Portal Advertising

Aupt and aups decryption. Firefighting. Criteria for choosing an unattended installation

Fire safety at various facilities is ensured by the installation of special equipment that supports:

  • monitoring of temperature increase, the appearance of smoke, the presence of fires;
  • the inclusion of light and sound fire warning devices;
  • personnel evacuation management;
  • extinguishing a fire before the arrival of a team of firefighters.


Know where exits and push stations are located for your safe evacuation and to alert others. Know the sound of the fire alarm and the procedures established to ensure safe evacuation. Check out these helpful links provided by the Houston Fire Department for business information.

To obtain a replacement certificate or learn about inspection, call 754

Checklist of apartments. Find out what you need to get your objects ready for inspection. The Houston City Building Inspection Department issues a certificate of completion for each apartment building to be located in the office. If you recently conducted a life safety inspection and can show that you have been authorized by a regulation for two years to achieve compliance, this is enough to satisfy the requirement that you have a certificate of completion. Although you are within a two-year correction period that violates life safety, you still have to immediately correct the violation if it also violates the fire code.

The implementation of the latter function is assigned to automatic fire extinguishing installations (AUPT), which are connected to security and fire alarm systems, and when fire factors are detected at the facility using sensors, they provide elimination of burning foci using various. Thanks to the presence of such autonomous systems, it is possible at the initial stage to stop the spread of fire over a large area and simplify the work of firefighters.

Gas test over the past five years

Every five years, a pneumatic test of your natural gas system must be carried out by a licensed plumber. The proof that you had this test is an “affidavit confirmation” signed by the state plumbing inspector.

Over the years, the Houston fire code has required the owner or manager of the apartment to live in place. You do not need to publish your home phone number. The office phone number is ok. The fire department will prefer this number, which rolls to the answering machine after hours, so you can get into an emergency.

Application area

The AUPT system has wide practical application and can be installed at various sites. It can be:

  • production facilities;
  • office rooms;
  • shops, warehouses, storage bases;
  • archives and vaults;
  • repair shops;
  •   and data centers;
  • garages and parking lots.

The possibility of using AUPT at various sites is an indisputable confirmation of the high efficiency owned by the AUPT system, which is the best option for automatic fire extinguishing, which allows you to effectively deal with fires in the initial stages.

Gate Access - Fire Department Approval

If you controlled the access gate, a set of drawings approved by the fire department should be available on site. This basically means a permit for the storage of combustible waste. It should be current and placed in the office. You may also need special permission if you store large amounts of chlorine.

A city decree requires your business address to be sent so that used cars can find your property. The city decree requires that the catalog be placed near the main entrance to the premises. The directory should indicate the location of each device. A directory is not required if the identification number of each device is displayed from the street.

The main goals of the AUPT installation

An automatic fire extinguishing installation is a complex of various electronic and mechanical equipment that provides the ability to neutralize fire at various facilities both indoors and outdoors. AUPT complexes should ensure the effective implementation of the following tasks:

Each unit must be 18 inches from the main entrance door. Buildings with four or more units must have building numbers located at each end of the building and must indicate which units are in the building. Required numbers must be at least 4 inches.

Each apartment pool must be surrounded by a 48-inch-wide fence, with no openings larger than 4 inches and with self-closing, snap-on gates. Garbage containers cannot be located within 5 feet of a wall or a combustible wall and cannot be placed on streets, sidewalks or in public passage law. They cannot block emergency access to property or prevent access to fire protection devices.

  • autonomous fire extinguishing when it is detected at the facility;
  • effective removal of smoke from the premises;
  • elimination of the fire before it spreads over a large area;
  • elimination of fire until the risk of severe damage to equipment located at the facility;
  • neutralization of the fire before the time of causing great damage to material assets stored in the protected premises.

Types and types of AUPT

AUPT are automatic fire extinguishing systems that can use various extinguishing agents, providing the ability to extinguish fires of various classes. Automatic fire extinguishing installations are of the following types:

Trash on or around the building

You did not receive a ticket for small amounts of daily rubbish. Inspectors are looking for piles of garbage. Do not use barbecue grills within 10 feet of any building. Grills can be stored on balconies, but they cannot be used.

