Sprinkler standard organisations

CEN – European Committee for Standardisation

CEN is an association that brings together the national standardisation bodies of 34 European countries. CEN provides a platform for the development of European Standards and other technical documents in relation to products, materials, services and processes.

CEN is one of three European standardisation organisations (CENELEC), (ETSI) and (EFTA) for developing standards at European level.

The specific Technical Committee (TC), Working Groups (WG) and Task Groups (TG) responsible for drafting the CEN standards relating to suppression systems, components and media for the fire protection of buildings are as follows.

TC21 - Equipment for fire protection and fire fighting
SC5 - fixed fire fighting systems using water
WG9 - Sprinklers and nozzles
WG10 - Valves
WG1 - Pipes and fittings

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BSI – British Standards Institution

BSI is the responsible body for all UK standardisation. In respect of fire safety matters and equipment, responsibility rests with the various committees set up to develop national British Standards and to shadow the work being undertaken by CEN in Europe.

The specific Technical Committee, Sub Committee and Working Groups responsible for drafting the BS standards relating to firefighting equipment are as follows:

FSH/14 - Fire precautions in building
FSH/14/-/12 - BS 9996 Commissioning and Maintenance of Integrated fire Safety Systems
FSH/18 - Fixed fire fighting systems
FSH /18/2 - Sprinkler systems
FSH/18/5 - Water mist systems
FSH/18/7 - Foam media systems
FSH/18/-/4 Revision of BS 9990

FSH/18 is responsible for the co-ordination, drafting and maintenance of standards for fixed firefighting systems and co-ordinating input to work in CEN/TC191 and ISO/TC21. FSH/18 oversees all matters concerned with fixed firefighting systems including water, gas powder and foam-based systems

FSH/18/2 Under the direction of FSH/18 is responsible for UK input into CEN/TC191/WG5 and ISO/TC21/SC5 and for the drafting and maintenance of BS 9251, BS 9252 and new national work on sprinklers.

FSH/18/5 Under the direction of FSH/18, considers developments in the emerging UK watermist firefighting industry. It will address the needs for standardisation to ensure effective and safe water mist firefighting systems can be specified and delivered through adoption of industry best practice and will also review and contribute to CEN Water Mist Standardisation.

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RISCAuthority – Risk, Insight, Strategy and Control Authority

RISCAuthority, an annually funded research scheme which conducts research on behalf of the insurance sector. Supported by a significant group of UK insurers and underpinned by extensive research and risk analysis, RISCAuthority publishes risk management guides and recommendations in the areas of fire and security.

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LPC – Loss Prevention Council

The LPC was established through the consolidation of existing UK insurers technical bodies that originally governed the design standards and product testing for the sprinkler industry. It addressed fire safety and property protection within the insurance sector.

The LPC generated and maintained the Technical Bulletins until it became part of the Building Research Establishment, at which point the Technical Bulletins transferred to the control of the FPA.

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LPCB – The Loss Prevention Certification Board

The LPCB is a globally recognised third-party certification body for the sprinkler industry in the UK and Ireland. As part of BRE, the LPCB’s Loss Prevention Standards (LPS) provide a level of assurance to clients, specifiers, and end-users that LPCB tested and approved products, with correct installation from approved installers will deliver the sprinkler system performance expected. Approved equipment and installers are listed online and can be found at www.redbooklive.com

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FPA – Fire Protection Association

The FPA is the publisher of the LPC Rules for Automatic Sprinkler Installations which incorporates BS EN 12845 supplemented by the LPC Technical Bulletins. The LPC Technical Bulletins are updated by the FPA in collaboration with committees that include UK experts, insurer members of RISCAuthority, and BAFSA. Updates are based on research, testing, product innovation, and changes to international standards to address gaps and enhance fire protection systems for property protection and business resilience.

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