolations are planned, notified and short

Taking a detection system offline means the building loses its automatic warning. Taking a hydrant or sprinkler system offline means it loses its suppression.

So every isolation is agreed in advance with the building's responsible officer, notified to the monitoring service and, where the system is connected, to the brigade. It runs for a stated period and it is restored and tested before that period ends.

Where an isolation has to run through occupied hours, interim measures are put in place. A fire watch, additional extinguishers, altered evacuation arrangements, whatever the risk assessment calls for.

Nothing is isolated on the assumption it will be quick.

Zone by zone rather than building-wide

A staged approach keeps most of the building protected while one part is worked on.

The new equipment is installed alongside the existing, tested, then cut over, so the period without protection is measured in hours rather than weeks.

On larger buildings, that means several short cutovers instead of one long outage, which is more work to programme and far less risk to the occupants.

What the work covers

Detection and alarm system replacement, including panels, detectors, sounders and the interfaces to other building systems.

Emergency warning and intercommunication systems where the building class requires them.

Hydrant and hose reel work, including pipework, valves and boosters.

Sprinkler modifications, most often where a refurbishment changes the ceiling layout and the heads have to be relocated.

Passive measures, which are the ones most often compromised during ordinary construction: fire-rated walls, doors, and the sealing of every penetration through a rated element.

Penetrations are where ratings are lost

Every service that crosses a fire-rated wall or floor, a cable, a duct, a pipe, has to be sealed with a system tested for that application.

This is the item most frequently done poorly, because it is concealed, it is quick to skip and nobody sees it afterwards.

It is inspected and recorded here, because a rated wall with an unsealed penetration is not a rated wall.

Testing and certification

Commissioning of the completed system, with results recorded.

Certification from the accredited practitioner, which the building owner needs for its annual fire safety statement.

Updated fire safety schedules and as-built documentation, so the measures listed match the measures installed.

That certification is the deliverable the client actually needs at the end. The installation is how it gets there.

Coordination with the rest of the work

A fire services upgrade rarely happens alone. It runs alongside ceiling works, electrical work and refurbishment, and it interacts with all of them.

Holding that coordination, and holding the isolation programme against it, is the principal contractor's responsibility on the project.

Talk to Monument about a fire services upgrade.