Incorrect ventilation of gas appliances

  All gas appliances must be properly ventilated outside to prevent the accumulation of carbon monoxide.

Trap trays should be cleaned frequently. Fire inspectors may need access to traps for trays in areas behind the dryers, which at some sites are protected by a lock owned by the laundry company. Talk with your laundry vendor before a fire inspector visits you to make sure you can provide the necessary access.

  • local, surface or volume fire extinguishing;
  • modular or modular design;
  • only with automatic or with automatic and additional duplicate manual start of the fire extinguishing system.

In addition, depending on the substance used to affect the source of fire, AUPT are divided into several categories. Fire extinguishing systems and their classification provides for the presence of gas, and.

Unsafe access to balconies or stairs

Impossibly large accumulation of garbage. Any garbage can exceed 40 gallons, usually it should be metal, with a tight-fitting lid. Make sure that the fire exits are not blocked. Residents who place large potted plants on the balcony next to their door can block the exit path for themselves or their neighbors. Similarly, storing bicycles and other items on exit routes is a violation. In addition, motorcycles and other gas cleaning machines must not be stored under the stairs.

Water installations

Systems of this type include the use of ordinary water or water with special additives as a substance for extinguishing a fire, which helps to quickly neutralize the fire. Depending on the design of the used sprinklers, such plants are divided into two types - and.


Illegal locking device at the exit doors

If you have burglar racks, one window in each room without an exit door should be falsified so that a person can get out if necessary. Inspectors mainly deal with locks that require a key to exit doors leading from common parts - for example, from a common entrance hall to the outside - although the Fire Code also prohibits locks that require a key to exit a separate unit.

For buildings with attics, openings for passage should have been provided when the property was built. The inspector will need a list that shows the location of each attic opening. The inspector will want to look in each attic to assess the state of attic stops.

Water extinguishing - sprinkler

Complexes of the first type are used to form a water curtain, as well as to spray water on vertical surfaces. in rooms with increased fire hazard, when it is necessary to provide simultaneous irrigation of the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe room. Given that water is completely safe for people, this kind of installation will be an effective solution as a firefighting system for a warehouse with the presence of personnel.

Provide or repair attic rainfall

This will be a big ticket item for some properties. Over the years, at many facilities, service personnel and external technicians have cut openings in these required compartments and not refilled them. The number and location of required traction stops has changed over the years, but traction stops that were required during initial construction should be there, and any perforations should be fixed.

Combustible storage in mechanical, electrical or boiler rooms

You cannot store combustible material in the attic. You also cannot store combustible material here. If you keep lawn mowers and gas cylinders in the boiler room, do not. They really talk about boiler rooms here, especially where the wall separates the boiler room from the occupied space.

For the effective operation of such a system, it must have a continuous supply of water, which is subsequently supplied to the sprinklers and sprayed over the protected area. The disadvantage of such systems is that they cannot be used at facilities where there are electrified installations and industrial equipment.

Foam extinguishing systems

With the help of these AUPTs, fire extinguishing can be carried out when burning liquid substances, fuels, oil products, which are located in tanks located inside or outside the premises. Used foam can be supplied from the source of foaming through special sprinklers or formed using special foam generators located in close proximity to the protected area.

This is a completely new requirement. Have you ever noticed these square blue reflectors in the middle of public streets? They mark the location of fire hydrants and help firefighters find them - especially at night. The Houston Fire Department now requires them on private streets and driveways. They should be located near the center line, to the fire hydrant. They are glued to the sidewalk with epoxy glue.

Horizontal or open wiring

Be sure to check the roof air conditioners, where this seems to be a common problem. Make sure all electrical boxes have lockable covers. Make sure that the electrical outlets near your pool have ground fault interrupters and that the electrical pool equipment is similarly protected.


The disadvantage of such devices is the difficulty of extinguishing the ignition of technological equipment, as well as the significant damage that can be caused to material values \u200b\u200bwhen exposed to active foam.

Gas installations

The principle of operation of the gas-type AUPT is that a fire extinguishing gas is launched into the controlled area through a special spray device, which is able to effectively fight fire throughout the entire room. Gas quickly fills the entire volume and allows it to penetrate into inaccessible places where other extinguishing substances may be ineffective.

