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Touchstone

ISSN 1177-5874

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Fire Protection

New Zealand Fire Service interpretation on SNZ PAS 4509:2008 New Zealand Fire Service firefighting water supplies code of practice

Where the hardstand as illustrated in this code of practice (figures B4, L2(a), L2(b), and L2(c)) does not provide for fire appliance access within 18 m of an entry point to any building, the hardstand may be used by the NZFS for relay pumping or other operations supporting the fire appliance situated at a hardstand closer to the building.

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Determination of the extinction propensity of cigarettes – new adopted Standard

Standards New Zealand has just published NZS/AS 4830 – Determination of the extinction propensity of cigarettes. NZS/AS 4830:2007 is an adoption of the Australian Standard AS 4830.

One way to reduce fire damage is to limit how often fires are started accidentally. AS 4830 establishes a test method for the propensity of a cigarette to remain lit and therefore potentially capable of igniting soft furnishings.

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Fire safety design – new international Standard will help save lives and cut cost

A new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standard for fire safety engineering should help to save lives, reduce costs due to fire damage, and bring substantial economic savings through improved fire safety design.

Fire safety engineering – General principles, ISO 23932:2009 provides general principles for a performance-based methodology for engineers to assess the level of fire safety for new or existing built environments.

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Reducing the risk of house fires – Wellington home fire sprinkler demonstration

Chief Fire Officer Mike Farrand celebrated a home sprinkler system in his new house on 17 July 2009.

One of the Fire Service's key national strategies is that all new homes should have a home sprinkler as this is one of the best ways to reduce the risk and tragedy of house fires. Home sprinklers can now be installed as part of well-designed domestic plumbing, and smoke alarms still provide a vital role as these provide the earliest warning of a fire.

When Chief Fire Officer Mike Farrand began plans to build his new house 18 months ago, he knew there was one safety system – a home sprinkler – he couldn't do without.

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NEW PUBLICATIONS

AS/NZS 1850:2009 Portable fire extinguishers - Classification, rating and performance testing

Classifies extinguishers according to the general classes of fires for which they are suitable and gives a method of rating. Tests for Classes A, B, C, D, E and F are included.

NZS/AS 4830-2007 Determination of the extinction propensity of cigarettes

Enables comparison of the extinction propensity of different cigarette designs under standard laboratory conditions. The test method prescribes a repeatable, laboratory-based way of testing the capability of a machine-made cigarette, positioned on a standard substrate, to generate sufficient heat to continue burning. The Standard is intended for the testing of all machine-made cigarettes. Adopted from AS 4830-2007 which is based on ASTM E2187-04 Standard test method for measuring the ignition strength of machine-made cigarettes.

STANDARD WITHDRAWN

NZS 9231:1971 Model bylaw for fire prevention

This Standard has been withdrawn without replacement.

STANDARDS IN DEVELOPMENT

Fire sprinkler systems for life safety in sleeping occupancies (up to 2000 m2)

Committee: P4515 Revision
Project Manager: Erin Alderton
Estimated publication date: December 2009
Comments: NZS 4515 is being revised to provide clarification to users of the Standard as to what is and what is not a sleeping occupancy. It is also being updated to align with NZS 4541 where appropriate. The published formal interpretations relating to the Standard have been considered as part of the revision. The public comment period closed on 7 August and the committee met to discuss the public comment submissions in late August.

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