🔥 Free Monthly Webinars (30 minutes): Check out the schedule! Extremely Popular (Don't miss out) 🔥Learn More

AS1851:2012 - Standards Development

Australian Standard AS1851:2012 sets out the requirements for the routine service procedures for fire protection systems and fire equipment. The criteria adopted for revising this Standard from the prevision edition (AS1851:2005) include reliability, integrity, functionality and performance of fire protection systems and equipment.

CEO, Firewize
01 Aug, 2018

The revised inspection, test, preventive maintenance and survey regimes in this edition of the Standard address the functional aspects of installed fire protection systems and equipment on a periodic basis, with the objective that systems and equipment operate effectively at all times.

The objective of this Standard

The objective of this Standard is to maintain the reliability of fire protection systems and equipment such that they continue to meet the requirements of the approved design and are likely to do so until the next scheduled activity.

Standards Development

The Australian Standard AS1851 has been developed collaboratively through a committee called ''FP-001 - Maintenance of Fire Protection Equipment'' that is chaired by an independent chairperson. The committee represents building owners, fire authorities, government, insurance industry, unions and various industry associations.

There also exists a series of working-groups that work on sections of the overall standard. These working-groups discuss, deliberate and debate the intention, content and wording of each section.

Maintenance Process

AS1851 provides for a four-stage approach comprising an ''inspection, test, preventive maintenance and survey'', coupled with records to be kept and reports to be made and culminating in the issue of a final condition report.

Stage Description
1 Stage 1 is a set of requirements included in the systems and equipment sections (Sections 2 to 19) which appear in schedules, referenced by clauses in this Standard. The preventive maintenance activities do not have pass/fail criteria because these activities are not required to satisfy an action.
2 Stage 2 covers the records that are required to be kept for each functional activity and the information to be recorded.
3 Stage 3 covers reporting and rectification. Where failures have been identified, they shall be reported to the owner or agent for rectification. Where the system or equipment is operational, an activity report shall be issued. This report may contain outstanding rectification work to be addressed, which will appear at the commencement of the next scheduled maintenance routine unless rectification has occurred.
4 Stage 4 is the result of all activities having been completed; the annual condition report can then be issued. The condition report may also contain acknowledgment of missed tests or outstanding rectification work and if, as a result of this, the fire protection system is no longer operational, then a failed condition report will result.