State law clearly states that the owner must provide a working smoke detector for each unit at the beginning of the lease, but it is the responsibility of the resident to ensure his work after that. Fire inspectors do not care whose fault it is, they just want smoke detectors to be there and work. If you cannot show this in writing, they will be the responsibility of management.

If you have one, it should work correctly and be tested annually. The Houston Fire Code always required a fire extinguisher for every 75 feet of the way. However, the Fire Department has changed its mind on this demand. Find out more about the requirement.


According to their structural design, such systems can be of two types - modular or centralized. In the first case, the extinguishing agent is in a liquefied state in a small tank, which is located directly in the protected area. When the system is triggered, it is sprayed under high pressure into the environment, acting on the sources of ignition and neutralizing them. In centralized systems, gas is supplied from a common reservoir through a gas pipeline, the mains of which are laid throughout the protected facility.

If you have them, they should work and be free. Some newer buildings have fire sprinklers. If there are sprinklers in your buildings, the sprinkler system should work. You cannot store more than a small amount of gasoline, and it must be in an approved container. You need a no smoking sign where you keep your gas.

Chlorine should taste 4 inches off the floor, which is a good idea, as this makes leak detection difficult. You may not store more than 200 pounds of dry or 20 gallons of liquid chlorine without special permission. Your chemical pool storage area should be labeled as such.

A feature of this method of combating fire is that gas does not damage property located in the zone of its operation, and also requires the removal of the consequences of its use - just ventilate the room.

Powder systems

This type of automatic fire extinguishing installation involves the use of a special powder as a fire extinguishing agent. Its use allows you to effectively localize and neutralize fires that belong to class A, B and C, as well as in case of fire of electrified installations and equipment. This type of system can be used to localize and extinguish a fire in a limited volume or throughout the territory of a protected facility.

Do not allow anyone to store compressed gas cylinders or propane canisters at your facility without checking your local fire station to ensure that proper procedures are followed. In addition, if you store large helium tanks in your facility for balloons, should follow.

The Fire Inspection Checklist is a tool for residents and apartment managers to ensure room safety. Buildings are inspected for improper wiring. Fire extinguishers are checked to ensure that the tanks are full, and smoke checks are checked to ensure that the batteries are charged and that the equipment is working properly. Alternative exits should be clearly marked. A practical rescue plan will help you keep your head cool if a fire breaks out in your apartment.


A positive factor in the use of such systems is that the powder does not harm property and equipment, which gets into and is easily cleaned after the fire is extinguished.

Criteria for choosing an unattended installation

In order for the fire extinguishing system to be effective and not fail at the time of the fire, you need to choose the right type and equipment used to fight the fire.

Smoke detectors are the first line of fire protection in apartments. Although they can be annoying if you are tempted to cook with high heat, they will warn you of danger when you need it. Monthly testing is recommended to ensure that the device can give a loud warning. Batteries should be replaced at least once a year.

The management of the apartment should conduct annual inspections of the building both inside and outside your apartment to check for any dangers. Electrical wiring should be checked in the attics. Dryers for drying clothes should be checked for blockages and the accumulation of lint, which can cause fires during lightning strikes. The Houston City Building Inspection Department guidelines state that gas pipes must be inspected every five years by a licensed plumber to ensure reliable protection of the living space.

Note!

The first factor to pay attention to when choosing the appropriate system is the type of extinguishing agent used - it must fully meet the specifics of the protected object.

The autonomous fire extinguishing system used must provide the ability to extinguish the fire until the critical situation of fire resistance of the structure of the protected object is achieved.

So that the fire can be localized until it spreads over a large area and causes great damage to property stored at the facility.

The applied automatic systems should be safe both in relation to the personnel who may be at the facility, as well as to the equipment and material assets that are there.

Given the above requirements, we can distinguish the following factors that must be taken into account when choosing an automatic fire extinguishing system:

  1. fire fighting efficiency of a certain class, the appearance of which is most likely for a particular object;
  2. rate of neutralization of fires;
  3. safety for personnel, stored property and the environment;
  4. ease of installation of AUPT, maintenance and upkeep.

