Page 10 - Energize May 2021

NEWS

SABS updates national standard on crucial fire detection

and alarm systems

he Standards Division of the South and installers of fire protection systems is provided for them to follow and uphold. The cost of fire
African Bureau of Standards (SABS) within this country runs into billions of rand and needs to be prevented.
Tmaintains and develops several
national standards aimed at ensuring the What has been revised in the national standard?
protection of life and property from fire and • Updated recommendations about the need for a fire detection system, variations from the
fire-related damage. standard, system components, detection zones, communication with the fire services, staged
As part of this legislated mandate fire alarms, and manual call points.
the SABS has recently published a revised • Updated requirements for smoke detectors.
version of SANS 10139, Code of practice • Updated requirements for spacing and placing of automatic fire detectors.
for design, installation, commissioning and • A commentary has been added with regards to control and references the appropriate
maintenance of fire detection and alarm equipment.
systems in non-domestic premises, which • Updated measures to limit false alarm.
brings South Africa in line with fire safety • A commentary on inspection and servicing has been added.
standards similar to those in the United
Kingdom and Europe. Benefits of the revision
Laura Swart, Chairperson and Member of the SABS Technical Committee says: “The revision
Scope of SANS 10139 of SANS 10139 will benefit the fire protection industry as it clarifies all requirements and will
The standard provides recommendations ultimately eliminate the confusion experienced by the protection industry. This in turn, will result
for the planning, design, installation, in a more effective use of the national standard, thus improving firefighting and improving the job
commissioning and maintenance of fire of saving lives and preventing the loss of property. The standard also aims to mitigate the risk of
detection and fire alarm systems in and failure of fire detection and fire alarm systems in and around buildings.”
around buildings, other than dwellings. Swart went on to say that that the revision of the national standards was made possible by
valuable collaboration with the Fire System Inspection Bureau (FSIB), the Fire Detection Installers
Publication date: 2021-05-03 Association (FDIA) and the South African insurance industry.
Relevance and importance of the national
standard * The official title of the SABS Technical Committee is SABS/TC021/SC01, Fire safety – Fixed fire
SANS 10139 is based on the British Standards extinguishing systems
BS5839-1, Fire detection and fire alarm
systems for buildings. Code of practice for Contact Nils Flaatten, SABS, Tel 082 409-2020, nils.flaatten@sabs.co.za
design, installation, commissioning and
maintenance of systems in non-domestic
premises. The British Standard (BS5839-1)
was updated several years ago after fatalities
occurred at an old age home in Lancashire
which killed 14 elderly people.
This revised South African National
Standards (SANS) comes at a time when the
country witnessed two devastating fires,
the wildfire that swept the slopes of Cape
Town’s Table Mountain and spread to the
University of Cape Town, burning the historic
campus library, and forcing the evacuation of
students and the incident where 700 patients
were evacuated from Johannesburg’s
Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, after a fire blazed
through parts of the medical facility in South
Africa’s largest city.
The seriousness of fire is often
overlooked, and its impact is often
underestimated. It is crucial that a national
set of guidelines and rules for the designers

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