It is a requirement of the BFPSA
that all protected enclosures have valid enclosure certification; it’s also a requirement
of all major commercial institutions. The benefits of ensuring room integrity
are widely recognised by insurers and regulatory authorities, who frequently
require such testing to prevent critical system failure valuable assets such as
server rooms and data centres.
In the relevant ISO standard
BS EN15004, it states that it is ‘mandatory that as a minimum you should undertake room integrity testing annually on your enclosure if it’s protected by a gaseous
fire suppression system’. If you don’t have valid enclosure certification you
may negate your buildings insurance in the event of a fire.
The certification should
always be attached to the front of the protected enclosure. If you don’t have
the certification fixed to the front of the enclosure, then the chances are
that your enclosure does not have valid certification.
Sometimes there can be some confusion
as to the amount of testing required.
Many clients/insurers think that the envelope does not require testing
until modifications have taken place, and so the testing is not carried our
annually. In many cases they are not even aware that works have taken place thus reducing the integrity of the enclosure envelope. As a minimum the room
integrity test should be undertaken annually or straight after
modifications have taken place to the enclosures envelope.
To reduce the chance of potential
fire damage to your valuable assets, it is essential that a room
Integrity test plan is adhered to at all times. APT can
formulate a testing schedule and warn you of any impending tests to ensure you
have valid certification at all times.
If you are unsure if your
protected enclosure requires testing, please contact us now at: info@airpressuretesting.co.uk or
call us direct on: 01525 303905. We offer a rapid response service throughout
England and Wales to ensure you have valid certification in place.
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