SANS 10400, which is a legal standard states" Any owner of any building who fails to maintain any provisions made to satisfy the requirements of sub regulation (T)1(1) (e) shall be guilty of an offence". (T) 1(1) (e) states "adequate means of access and equipment for detecting, fighting and extinguishing such fire is provided".

In short, by law the building owner has to maintain his fire systems or be liable for prosecution.

How often have we heard the statement' we have a great fire system, it never gives any alarms". On investigation we find the system is switched off!

There have been two recent cases of fire alarm systems sounding the alarm and the operator happily pushing the "silence" button repeatedly without investigating the source of alarm. Result - Large fires and huge financial losses for both the building owner and the insurer.

All of these things show the building owner pays little or no attention to the fire systems that are installed to protect lives and property.

Cut budgets and reduce maintenance seems to be a common South African problem and affects the fire industry as much as any other industry.

Apart from not complying with the law, building owners are guilty of not protecting their staff and customers whilst on their premises.

All South African Codes of practise stipulate regular maintenance, the building owner consciously services his car every 15,000 km but forgets about the equipment that is installed to save lives.

No prosecutions have been recorded for lack of maintenance of fire systems yet but times are changing.

The Insurance industry has suffered even greater fire losses in 2007; will they continue to pay out for fire damages whilst building owners continue to neglect their fire systems?

Maintenance 1Fire Systems generally remain passive until they are called upon to activate and due to this tend to be forgotten. This is all the more reason to check these systems.

Rubbers and seals in sprinkler valves collect dirt in the water supply, pipes deposit rust particles, fire detectors collect dust, batteries deteriorate over time, gas cylinders can leak; all things that need to be checked and tested on a regular basis.

Local standards dictate the following:

Fire Detection Systems SANS 10139 12.2.3 Services should not exceed 6 months.

Gaseous Extinguishing systems SANS 14520 Annexure F The electrical component shall be serviced every 3 months and mechanical components (pipe work etc) every 6 months.

CO2 Gas flooding systems SANS 306 9.1.1 At least every six months the mechanical components of the system shall be thoroughly inspected and tested.

Automatic Sprinkler Systems SANS 0287 10.2.3 Quarterly, six monthly and annual inspections and services are required.

These services have to be conducted by "competent persons"; generally, your local fire contractor but the buck does not stop there, the building owner carries the responsibility. The OSHA and fire standards deem "the responsible person" the person who carries the can.

User requirements

The user has daily, weekly and monthly tests and routines to perform on all his fire protection systems.

Fire Detection Systems SANS 10139 - 12.1.2 Weekly tests by user

SANS 10139 - 13.1.2b Daily inspections required

Gaseous Extinguishing systems SANS 14520 9.3.2a) and b) Daily and weekly checks by the user.

CO2 Gas flooding systems SANS 306 9.2. a) and b) Weekly and Monthly checks

Automatic Sprinkler Systems SANS 0287 10.2.2.2 Daily routine

10.2.2.3 Weekly routine

Log Books

Maintenance 2

All fire standards specify that records must be kept of all checks, tests, maintenance and services.

The majority of fire systems sadly do not keep these records and therefore the building owners have no evidence of their systems performance and lay themselves at risk by having no system records.

Every system should be supplied with a log book.

Log books are available from the Fire Systems Inspection Bureau

Third Party Inspections

Third party inspection agencies for fire systems are in operation in South Africa; these provide peace of mind for the building owner that his system is installed correctly and in compliance to the relevant Code of Practice.

Regular inspections take a lot of responsibility away from the builder owner.

Conclusion

South African Codes of Practice make maintenance a legal requirement; contractors provide 24hour service teams; inspection bureaus provide inspections and certification. All the facilities are in place for good maintenance practices but neglected by the building owner.

IT'S TIME TO WAKE UP AND TAKE FIRE SERIOUSLY