Fire sprinkler Standard NZS 4541 – update

Fire sprinkler Standard NZS 4541 – update on limited technical review

Issue 47 – March 2013

The New Zealand Standard for Automatic fire sprinkler systems, NZS 4541:2007, is undergoing a limited technical review. A new version of the Standard, NZS 4541:2013, is expected to be published in mid-2013.

The scope of the limited technical review of NZS 4541:2007 covers the following.
• Adding a new normative appendix for the protection of certain small community buildings for which a sprinkler system is not a legal requirement
• Reviewing the seismic design requirements
• Reviewing Part 6 (Water supply) with mostly minor changes to reduce costs and increase reliability
• Reviewing Part 9 (Extra high hazard system design data) based on latest internal fire testing and research. This is expected to align with the draft section 11 of AS2118.1 (also currently under revision)
• Reviewing Part 12 (Testing, maintenance, and inspection) to examine all requirements for completeness and correctness
• Addressing public and user comments on file
• Incorporating formal interpretation requests received on NZS 4541:2007.
•
As this is a limited technical revision of NZS 4541:2007, the committee will focus on addressing only the specific issues within the scope of the project. The committee is not completely rewriting the Standard.

In July 2012, Standards New Zealand issued the draft Standard DZ 4541 for public comment. There was high interest in the public comment phase. We received almost 600 submissions directly related to the limited scope of the revision. The committee reviewed the comments at two 2-day meetings in September 2012 and February 2013.

Once the public comment submissions have been finalised, the committee will ballot the document. This involves committee members confirming on behalf of their nominating organisations that the document is approved to be published as a New Zealand Standard. The Standard will then go to the Minister of Internal Affairs for review and approval, and then to the Standards Council for final approval, before being published.

As significant changes are likely between the public comment draft DZ 4541 issued in 2012 and the final Standard NZS 4541:2013, users are reminded that the draft Standard DZ 4541 should not be used as a basis for the design and installation of sprinkler systems.

More on NZS 4541
NZS 4541:2007 covers the design, installation, and maintenance of sprinkler systems so that systems reliably achieve their fire control functions – that the fire should be controlled within a specified area and that control should be achieved before levels of toxic by-products of combustion become life threatening.
NZS 4541:2007 is referenced in the Fire Safety and Evacuation of Buildings Regulations 2006, in supporting documents to the New Zealand Building Code (NZBC) Clause C, Protection from fire, and in Acceptable Solution F7/AS1 Warning Systems of the Compliance Documents to the NZBC.Following publication, it is intended that NZS 4541:2013 will be referenced in these documents.
NZS 4541:2007 is used extensively across the fire protection industry and by builders, contractors, designers/specifiers, engineers, inspection agencies, installers, insurers, local authorities, maintenance persons, manufacturers, regulatory agencies, sprinkler system certifiers, and suppliers.
Related articles
• Automatic fire sprinkler systems – review of Standard, media release, August 2011
• Chris Mak – an outstanding contribution to fire protection, Touchstone, May 2011
• Stalwart committee member, Russell Gregory, retires, Touchstone, December 2010
• Saved by the sprinkler, Touchstone, April 2010
Related Standard
• NZS 4517:2010 Fire sprinkler systems for houses

© Scoop Media