Source: http://www.plumis.co.uk/standards.html
Timestamp: 2017-02-26 00:55:37
Document Index: 300599935

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 3', 'art 6']

Automist Smartscan compliant with BS 8458 performance requirements
Automist Smartscan® has been independently, third party, tested by Exova Warrington Fire and confirmed as compliant to Approved Doc B,
as per Clause 0.18, by meeting the performance requirements
of BS 8458 2015.
ADB acknowledges that innovative systems such as Automist can satisfy the objectives usually handed to traditional sprinklers:
To demonstrate how Automist is fit for purpose, Plumis carried out extensive fire and technical testing.
The Smartscan qualifies by meeting the performance criteria in the relevant code of practice for fixed water mist fire protection systems: BS 8458: 2015 (BSi Verification Certificate - VC 656504). It is an LABC Registered Solution (EW534) and is deemed to be acceptable as a code-compliant automatic water fire suppression system, for example in accordance with the recommendations of BS 9991:2015.
The development of Automist Smartscan was steered by computational fluid dynamics modelling by the University of Greenwich’s Fire Safety Engineering Group. Once the design was finalised it was extensively tested and proven to deliver performance superior of the requirements of the British Watermist Standard (BS 8458), and even the performance of the widely used sprinkler standard (BS 9252). Aware of the need for evidence, Plumis have pushed the Smartscan’s limits beyond the bare minimum, challenging it in many additional tests to suppress or extinguish fires in any position (even difficult fires directly under the nozzle or hidden by furniture) and in a variety of draught conditions. Demonstration tests have convincingly proved its worth time and time again. It has even travelled to the USA, where the UL 2167 listing process is being kicked off and where it favourably impressed fire risk authorities in demonstration testing.
CE Marking requires manufacturers in Europe to declare that their products meet relevant product standards, ensuring that the products are safe. Because the Smartscan runs on electricity, assuring electrical safety and electro-magnetic compatibility are important. Products without testing to validate their CE declaration can result in products that not only will not perform when required but which can be dangerous to occupants when installed.
CE Mark List of Standards that apply to Automist Smartscan to meet Low Voltage Directive, 73/23/EEC & FCC requirements:
BS EN 50130-4:1996 (+A1/A2) Alarm Systems: Electromagnetic Compatibility. Product family standard: Immunity requirements for components of fire, intruder and social alarm systems
BS EN 55014-1 Electromagnetic compatibility — Requirements for household appliances, electric tools and similar apparatus — Part 1: Emission
BS EN 55014-2 Electromagnetic compatibility — Requirements for household appliances, electric tools and similar apparatus — Part 2: Immunity
BS EN 60335-1 Household and similar electrical appliances — Safety — Part 1: General requirements
BS EN 60704-1 Household and similar electrical appliances – Test code for the determination of airborne acoustical noise
BS EN 61000-3-2 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) — Part 3-2: Limits — Limits for harmonic current emissions (equipment input current k 16 A per phase)
BS EN 61000-3-3 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) –– Part 3-3: Limits — Limitation of voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker in public low-voltage supply systems
BS EN 61000-3-11 Electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) Part 3-11: Limits - Limitation of voltage changes, voltage fluctuations and flicker in public low-voltage supply systems
EN 61000-6-3 Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) – Part 6-3: Generic Standards Emission Standard for residential, commercial and light industrial environments
To comply with the Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations or Scottish Byelaws Third party verification carried out by: Kiwa Ltd
WRAS (Water Regulatory Advisory Scheme) Approved Certificate no.1102330. Automist is WRAS approved for connection to the water supply.
Smartscan Compliance to BS 8458:2015
Automist Smartscan® has been independently, third party, tested by Exova Warrington Fire and confirmed as compliant to Approved Doc B, as per Clause 0.18, by meeting the performance requirements of BS 8458 2015. Yet, it cannot be said to comply because of the standard’s prescriptive scope. For example:
BS 8458 applies only to wet pipe water mist systems. For excellent technical reasons, the Smartscan is a dry pipe system. This prescription clashes with other important international published standards such as NFPA750, FM5560 and UL2167 (see below), all of which cover both wet and dry pipe systems and subject both to the same performance requirements. BS 8458 only applies to water mist systems that are engineered and that require hydraulic calculations to be carried out for each installation. The Smartscan, which is pre-engineered and does not require calculations, falls outside of this definition. This again clashes with international standards, which allow for the use of pre-engineered systems. BS 8458 only applies to water mist system with ceiling-mounted nozzles with a thermal release element. The Smartscan’s open nozzle spray head is strategically located mid-way up a wall to maximise the efficiency of water mist's physical characteristics. (Doing it this way accounts for its excellent fire suppression performance with minimum water flow.) Needless to say, international standards do not limit water mist compliance to automatic nozzles in the way that BS 8458 does.