Conclusion

Thanks to a wide selection of different automatic fire extinguishing systems with different extinguishing agents, it is possible to form highly effective fire protection and control systems at various sites. Their use will allow you to quickly localize the fire, even before the arrival of firefighters, eliminating the danger of the spread of fire over a large area and causing great material damage. So that the system can effectively cope with the assigned task, it is important to correctly design the AUPT and correctly calculate the number and type of the necessary devices.

Modern construction practically does not involve solutions where an automatic fire alarm system would not be used as a security system.

The presence of a fire alarm system and the complexity of its implementation is regulated by normative document SP 5.13130-2009 “Automatic fire alarm and fire extinguishing installations”.

APS project is carried out in two stages. In the design documentation, structural diagrams of the fire alarm are carried out, while when the working draft is completed, it includes structural and circuit diagrams of the fire alarm, floor plans of the building with the arrangement of equipment, sensors and cable lines, equipment specifications and a cable magazine.

The design of an automatic fire alarm installation must comply with all modern requirements and standards in the field of fire protection, as well as include aspects such as maintainability and the possibility of modernization.

In practice, three types of fire alarm systems are used: threshold, address, and address-analog. The latter, however, is the most progressive and often used. The fact is that, in contrast to the threshold alarm, with a given threshold for operation at a certain temperature or addressable alarm, which also works with threshold detectors, but according to the addressing scheme, the address-analog APS is an intelligent fire alarm system. The fact is that in the address-analog signaling sensors detectors control various parameters and transmit them to the head unit, which analyzes the general condition and, depending on the program, can make certain decisions. This in turn allows you to most effectively prevent any fire or smoke.

The initial data for the implementation of the automatic fire alarm installation project are floor plans, architectural sections, technological plans, an explanatory note AR, an explanatory note TX, the section Fire safety measures, special specifications, sections on engineering systems - smoke removal, fire extinguishing, electric lighting, electricity , water supply, and other engineering sections.

To alert people about a fire in the building, a warning and evacuation control system is used. SOUE informs about the occurrence of a fire in the building, with the help of light panels indicates the evacuation routes and exits, serves to broadcast civil defense and emergency signals, as well as broadcast duty messages and announcements.

The design of the warning and evacuation control system is part of the design documentation, including the section of the planning and planning section (section 9 of the RF RF No. 87). SP 3.13130-2009 "Fire protection systems. Warning and evacuation systems for people in case of fire" determines the need for the installation of a fuel-and-energy system in a building. The SOUE working project contains structural and schematic diagrams, plans for the placement of equipment and cable lines, specifications, and a cable magazine. For the performance of RP, sections of AR, TX, EOM, PPM, STU, AUPS are required (if the systems of the SOUE and AUPS are separate, the SOUE is of the 3rd, 4th or 5th type).

The warning and evacuation management system for fires in buildings is classified into five types. SOUE of the first and second type are sound and light warning systems. Sirens and other similar signals are used as sound alerts, and the light alert includes “Exit” warning lights and may also include flashing warning lights, signs of the direction of movement during evacuation. The SOUE of the third type (the most common type of SOUE) instead of sound sirens for notification uses loudspeakers to transmit a text notification (the so-called voice notification method). The systems of the fourth and fifth types are also speech SOUE, but contain additional elements of warning and evacuation control. The most complex system of the fifth type includes: voice notification, sound sirens, flashing sirens, “Exit” sign, signs of the direction of movement during evacuation with changing semantic meaning, dividing the building into warning zones, communication between the control room and warning zones, control of all systems from the control room fire protection, and multivariate evacuation of people from different warning zones.

As already noted, according to the requirements for installing warning and evacuation control systems in buildings, the most common type of waste management system is of the third type (table 2, paragraph 7 of the Code of Rules SP 3.13130.2009). The first type (that is, the simplest system) is applied to objects of low number of floors, area, with the smallest possible stay at the object of people. The fifth type (that is, the most complex system) is equipped on the contrary with tall buildings with a large area, a large number of visitors, including low-mobility groups, for example: psychiatric hospitals, theaters and cinemas, museums, train stations.