june 2023
 |
Inside the June Issue |
Does Your Facility’s Fire and Life
Safety Systems Comply with the NFPA
4 Standard for Integrated Testing?
BY DAVID LEBLANC, PE, FSFPE
Today’s buildings are becoming greener,
smarter and more complex as they incorporate
new design approaches. At the same
time, fire and life safety system integrations
are also becoming increasingly complex.
While the main focus of greener/smarter
systems is energy or utility savings, a holistic
approach is at the center of fire and life
safety integrations. Fire and life safety systems
need to be designed, coordinated, installed,
programmed, tested, and integrated
to protect an entire building’s life safety
ecosystem.
NFPA 4 Standard
for Integrated Testing
Requirements for testing of integrated
fire and life safety systems are found in NFPA 4, Standard for Integrated Fire Protection
and Life Safety Systems Testing.
NFPA 4 is applicable where the 2018 or
2021 editions of the International Building
Code, International Fire Code, NFPA
101® Life Safety Code®, or NFPA 1 Fire
Code have been adopted. Integrated testing
is already a requirement for many jurisdictions
through locally adopted building or
fire codes. Locations that have not adopted
the standard will likely do so in the near
future.
In the event of a fire or other emergency,
more complex buildings (e.g., hospitals
or prisons) may rely on staff
response, passive fire protection features
(e.g., fire or smoke barriers) and increasingly
complex active fire protection systems (e.g., sprinklers, fire alarms, doors
closing, smoke control). Other systems
that may interface with fire and life safety
systems include security, audio/visual, access
control, building management system/
building automation system, lighting
controls, and elevator controls, to name a
few. When interfaced with fire and life
safety systems, these become subject to
NFPA 4 integrated testing requirements.
The purpose of integrated testing, as required by NFPA 4, is not to retest all the individual systems in the building but test the interfaces between the systems. Testing is done to verify and document that systems are coordinated with each other, function properly, and respond or work as intended within the overall holistic fire protection approach. This is called end-to-end testing, as the various systems are tested to see how they interact.
The NFPA 4 standard provides minimum requirements for testing the integration of fire and life safety systems in both new and existing buildings. When a local, city, county, or state jurisdiction adopts one of the above codes requiring NFPA 4 for new buildings, they must also implement integrated testing for existing buildings. NFPA 4 allows five years from the adoption of the standard to develop an integrated testing plan for existing buildings and five years or the number of years as identified by the Integrated Testing Agent to perform the integrated testing.
Role of the Integrated Testing Agent
NFPA 4 has identified the Integrated Testing Agent (ITa) as a
new role to be held by a qualified individual who can help lead
the team through the complexities of the integrated testing process.
Ultimately, facilities do not have a one-size-fits-all approach to
fire and life safety. Full story »
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