December 15, 2025 in News
Walker Fire Protection wins Refurbishment Award at the ...
The National Fire Industry Association of Australia (NIFA) brought the Victorian Fire protection community together on the 27 November to celebrate th...
November 6, 2024
Modern fire protection systems are now often integrated into other building systems and require a comprehensive testing approach to assure they will operate in line with the building’s fire safety strategy when required.
In the past, fire protection systems in buildings were relatively straightforward and generally operated independently of other systems. Over the last 20 years, due in part to the introduction of performance-based design (e.g. fire engineering), these systems have become increasingly integrated with other building systems, in particular mechanical services (e.g. smoke
hazard management).
Alteration to the National Construction Code (NCC), Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) smoke hazard management system usually results in more complex systems that have a higher susceptibility to failure.
Often these systems are poorly documented or if adequately documented by the designer, the documentation is not retained.
There is currently no regulatory requirement for an integrated fire mode matrix to be provided at project handover stage. As such these systems are frequently not well understood by the building operations team.
Importantly, the failure or mis-operation of a highly integrated system can have the potential to escalate the impact on the fire safety strategy. For instance, an air conditioning system operating incorrectly in fire mode could create large pressure differences that impede the ability for occupants to evacuate, or limit smoke management.
The 2018 ‘Building Confidence’ Report* observed: “Most Commercial buildings include complex fire safety systems that require maintenance and testing to ensure that they will operate as intended in the event of a fire. Many key stakeholders believe that the standard of maintenance of fire safety systems post-occupancy is poor.”
Furthermore, the report stated, “It is widely reported that the standard of documentation supporting performance solutions is poor. There is a lack of basic information on matters such as the relevant performance requirements and the assessment methods applied.”
Integrated systems can be challenging, and time consuming to test and maintain to the level required to provide a high degree of surety of operation and adequately discharge duty of care obligations.
In responding to these circumstances, installation and maintenance standards have had an increasing focus on integrated fire mode testing.
It is important to understand the extent of testing required by these standards and the level of integrated systems surety it provides:
- Testing of individual fire systems confirms the operation within the system but provides only limited confirmation of system interfaces that form part of the holistic fire safety strategy.
- Typical interface tests in line with the requirements of Australian Standard AS 1851 Maintenance of Fire Protection Systems, confirms interfaces between a detection zone and a ventilation system zone or sub system level. This may not confirm the successful operation of all items of equipment (e.g. door operations) under alarm conditions or multiple alarm zones within a building zone.
Complex integrated systems need a clear framework for testing from project handover stage in order to avoid costly remedial work in future building operation.
Integrated Fire Mode Testing (IFMT) is a comprehensive approach to the testing of integrated systems and involves the operational testing of the functional interfaces between systems in fire mode.
Undertaken in conjunction with, or in addition to, individual system commissioning and testing IFMT will confirm that the integrated systems operate together as intended. A key aspect when considering IFMT is determining the extent of testing needed to achieve the required level of operational surety. Ideally each input device in the integrated system would be initiated and the operation of each output or response would be confirmed.
But regularly conducting such detailed testing would result in impractical timeframes and significant unaffordable costs. Alternatively, simple testing that verifies minimal high-level interfaces may not be adequate to address duty of care concerns.
The appropriate level of testing to suit the installed systems and operational requirements must be determined for a particular facility. This may include testing a number of detection Alarm Zones and confirming operation of individual items of Equipment.
The key to a successful IFMT approach is a well-documented interface cause and effect matrix; usually called an Integrated Fire Mode Matrix. This should be included within the Building’s Fire Safety System Manual.
This is particularly important in buildings with performance-based design (e.g. fire engineering) solutions where non-typical interfaces are present that are not in line with Australian Standards. If a complete and accurate Fire Mode Matrix is not available this should be developed retrospectively by a qualified and experienced fire services professional.
This Fire Mode Matrix assists in addressing the buildings prescribed essential safety measures by defining the basis of the testing regime, the appropriate scope and extent of testing, and how correct operation is to be verified.
The Fire Mode Matrix also provides insights into coordination between relevant trades. In addition, a detailed test plan should be documented to assure the operation of integrated fire systems are in line with the approved design.
Finally, an Independent Witness by a qualified professional at a building’s fire mode commissioning as a technical representative for building management can be advantageous to ensure that the building is correctly commissioned in line with the design documentation and Australian Standards to try and minimise future rectification works that may arise after Defects Liability
Period (DLP).
For further guidance about Integrated Fire Mode Testing,
please contact:
Marcus Royle
Leader – Fire
A.G. Coombs Advisory
+61 433 149 885
mroyle@agcoombs.com.au