Laura Swart is giving a talk about Fire Standards at IFSEC South Africa 2014
Register your interest to visit IFSEC South Africa 2014 now.
When: 13-15 May 2014
Where: Gallagher Convention Centre, Johannesburg, Gauteng
Standards for fire prevention, detection and suppression solutions are readily available – so why the lack of adherence?
The sprinkler industry took the lead in self-regulation. The ASIB (Automatic Sprinkler Inspection Bureau) was established by the short-term insurance industry in 1970 who agreed that while they may differ with premium ratings they would not do so in respect of a minimum standard for fixed fire protection.
The interests of the end user are of paramount interest and the ASIB is tasked with ensuring that these are protected.
ASIB published the sprinkler protection rules that have been used almost exclusively in South Africa for 44 years and set the standards for listing capable and competent sprinkler installers. Their primary function is to inspect new work to ensure that what is installed complies with an internationally accepted minimum standard and to conduct follow-up inspections to ensure compliance.
The fire detection industry followed suite in 1999 when the Fire Detection Installers Association (FDIA) was established by a small group of companies with a mission to provide representation and leadership to the Fire Detection and Gaseous Extinguishing Division (GED).
The purpose of the FDIA & GED is to boost quality and professionalism within the industry through training and dissemination of information regarding standards, technology and certification requirements. The FDIA promotes the requirement for third-party inspection on all systems to ensure compliance with current local standards.
Standards
Members from the FDIA and allied industries approached the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) to put a set of standards in place for local use. A representative committee ensures the constructive implementation of these standards.
To date, nine standards have been adopted locally, from direct copies under license from British Standards and ISO standards to locally written standards where no suitable internationally accepted standards were available.
Qualifications and certification
While the representative associations for the various disciplines have played a substantial role in the industry, they did not address the requirements for a formal qualification, or the minimum training requirements to prove competency.
In 2009, the Pressure Equipment Regulation (PER) was promulgated which caused distress within the industry. It called for all persons working with equipment over 50Kpa to be trained and authorised. As a regulation, this became a legal obligation.
The PER committee had not considered the fire industry when writing the document so formal training and certification became an urgent requirement .
The South Africa Qualification and Certification committee (SAQCC-fire) was already in existence since 2000. This body was established to assist with the regulation and training of technicians servicing fire equipment (hand-held fire extinguishers), in accordance with SANS 1475.
The detection and gas Industry approached the SAQCC-fire in 2010 to expand their mandate and assist with a training and certification programme for the fire detection and gas extinguishing systems. A mandate was approved by the Department of Labour in 2011 and the process of setting the skills training levels began.
Training and certification is in accordance with the levels of competency required as well as all the standards available locally. A performance path has been set up to take an unskilled school-leaver and train them up to commissioner and designer level.
Certification began in 2012 and has since seen thousands of persons registered and authorised to perform legally within our industry.
For a previously unregulated industry with no formal recognition this represents a huge milestone!
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