AS 1851 1 1995 maintenance of fire protection equipment po

This edition of the Standard includes a maintenance schedule for fire blankets and maintains theconcept of periodicity of inspection and servicing for fire extinguishers formerly referre

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AS 1851.1-1995 Maintenance of fire protection equipment - Portable fire

extinguishers and fire blankets

Licensed to LUU MINH LUAN on 25 Feb 2002

The following interests are represented on Committee FP/3:

Aerosol Association of AustraliaAustralian Construction Service—Department of the Arts and AdministrativeServices

Australian Fire Authorities CouncilAustralian Fire Protection AssociationCommonwealth Fire Board

Department of Consumer Affairs, N.S.W

Department of Defence, AustraliaFederal Bureau of Consumer AffairsFire Protection Industry Association of AustraliaFire Trainers Association of Australia

Insurance Council of AustraliaNew Zealand Fire Equipment AssociationOffice of Fair Trading and Business Affairs VictoriaTelecom Australia

Western Australia Fire Brigades BoardWorkCover Authority of N.S.W

Review of Australian Standards To keep abreast of progress in industry, Australian Standards are subject

to periodic review and are kept up to date by the issue of amendments or new editi ons as necessary It is important therefore that Standards users ensure that they are in possession of the latest edit ion, and any amendments thereto.

Full detail s of all Australi an Standards and related publications wil l be found in the Standards Australia Catalogue of Publications; this information is supplemented each month by the magazine ‘The Australian Standard’, which subscribing members receive, and which gives detail s of new publi cati ons, new edit ions and amendments, and of withdrawn Standards.

Suggesti ons for improvements to Australi an Standards, addressed to the head off ice of Standards Australia, are welcomed Noti fi cati on of any inaccuracy or ambiguity found in an Australi an Standard should be made without delay in order that the matter may be investigated and appropriate action taken.

PUBLISHED BY STANDARDS AUSTRALIA(STANDARDS ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA)

1 THE CRESCENT, HOMEBUSH, NSW 2140

ISBN 0 7262 9388 1

This Standard was prepared by the Joint Standards Australia/Standards New Zealand Committee

FP/3 on Fire Extinguishers to supersede AS 1851.1—1989, Maintenance of fire protection

equipment, Part 1: Portable fire extinguishers

This Standard is the result of a consensus among representatives on the Joint Committee toprovide it as an Australian Standard

This edition of the Standard includes a maintenance schedule for fire blankets and maintains theconcept of periodicity of inspection and servicing for fire extinguishers formerly referred to as

‘levels of inspection and servicing’ The periods are on a time-elapsed basis and range, depending

on the extinguisher type, from six-monthly inspections to six-yearly inspections The maintenanceschedule tables are no longer grouped according to the different types of extinguishers; instead,they are now in terms of maintenance periods

With the publication of AS 1851.1–1985, the maintenance of all chemical fire extinguishers wasbrought to a common cyclic routine, i.e six-monthly, yearly, three-yearly as appropriate, andsix-yearly This replaced the timetables in AS 1851, Part 1—1976 which gave no easy correlationbetween the maintenance periods of various types of extinguishers

Requirements for the charging of new extinguishers shipped empty are given in AS 1841,

Portable fire extinguishers Installation procedures and requirements, and signs, are specified in

AS 2444, Portable fire extinguishers—Selection and location

A companion Standard to provide guidance on servicing of portable fire extinguishers is available

(AS 3676— 1989, Portable fire extinguishers —Guide to servicing) and will assist in the general

duties, training, and certification of personnel expected to service and maintain portable fireextinguishers

In 1979, Standards controlling the manufacture of extinguishers were upgraded significantly andStandards Australia became directly involved through the quality assurance and certificationscheme and the application of a unique identification label

 Copyri ght STANDARDS AUSTRALIA Users of Standards are reminded that copyri ght subsists in all Standards Australi a publications and soft ware Except where the Copyri ght Act allows and except where provided for below no publications or software produced by Standards Austr alia may be reproduced, stored in a retri eval system in any form or tr ansmit ted by any means without pri or permission in wri ti ng fr om Standards Australi a Permission may be conditi onal on an appropriate royalty payment Requests for permission and informati on on commercial soft ware royalti es should be dir ected to the head off ice of Standards Australi a.

