Fire protection: inspection, testing and impairments

Skills you'll practise

• Match the main NFPA standards for data center fire protection to their scope, and state that the AHJ decides which apply
• Read semi-annual cylinder checks and inspection records and identify containers that need maintenance under OSHA 1910.160
• Plan the notifications, temporary precautions, restoration and records for an impairment or a planned fire-system test
• Read a cause-and-effect matrix and explain what integrated (end-to-end) testing proves
• Keep people out of a discharged area until it is declared safe, and report the system as impaired until restored

Course outline

1. 1.Fire protection: records, impairments and integrated testsVideo · 2 min
2. 2.Who sets the rules: standards, the AHJ and your siteLesson · 15 min
3. 3.Inspection records, tags and cylinder checksLesson · 17 min
4. 4.Impairments, planned tests and integrated testingLesson · 18 min
5. 5.Fire protection: inspection, testing and impairments: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 19 questions
6. 6.Fire protection: inspection, testing and impairments: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
7. 7.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out

Sources it draws on

The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.

• OSHA 29 CFR 1910.160: Fixed extinguishing systems, general
• NFPA 75: Standard for the Fire Protection of Information Technology Equipment (scope summary)
• NFPA 76: Standard for the Fire Protection of Telecommunications Facilities (scope summary)
• NFPA 72: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code (scope summary)
• NFPA 25: Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems (scope summary)
• NFPA 2001: Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems (scope summary)
• NFPA 4: Standard for Integrated Fire Protection and Life Safety System Testing (scope summary)
• NFPA 855: Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems (scope summary)
• ASHRAE TC 9.9: Data Center Cooling Resiliency brief (2021), quoting FM Global Data Sheet 5-32 on loss-of-cooling contingency plans and HVAC alarms