Passed the exam! F30 Fire Protection Housing
Synergy effects in structural and technical fire protection
Who does not know this problem: Having to put the requirements of the regulation on fire security of conduit installations (MLAR) into practice during the planning or building of a fire alarm system with evacuation alarm required by building laws.
Together with PRIORIT AG, a leading company in the development and production of inflammable, decorative building materials and fire-resistant structural units, ESSER is the first manufacturer to offer an installation concept which fulfills all of the requirements under German building laws and which optimally takes all of the safety-relevant aspects into consideration. The planning process is simplified significantly early on and planning security is created through the exemplary use of synergy effects in structural and technical fire protection. In this way, a cost-efficient and flexible solution could be created which completely fulfills the current demands of the MLAR.
Behind this is a standardized fire protection housing already approved by building regulations including a coldsmoke-proof ventilation system with a smoke detector controlled, electromagnetic shutter release, into which an IQ8Control M fire alarm control panel (FACP) with additional smoke detector is built. The big advantage here is that the overall construction being a type-tested fire protection distribution box fulfills three requirements at the same time: Firstly, the proven functional integrity of the FACP for a time span of 30 minutes in compliance with the MLAR; secondly, the proven fire load insulation of circuit systems in evacuation routes; and thirdly, the verification of the overall construction via the VdS.
With the MLAR’s introduction in 2005, requirements on the functional integrity of electrical circuit systems in the case of fire were tightened. In the meantime it has now been introduced under building law in all German federal states, is valid for buildings of any kind and is to be applied during the planning, building, changing and maintaining of constructional units.
Fire alarm systems, including their respective transmission systems, fall under the definition of electrical circuit systems which—according to the MLAR—have to fulfill a functional integrity of at least 30 minutes in the case of fire. Deviating from that, the MLAR allows for some restrictions in the case of which the functional integrity is not required: Thus for example in the case of circuit systems in rooms which are monitored by automatic fire detectors as well as in the case of circuit systems in rooms without automatic fire detectors, if all the detectors connected to this circuit system in these rooms stay fully functioning even during a short circuit or circuit interruption due to fire damage. For the FACP and the associated alarm transmission devices, the special requirements for distribution boxes for electrical circuit systems with functional integrity are valid. Today, maximum functional security of detectors and actuator units on the primary line is guaranteed through wiring in a loop design with separate cabling of the outgoing and return line (regarding fire protection). Malfunctioning line sections are isolated by a loop isolator in the case of a short circuit or wire break in order to still be able to control all components via the FACP and supply them with energy even in an event of fault. This leaves the FACP as being the only “weak link” in the system, which is to say, in the case that the FACP itself is endangered by immediate proximity of the source of the fire. Despite this being recognized by the detector which is to house the FACP in the monitoring area according to VDE 0833 part 2, the FACP must still be able to supply the acoustic and optic signaling devices for another 30 minutes. The fire control systems which are to prevent and/or inhibit a spreading of the fire must also stay active.
For the protection of the FACP in the case of a fire, the MLAR requires the housing of the FACP as a “distribution box for electric circuit systems with functional integrity” in a separate room, classified at least F30, which may only contain the FACP and the associated alarm transmission devices. Placement of the FACP in fire protection housing or behind third-party housing and/or divisions in F30 is permitted as well but only if it is actually proven that the FACP can function for 30 minutes in the case of a fire. At present, verification in connection with fire protection housing as a costeffective and comfortable solution can only be achieved via a fire test as “typetest”, the result of which contains a proof of usability admitted for use by the building inspector. The verification for thirdparty housing and/or divisions in F30 as concerns examinations can generally neither be realized nor implemented due to the various constructional conditions on site.
An autonomous, third-party housing and/or division of a fire alarm control panel in F30 without proof of its functionality in case of a fire leads to the loss of certification of the FACP according to EN54. According to EN54-4, being part of the fire detection system, the energy supply has to be able to reliably supply and track the system itself as well as the batteries used for the emergency power supply under various thermal conditions. This, however, can only be proven by extensive testing procedures which need to be carried out and documented according to EN54-4 in a laboratory. The EN54-2 also requires certain preconditions for the operation of a fire detector system, which are not directly operable. Thus for example an FAT has to be used for the initial information of the fire department.
Within the framework of the examination for proof of the FACP’s functional integrity for a time span of 30 minutes according to MLAR, see illustration 2, the IQ8Control M was built into the “PRIORIT” fire protection housing and an analogue ring with voice signal devices was connected. The overall construction was flame-treated in the furnace of the material testing institute (MPA) in Dresden, Germany, according to the standard temperature curve, see figure 1, at first with active ventilation. The alarm devices of the FACP reliably kept their function for more than 30 minutes at a temperature of up to 960°C.
With the testing report 2008-B-2993 issued by the MPA Dresden the inspectional proof for the functional integrity of the electro-technical built-in components (FACP) by a DIBt-accredited testing agency has been successfully adduced. In connection with the proof of usability admitted for use by the building inspector for the PRIORIT AG No. Z-86.1-9 fire protection housing and the above-mentioned testing report, the proof of usability admitted for use by the building inspector required according to the MLAR can be shown.