Standards Australi a wil l permit up to 10 percent of the technical content pages of a Standard to be copied for use exclusively in-house by purchasers of the Standard without payment of a royalty or advice to Standards Austr alia.

Standards Australi a wil l also permit the inclusion of its copyri ght materi al in computer soft ware programs for no royalty payment provided such programs are used exclusively in-house by the creators of the programs.

Care should be taken to ensure that materi al used is fr om the curr ent editi on of the Standard and that it is updated whenever the Standard is amended or revised The number and date of the Standard should therefore be clearly identif ied.

The use of material in pri nt form or in computer soft ware programs to be used commercially, with or without payment, or in commercial contracts is subject to the payment of a royalty This policy may be vari ed by Standards Austr alia at any ti me.

3 AS 1851.1—1995

CONTENTS

Page

SECTION 1 SCOPE AND GENERAL

1.1 SCOPE 4

1.2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS 5

1.3 DEFINITIONS 5

SECTION 2 GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 2.1 RECORD OF DISPOSITION AND LOCATION OF FIRE EXTINGUISHERS 6

2.2 INSPECTION AND SERVICE 7

2.3 EVIDENCE OF COMPLIANCE 9

2.4 DEFECTS 10

2.5 RECHARGING 11

SECTION 3 MAINTENANCE SCHEDULES 12

APPENDIX A MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE FOR FIRE BLANKETS 22

STANDARDS AUSTRALIA

Australian Standard Maintenance of fire protection equipment

Part 1: Portable fire extinguishers and fire blankets

S E C T I O N 1 S C O P E A N D G E N E R A L

1.1 SCOPE This Standard sets out requirements for the regular inspection, testing,recharging and general servicing of portable fire extinguishers that, at the time ofmanufacture, complied with the contemporary edition of the relevant Standard listed in Table1.1 For fire extinguishers used regularly for demonstration and training, maintenance should

be more frequent than specified due to the increased potential for wear and damage.When pressure testing operating heads (valves), components such as pressure indicators aredisassembled which results in the pressure test not reflecting the pressure retentioncharacteristics of the complete assembly

This Standard also includes a maintenance schedule for fire blankets complying with therequirements of AS 3504 and intended for use on small fires involving cooking oil, fats andclothing

TABLE 1.1 RELEVANT AUSTRALIAN STANDARD*

AS 1841.2 (AS 1842) (AS A31.3)

AS 1840 (AS A31.1)

Wet chemical — AS 1841.3

(AS 1842)

— Foam AS 1841.4

(AS 1844) (AS A32.2)

AS 1841.4 (AS 1845) (AS 32.3)

AS 1843 (AS A32.1)

Powder (dry chemical) AS 1841.5

(AS 1846) (AS A137)

AS 1841.5 (AS 1846) (AS A137)

—

Carbon dioxide

—

AS 1841.6 (AS 1847) (AS A138)

—

Vapourizing liquid

AS 1841.7 (AS 1848) (AS A163)†

—

Non-rechargeable — AS/NZS 1841.8 —

* Australian Standard numbers appearing in parentheses refer to superseded Standards.

† Halon 1211 and Halon 1301

5 AS 1851.1 — 1995

NOTES:

1 For portable fire extinguishers manufactured before the alphanumeric series of AustralianStandards were applicable, the regulatory authority may prescribe such inspections, tests, andcorrective actions as are required

2 AS 1841.1—Portable fire extinguishers —General requirements is the companion document to

AS 1841, Parts 2 to 8

1.2 REFERENCED DOCUMENTS The following documents are referred to in thisStandard:

AS

1850 Portable fire extinguishers — Classification, rating and performance testing

storage and transport of compressed gases (known as the SAA Gas CylindersCode)

NZS 4503 Code of Practice for the distribution, installation and maintenance of hand

operated fire fighting equipment for use in buildings

1.3 DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this Standard, the definitions of AS 2484.2 andthose below apply:

1.3.1 Normative —An Appendix which is essential to the understanding or implementation

of the Standard

1.3.2 Extinguisher size — The mass or volume of extinguishant with which the extinguisher

was fire rated

* Obsolescent Standard.

