BS 9251 code of practice is now out for public comment

After a year's work, BSI has now issued BS 9251(fire sprinkler systems for domestic and residential occupancies – code of practice) for public comment. The Revised standard is considerably changed from the 2005 version and provides more clarification and insight. One of the major changes is that it has removed 'residential' and 'domestic' classifications in favour of type 1, type 2 and type 3 classifications this is undoubtedly a move in the right direction and will be given much more flexibility.

 Some of the manager changes are:

• 2.04 mm/min design density for type 1 occupancies (domestic)
• 2.80 mm/min design density for type 2 and 3 occupancies
• Sprinkler head can cover 25 m² area
• Maximum spacing between sprinklers is 5.5 m
• Blocks of flats greater than 18m in height will require a minimum of 30 minutes water supply

The new standard also provides a considerable amount of guidance on such things as effective capacity of the storage tank the calculation of the most unfavourable and favourable area is more clearly defined and is asking for what is basically a Qmax calculation to find the maximum flow demand of the system to determine the tank capacity.

The standard tries to also indicate its limitations and that it is not an appropriate standard in some circumstances these are referred to as 'abnormal circumstances or where the system is being used for compensatory features or the removal of other fire safety provisions.

There's plenty for everybody in the standard but undoubtedly some of it will be controversial and it is expected that a considerable number of comments will be received. If you would like to look at the standard or submit a comment you can do so through the BSI draft review website and type in 'BS 9251' in the 'search by keyword'. You will need to register on the site before you are able to read or comment on the standard you have until May 31 to submit your comment and it is envisaged that the revised standard will be published before the end of this year.