High demands on the inspection body in fire protection

At a time when society and the market are calling for more personal responsibility, the activity of inspection may seem almost like a relic from a bygone era. However, if undesirable developments with no longer acceptable risks occur in a company or an industry, legislators and market participants immediately demand effective regulations in the form of inspections and certifications. Especially in fire protection, it is of great importance to carry out such controls in the form of inspections on a regular and forward-looking basis.

Type and scope of inspection
As a rule, the following players can be considered as clients of an inspection body for fire protection:

• Risk originator or operator
• Executive authorities
• Insurer
• General contractors / builders
• Plant manufacturer
• Intervention forces
• Justice

An inspection is defined as the technical acceptance or periodic inspection of technical fire protection equipment. The Fire Protection Inspection Unit of Swiss Safety Center AG carries out technical inspections and checks in the following areas:

• Functionality and protective effect of water extinguishing systems
• Efficiency of internal and public extinguishing water supplies
• Functionality and monitoring task of fire alarm systems
• Extinguishing effectiveness of stationary gas extinguishing systems
• Functionality of emergency lighting systems
• Functionality of smoke extraction and smoke control systems
• Voice alarm systems and electro-acoustic emergency warning systems
• Fire protection measures in accommodation establishments (hotels, etc.)

Furthermore, safety devices and emergency controls are also tested integrally.

The Swiss Safety Center is also accredited as a type A inspection facility for fire protection systems in accordance with ISO/IEC 17020. The inspection of fire protection equipment by an accredited body confirms that the facility complies with the specified guidelines.

The actual inspection activity comprises the project assessment on the basis of technical documents (plans, concept, calculations, etc.), the control of the installation on site and the functional check of relevant variables (measurement of quantities, pressures, checking of alarm transmission, etc.) of the respective installation. In fulfilling its mandate, the inspection body is always concerned with two issues:

•  Inspection depth
• Non-compliance

Inspection depth
An old experience says that laws are obeyed as much as their observance is controlled. One hundred percent compliance, however, would mean controlling every movement. Such a depth of inspection is neither possible nor reasonable. And yet an inspection body is not infrequently under the unrealistic pressure of expectation to have checked functionality and conformity one hundred percent. However, any economically justifiable inspection must be limited to the following:

• Sampling (single selected elements that are inspected)
• Snapshots (inspections defined at intervals)

Depending on how these two parameters are chosen, more or less qualified statements can be made about the conformity of a plant. It is at the discretion of the inspection body to determine which test criteria it wishes to use for the assessment of conformity. As a rule, the inspection body will select

• in the following using the example of the sprinkler area - according to the following criteria:
• Has proof of partial conformity already been provided by another recognised test procedure?
• Influence of a test criterion on the probability of failure of the system (e.g. test of water supply performance)
• Probability of occurrence of a specific relevant fault (e.g. sprinkler failure)
• Time-dependent change of the conforming state (e.g. corrosion at the plant or change of use in the area to be protected)

From a technical point of view, these parameters determine the inspection depth. This also includes the determination of the intervals for follow-up inspections. From an economic point of view, the cost-benefit considerations of the client must also be taken into account.

Non-compliance
In the case of complex systems such as fire protection systems, regulations and codes are designed to regulate the "normal case" that occurs in practice. However, a dynamic market often requires special solutions,

• for which no corresponding regulation can be found in the regulations,
• or
• for which a corresponding regulation exists, but compliance with which is disproportionate for weighty reasons (e.g. feasibility not proven).

In these cases, the deviations from the regulations must be expertly assessed and weighted. Only a qualified inspection body with the appropriate technical experts is in a position to do this and can guarantee the appropriate and responsible flexibility expected by the market.

In addition to the above-mentioned circumstances, the following requirements are therefore placed on the inspection body in terms of competent recognition and action in questions of inspection depth and conformity deviation:

• Technical competence
• Consistency of assessment
• Independence and neutrality
• Creativity and networked thinking

Benefits for customers
In addition to the requirements mentioned here, the other demands and wishes of the market on an inspection body are of course also extremely important. Short distances, fast processing times or efficient reporting are often expressed requirements that the Swiss Safety Center AG fire protection inspection body is happy to fulfil for the benefit of its customers.