Requirements

Rules, Regulations and Legislation

In accordance with the requirements of fire protection ITM-CL 501, 502 and 503 buildings must have installed the first means of intervention for fire fighting. The first means of intervention are determined following the size of the building and the operations. In the first means of intervention we can find the hose reel, an anti-fire blanket and fire extinguishers.

Hose reels are considered to aid fire extinguishers. The reason for this is that they are operational in a shorter period of time and extinguishers are only useful for a few seconds when a hose reel can be used for a longer period without any downtime.

Training staff so that they know how to react in case a fire breaks out is the responsibility of the employer.

As an installation of fire protection, you have to get your extinguishers checked every year so as to assure the good functioning of the product.

When we are talking of equipping a building with fire extinguishers there are several conditions to define:

• The amount of extinguishers needed
• Location of the extinguisher
• The product and the power of extinction

These principles are established for the protection of people in the event of a fire.

The Product

Besides specific situations such as the protection of an electronic system, when we speak of a fire hazard we speak of a Class A fire. For this class of fire the ABC powder extinguisher is more than sufficient.

For all other classes of fires, B, C and D we prescribe the use of extinguishers compliant with European EN standards. You can find more information from your provider regarding your fire protection.

The extinction capacity

The regulation says that from the moment a fire extinguisher can put out a fire, its extinguishing capacity is sufficient.

According to European standards EN3 approved fire extinguishers 27A are equivalent to a situation where a fire of class A ignites and someone with a minimal experience in fire fighting can turn it out.

For fires of flammable liquids Class B we make intervene an approved fire extinguisher 144B in compliance with European Standard EN3.

The location

In residential buildings fire extinguishers should be placed on each floor in predefined locations. They can be placed next to the stairs, next to the exit or at the intersection of several corridors.

For commercial and industrial buildings the placing of extinguishers is similar to those of residential buildings. Fire extinguishers should be placed in places where there are specific risks, such as in a restaurant kitchen. It is mandatory to indicate the location of the fire extinguisher by the use of pictograms.

In operational units extinguishers must always be installed so that they are achievable halfway to the emergency exit, starting from anywhere in the unit. That said there is a maximum distance of 25 meters that cannot be exceeded under any circumstances.

How To Calculate the number of fire extinguisher Needed?

1) This can be determined by knowing the operational risk and development within premises

A small risk of fire exists in places where there are materials that have a minor flammability and that the layout of the premise / room is made ​​such as that a fire is unlikely.

There is a medium risk of fire when using materials that have an average flammability and when the layout of the premise / room is made such that the beginning of fire is rather favorable.

A high risk exists when the materials used have a significant flammability and the layout of the premises / local promotes the start of a fire.

2) Depending on the area and the risk we can determine the number of units required of extinction Table 1: Units of extinction required for the risk associated

3) Determine the type, capacity and number of extinguishers required. If you know the product you can use Table 2. The quantity of extinguishing units should correspond to those in Table 1.