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S E C T I O N 2 G E N E R A L R E Q U I R E M E N T S

2.1 RECORD OF DISPOSITION AND LOCATION OF FIRE EXTINGUISHERS 2.1.1 General Every extinguisher shall bear a permanently fixed, unique, siteidentification mark, suitable for cross referencing with maintenance records The mark mayconsist of

(a) Written numbers, letters or a combination of both;

(c) Magnetic or electronic strip or similar, e.g smart chip

2.1.2 Location Where there are more than 10 extinguishers located in or on a property,

or where required by the regulatory authority, the type, size, rating (see Note), location andidentification of portable fire extinguishers in or on a property shall be recorded either on asite plan or other means clearly describing the extinguishers and the location

NOTE: Ratings for portable fire extinguishers in accordance with AS 1850 were not required beforeMarch 1980

2.1.3 Records A maintenance record system shall be provided by the property owner oroccupier to sequentially record the maintenance carried out on fire extinguishers It shallcontain the following:

(a) Type of extinguisher, i.e water or foam

(c) Record of the last level 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 service as applicable

(d) Any defects and remedial action

(e) A record of missing or misplaced extinguishers or any other applicable comments

A maintenance record system may take the form of —

(ii) a computer-based record system; or

(iii) other permanent record system that is capable of easy interpretation or generally haseasily interpreted reports and is to be cross-referenced against an individualextinguisher

The maintenance record shall be available for the property at all times Where a logbook isused, it shall be substantially bound, but not in loose leaf formats, and shall have numberedpages in triplicate The logbook shall include the signature of the owner or agent and theservice person, and have the required distribution of copies printed on each page, i.e.:

The use of maintenance record tags does not preclude the need for a separate maintenancerecord system

2.1.4 Reporting A report including any discrepancy in location, type, size, rating andidentification mark during servicing shall be provided to the owner of the equipment inwriting

7 AS 1851.1 — 1995

2.1.5 Personnel All maintenance work is required to be carried out by experiencedpersonnel in accordance with recognized safety procedures Persons with the necessarytraining and experience, with access to the requisite tools, equipment and information, andcapable of carrying out the inspection and maintenance procedures of this Standard, areconsidered to be experienced personnel Pressure testing or charging of any unit is to be doneonly in designed safety cages of a strength sufficient to contain all fragments given off bypossible vessel rupture or failure

NOTE: Maintenance of halon fire extinguishers should be carried out by specifically trained andregistered personnel

2.1.6 Waste products It should be noted that the waste products of the servicing of fireextinguishers, and particularly from discharge testing, will generally be the subject of Statelegislation dealing with the disposal of trade wastes Legislation controlling the transfer,handling, storage, sale and ownership of halons exist in most Australian States In disposing

of waste material, individuals or organizations servicing fire extinguishers should familiarizethemselves with the applicable legislation and ensure that this is complied with

2.2 INSPECTION AND SERVICE

2.2.1 Classification For maintenance record tag purposes, maintenance work involvinginspection and servicing shall be classified according to inspection and service intervals asfollows (see Clause 2.2.2):

(a) The Number ‘1’ shall denote 6-monthly intervals

(b) The Number ‘2’ shall denote yearly intervals

(c) The Number ‘3’ shall denote 3-yearly intervals

(d) The Number ‘4’ shall denote 6-yearly intervals

(e) The Number ‘5’ shall denote ‘after-use’ procedures

2.2.2 Periodicity of maintenance procedures The periodicity of the different intervals

of maintenance of extinguishers shall be as set out in the appropriate maintenance schedules

in Section 3 and referred to as Levels 1 to 5 For halon-type extinguishers only, the initialsix-yearly maintenance procedure may be extended to, but not exceed, 12 years Such anextension of maintenance procedures shall apply only to extinguishers that are installed inlocations which are not subject to environmental conditions which may result in extinguisherdeterioration Any extension of maintenance procedures beyond six years shall be by mutualagreement between the appropriate maintenance contractor and the extinguisher owner.Following the initial maintenance interval as given above, the normal intervals ofmaintenance shall apply

CAUTION: HALON FIRE EXTINGUISHER SHALL NOT BE DISCHARGED TOATMOSPHERE AND ONLY THOSE GRANTED ESSENTIAL USE STATUS MAY BEPRESSURE TESTED AND RETURNED TO SERVICE BY THE FOLLOWING METHOD:

(I) EMPTY THE EXTINGUISHER BY TRANSFERRING THE CONTENTS TO A HOLDINGCONTAINER

(II) PRESSURE TEST, SERVICE AND RECHARGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH TABLE 3.1.NOTE: The extended periodicity on halon extinguishers was granted to prevent unnecessarydischarge during maintenance leading to ozone depletion

