Sprinkler Systems – Revised Standard Published

Fire Sprinkler Systems In Sleeping Occupancies – Revised Standard Published

23 March 2010

Standards New Zealand has published the revised Standard Fire sprinkler systems for life safety in sleeping occupancies (up to 2000 square metres) NZS 4515:2009. Sprinkler systems that comply with NZS 4515 provide high levels of life and property protection, reduce risk to occupants, and minimise fire and smoke damage to property.

NZS 4515:2009 places a greater emphasis on the life-safety characteristics of sprinkler systems, versus their property protection characteristics. The Standard provides building owners, specifiers, users, manufacturers, suppliers, plumbers, installers, and maintenance persons with requirements to professionally design, install, and maintain a life-safety sprinkler system for a building used solely as a sleeping occupancy.

NZS 4515:2009 clarifies what is and what is not a sleeping occupancy, to differentiate between this Standard and the voluntary Standard NZS 4517:2002 Fire sprinkler systems for houses (currently under revision).

A sleeping occupancy includes care institutions, guest accommodation, apartment buildings, hospital wards, and supervised accommodation homes. A sleeping occupancy could also include self-care units in, for example, prisons or other institutions. The New Zealand Building Code Compliance Document for fire safety C/AS1 requires these types of buildings to be sprinkler protected and NZS 4515 is incorporated by reference in the Compliance Document (within the limitations specified in the Standard).

The revised NZS 4515 has been updated to:

• align with 4541:2007 Automatic fire sprinkler systems where appropriate
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• incorporate all formal interpretations relating to NZS 4515 since its last edition in 2003.

ENDS

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