Procedures for managing fire system impairments

An impairment is when a building’s fire protection systems such as automatic sprinklers, fire detection systems, fire hydrants or their water supplies are completely shut off or has had a portion of the system removed from service. 

Most impairments or isolations are planned and occur due to a variety of reasons, such as modifications in building layout or routine maintenance on the systems. However, unplanned isolations can occur as a result of unforeseen circumstances such as burst or leaky pipes, electrical faults or broken down fire pumps.

All impairments, no matter how they occur should be taken seriously, as this increases the risk of a fire being undetected or extinguished if the fire systems are out of service. 

Having formal impairment handling procedures in place can help reduce the increased risk of fire and minimise their duration during these planned or unplanned situations. It will help management take precautions to minimise the effect of essential services not being available. Failure to correct these deficiencies can substantially increase the potential for a major fire loss.

This is why having an impairment notification procedure in place that notifies your insurance provider is essential. It allows risk engineering services  to be made aware of major situations and gives insurance representatives the opportunity to review the circumstances involved with this outage. It’s also a good way to check if your fire contractors or building management is following proper loss prevention practices.

When a fire protection system is shut off or ‘impaired’, the exposure to loss has changed and fire hazards become a greater risk. Small fires that would have been put out by a sprinkler system now have the potential to grow out of control.

If impairment procedures currently do not exist, they should be developed to reduce the increased risk of fire and minimise the duration of an impairment. These procedures should assign a designated person responsible for each of the following assignments: 

• Notify various agencies of the fire protection system impairment, including the local fire brigade, building occupants, and security. 
• Notify your insurance provider whenever fire protection systems are out of service or in any way impaired, particularly for any impairment affecting an entire building level and/or more than 10% of the building’s lettable area.
• The sprinkler control valve should be tagged, notifying building occupants and the fire department which section of the sprinkler system is out of service when an impairment occurs.
• These impairment procedures should apply to all fire protection systems such as:
  > automatic sprinklers
  > fire detection systems
  > fire hydrants
  > underground mains and their water supplies such as towns mains, fire pumps and water tanks and isolation valves controlling these systems.
• Major planned and unplanned impairments should be notified as soon as possible to allow your insurance provider the opportunity to review and comment on the situation.

The aim of an impairment is to restore the building’s fire protection to service, as soon as possible. 

When returning the system to service, the contractor should conduct a main drain test and a 50mm drain test. Contact your insurance provider and notify your broker that the system has been returned to service. After it has been fixed, you should contact all appropriate parties, including the local fire brigade, building management, security, and other relevant building occupants. 

Remove the impairment tags from the rise and keep it for your records. When your insurance provider representative tours the facility, they should compare the completed tags against their records to ensure accurate information is being kept on the impairment.

References:

Chubb's Fire Protection Impairment form