LPCB has issued a new Loss Prevention Standard (LPS 1283 – Requirements and test methods for the certification of watermist systems for use in commercial low hazard occupancies) to support the increasing use of watermist technology in fire suppression applications for low hazard commercial occupancies.
Watermist has the potential to be a highly efficient method of fire protection, says LPCB, but as with the introduction of all new technologies, standards and third party approvals are required to ensure robust systems with clear limits of application are available to the market.
LPS 1283 evaluates the operational performance of a watermist system and its components including an assessment of the fire performance of the system using fire tests based on DD 8489 Part 7 (Fixed Fire Protection Systems – Industrial and Commercial Watermist Systems Part 7: Tests and requirements for watermist systems for the protection of low hazard occupancies). The scheme also employs a methodology for defining the scope of each application and specifies appropriate limits of use.
Sarah Colwell, head of suppression at BRE Global, said:
“LPS 1283 expands and builds on the protocols in DD 8489 by specifying additional fire, component and system tests to broaden the field of application of the results and to increase confidence in the market that the system and components have been robustly assessed and will provide the market with reliable and effective fire protection systems.”