Commencement of the maintenance schedules given in Section 3 shall be based on thepressure test at the time of manufacture of the extinguisher, or the month and year of the lastpressure test, whichever is the later If the date of manufacture or last pressure test isunknown, a six-yearly maintenance procedure shall be applied to the extinguisher Uponinstallation, a Level 1 inspection shall be carried out

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or emptied and subjected to a periodic pressure test of 1.5 times the working pressure 2 Mpa,the marked test pressure whichever is the greater, as described in Item 18 of Table 3.1.Extinguishers discharged during this period may be recharged without pressure-testing subject

to the six-yearly cycle being adhered to However, for extinguishers discharged after thefourth year of the six-year period, it is recommended that a pressure test be carried out toallow the extinguisher to begin a new six-year cycle

Where the maintenance status of an extinguisher cannot be reliably re-established, a yearly maintenance procedure shall be carried out on the extinguisher and recorded inaccordance with the appropriate requirements of this section

six-2.2.3 Additional maintenance procedures

2.2.3.1 Aggressive environment Unless protected from the effects of an aggressiveenvironment, extinguishers located in such environments shall be subject to a morecomprehensive maintenance schedule by conducting a six-yearly (Level 4) inspection everythree years as set out in Section 3 (see Table 3.1)

Aggressive service environments include the following or as defined by the regulatoryauthority:

(a) Exterior situations exposed to the sun, ultraviolet radiation, wind, rain, or salt spray

(d) Environments which subject the extinguisher to continuous or intense vibrations

2.2.3.2 Organic Lining Where any cylinder lining is found to be suspect as to itssoundness upon routine examination, it shall be subjected to a continuity test carried out inaccordance with AS 1841.1 and in any case at least every level-4 service

2.2.3.3 Water quality In some areas, the water supply, while fit for human consumption,may be unsatisfactory for prolonged contact under pressure with water-type fire extinguishercylinders (which are typically welded 304 stainless steel) In such areas, either speciallytreated cylinders shall be used, or a corrosion inhibitor should be added to each charge in theextinguisher Adelaide and Perth are examples of areas where this is likely, and extinguisherssold in these areas should be supplied with the appropriate treatment Detailed advice on whattreatment might be appropriate should be sought from extinguisher manufacturers

If in any doubt as to the water quality, an inhibitor should be added Failure to do sosometimes results in rapid deterioration of the extinguisher, leading to leakage or failure tooperate

The use of hard water, in places where water quality has proved to be a problem, or is likely

to be a problem, and salts that are deposited in extinguishers, the maximum periodicity ofmaintenance should be revised so that maintenance schedules occur at more frequentintervals

NOTE: The presence of salts in extinguishers can clog the pressure indicator filter, bind theactuation mechanism, inhibit the removal of the operating head or lead to the corrosion ofextinguisher components

2.2.4 After-use procedures Recharging after use shall be carried out in accordance withthe ‘after-use’ routine specified in the maintenance schedules For guidance, see AS 3676.NOTE: Recharging should be carried out immediately after use or partial use in order to maintainprotection and minimize potential corrosion damage

2.2.5 Exceptions Aerosol and non-rechargeable type fire extinguishers shall be required

to undergo all inspection routines except those requiring the removal of the operating head,depressurizing, inspection of contents or the interior of the extinguisher

An example of a maintenance record tag marked with six years if service levels is shown inFigure 2.1(b).

The classification number of the maintenance routine carried out shall be etched, embossed,

or stamped on the tag in the box corresponding to the year and month in which themaintenance routine was performed, with a figure not less than 3 mm high recessed orprojecting not less than 0.1 mm either side of the tag However, six-monthly maintenancemay be indicated either by an etched, embossed, or stamped figure ‘1’, or by a punched hole

in the tag

When a new maintenance record tag is provided, the final-year maintenance record and lasthydrostatic test date shall be transferred from the expired tag or service record to the new tag

by a hole punched in the pressure test column at the appropriate year

The tag shall be attached to the extinguisher so that the force necessary to detach the tag isnot less than 500 N

When ordering maintenance record tags, the year on the main body of the tag shall commencewith the previous year, capturing the record of the previous year’s service history Pressuretest history shall end at the year before the first year given on the main body of the tag

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