This is not uncommon in Approved Document B where compliance to Building Regulations may not be in compliance to a British Standard. For example, retrofitted water mist and sprinkler systems with partial coverage, as in loft conversions, do not comply with their respective standards. Both sprinkler and water mist systems can only be said to comply with their respective standards (BS 9251 and BS 8458) if they are fitted throughout the property (including toilets). Partial coverage does not count.
It is also noteworthy that under BS 8458, water mist systems used in rooms larger than 32m2 must have been tested in fire scenario E. Known as the ‘open room’ scenario, this is where half of the walls are removed in the laboratory. If the system passes, it may be used in rooms up to 80m2 in size. However, many products said to comply were tested to the draft version of BS 8458 – DD 8458. Since this draft did not contain the larger room size test requirement, products that comply with it cannot be used in rooms larger than 32m2. The Smartscan was independently tested by Exova Warringtonfire during the summer of 2015. It demonstrated full compliance with the fire performance criteria of the BS 8458:2015. It may not comply with its design criteria, but from the point of view of fire safety, this is not critical. The essence of innovations is a smarter approach to reach the same end goal. BS 8458 Requirement
Active Fire Protection comparisonview image Demonstrating performance beyond BS 8458 and the LABC Registered Detail for Smartscan
The LABC Registered Detail process verifies the use of alternative products for other ways to comply with the Building Regulations.
The process strongly resembles certification, with every aspect of the product scrutinized not only for fire performance but also for its long-term reliability, maintenance, installation, documentation and training. A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis document was prepared for Automist Smartscan. It allowed us to examine all potential sources of failure so that they could be anticipated and effectively addressed. System-level performance objectives (for example, to suppress fires in worst-case conditions) were also derived from this approach. The UL 2167-2004 Water Mist Nozzles for Fire Protection Service process was used to identify tests and procedures for component validation, while BS 8458:2015 and BS 9252:2011 were used as the basis for fire performance validation. The relevant UL 2167 tests have therefore been incorporated into this product design and validation methodology. To demonstrate performance beyond BS 8458:2015, Plumis is seeking UL Listing against UL 2167-2004 Water Mist Nozzles for Fire Protection Service. This internationally recognised certification process tests reliability as well as fire performance.
The relevant clauses from UL 2167 standard are set out below. OK means that the Automist Smartscan has been successfully tested or verified. UL 2167 Clause
What is compliance to a standard?
Only third-party certification to a product standard is a true test of a product constancy and reliability, even under worst-case scenarios. This is because it scrutinizes the product performance and production in depth and over time. Also, since the declaration is made by the third party, it is less prone to bias.
Compliance with a standard, on the other hand, is merely a self-declaration by a manufacturer that a product meets the standard’s requirements based on one set of tests on one product at one moment in time. Clearly, this does not necessarily mean that the product will perform consistently or reliably in worst-case scenarios or in the long term. This is because the manufacturer may have limited their testing only to the ideal scenarios.
In the case of BS 8458:2015 the situation is even worse because it is a design and installation standard. Its requirements for component testing ignore environmental factors that can be found in the field and which can impact the long-term reliability of a product.
Declarations of compliance to BS 8458:2015 therefore only mean that the system has been designed and installed (and fire-tested in its optimum setting) to that standard. This is useful, but provides absolutely no assurance about a product’s reliability or real performance.
To bridge the assurance gap, product certification to standards like LPS 1283, UL 2167 or FM 5560 are also required.
If this subtlety was not confusing enough, building control officers, fire risk assessors and specifiers also have to remember that BS 8458:2015 only applies to certain kinds of water mist fire protection systems.
Take the Automist Smartscan. Although exhaustively and successfully third-party tested, in terms of performance to challenging worst-case scenarios, it cannot be certified against or said to comply with BS 8458. This is because it is an innovative alternative, which falls outside of the standard’s arbitrary, but design specific definition of what constitutes a conventional water mist system.
The only formally recognised vehicle for declaring its effectiveness, reliability and constancy in the UK is to undergo the LABC’s Registered Detail process. This is a third-party witnessed/audited process where the LABC assigns a fire engineer to verify that the product and installation will work as intended. Automist Smartscan's credentials were further validated by BSi who have issued a Verification Certificate that also found the system to meet the performance requirements of BS 8458:2015.
For compliance in the USA and elsewhere in the world, the Smartscan will undergo the UL (Underwriter Laboratories) listing process to UL 2167. This is process is thorough, well recognised and highly respected internationally. In anticipation, Plumis based its testing for the LABC Registered Detail process on UL 2167.
Automist Technical Information and Registered Detail.
BS 8458 Approved Document B Compensatory measure Traditional sprinklers Third Party Testing Automist Smartscan Innovative Fire Suppression BS 9252 Watermist sprinklers UL 2167 Compliance
Registered in England. Company No. 06748654.