AS1851-2005 Maintenance of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment governed all fire hydrants maintenance in Western Australia. Building owners, or their agents, will need to maintain their hydrant system as required by statutory standards and regulations.
The following Australian Standards will have an impact, on the maintenance requirements for your hydrant system.
- AS 1851-2005 Maintenance of fire protection equipment and protection systems
- AS 2792-1992 Fire House – Delivery Layflat
- AS 2419.1-2005 Fire Hydrant Installations – System design, Commissioning and Installation
Fire Hydrants Safety Measures Audit
AS1851-2005 Maintenance of Fire Protection Equipment and Systems is very specific for the sort of inspections for fire hydrants and its frequency. For all fire hydrants, the standard requires a logbook to record all maintenance information as specified.
Also, both owners and the managers of buildings must make sure that their fire maintenance contractor is conversant with the policies and guidelines of the local Fire Brigade requirements. Hydrant maintenance programs and testing must satisfy safety compliance, and the testing contractor shall sign the Annual Certificate of Compliance, the Annual Statement, the Annual Maintenance Statement, the Annual Occupiers Statement, and the Annual Fire Safety Statement.
A substantial penalty will be issued for failure to maintain, misuse, and also, in the event of an emergency, the effectiveness of the hydrant can be reduced.
What Has To Be Tested
Below briefly describe tests that may be required and its frequency of tests:
Flow testing of fire hydrant – Annually
Record the flow rate and pressure of the most hydraulically disadvantaged (farthest from main feeds) hydrant.
Flow testing of fire hydrant – Street Hydrants
Before designing fire systems for new buildings, and for redeveloping existing sites, this is commonly required as baseline data.
Value overhaul of fire hydrant – 5 Yearly basis
Maintenance on hydrant valves which may re-building or replacement. Including but not limited to fire hose reel valves of the same hydrant system.
Boosted systems – fire hydrant hydrostatic test – 5 Yearly basis
These may only be done by our specialist plumber, as it is a specialized test, and only performed after valve overhauls have been carried out.
Booster flow test of fire hydrant – 5 yearly basis
Record the flow rate and pressure of the most hydraulically disadvantaged (farthest from main feeds) hydrant.
Our typical hydrant system hydrostatic test may include but not limited to the below:
- Arrival on site & inform the premises that the fire system will be shut down for about 1-2 hours
- Attach a pressure test port to a test point and pump hydrant line up to 1800kpa
- Allow the line to be under pressure for a minimum of 1 hour
- If there is a pressure drop this will; this would indicate a possible leak in the service. Further test will be required to identify the leak.
- If there is no pressure drop the test is complete.
- The fire hydrant service then tested for flow rate at the most disadvantage point.
Call Casotti Plumbers for a discussion on your fire hydrant maintenance requirements.
