Room Integrity Testing to Protected Enclosures
Room integrity testing to protected rooms is one of the most important validation tests you can undertake to any fire suppression system. If a protected enclosure has a suppression system, the agent that is discharged into the enclosure has to be able to remain there for a minimum period of 10 minutes, from the initial activation of the fire alarm or alert. A retention rate of at least 10 minutes is required for a pass. This time period is considered enough to allow deep-seated fires to be cooled beyond re-ignition levels and allow the emergency services to attend site.
A fire suppression system can provide adequate cover and function correctly if the room is adequately sealed. A room that is insufficiently sealed may allow the suppression agent that has been discharged into the room to escape too quickly, prior to fully extinguishing the fire which may result in damage to your equipment such as server racks or other critical assets.
The performance of any protected room and fire suppression system can only be guaranteed when serviced regularly through a professional maintenance routine. APT always recommend that room integrity testing is made part of an annual service and maintenance package, to ensure that on discharge, the suppression agent achieves and maintains the correct concentration, at the appropriate height for minimum required timeframe.
Designing your protected enclosure to pass the room integrity test
In some instances, although the room may be quite air-tight, the enclosure may fail the integrity test due to the minimum distance between the structural ceiling and the top of the protected height i.e. the top of the server racks. When designing a protected enclosure, it is always best to allow plenty of distance between the top of the protected height and the ceiling as this should result in more retention time – as long as your enclosure is sufficiently airtight. Here is more information on how to design your protected enclosure for the room integrity test.
We undertake Room Integrity Testing on all types of protected enclosures such as small server rooms right up to the largest data centers. Our Engineers have undertaken hundreds of integrity tests throughout the UK and using our combined experience within the Fire Suppression Industry and are able to provide help and advice on your Room Integrity Test requirements.
It is our ongoing aim to provide clients a ‘one stop’ Room Integrity Testing service to cater for their most exacting requirements. We only use high quality equipment that is UKAS calibrated – a basic requirement of a UKAS accredited testing laboratory. We are also certified to Level 2 for Room Integrity Testing.
For further information on our room integrity testing services, please contact our technical manager Darren on 07775623464 or email us at info@aptsoundtesting.co.uk