FIRE RESCUE NSW RESEARCH PROJECT FOR SPRINKLERS IN BUILDINGS UNDER 25 METRES IN HEIGHT

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1 FIRE RESCUE NSW RESEARCH PROJECT FOR SPRINKLERS IN BUILDINGS UNDER 25 METRES IN HEIGHT John Clampett & Morgan Cook (Churchill Fellow 2012) Consultant & Team Leader Fire Research John Clampett Consulting & Fire & Rescue NSW

2 BACKGROUND West Terrace Bankstown Fire Fire at Unit 53, Tower B, 4 West Terrace Bankstown, New South Wales 6th September 2012 a fire broke out in unit 53 of Tower B, 4 West Terrace Bankstown NSW, a high rise apartment block. As a result of this fire, Connie Zhang, a 21 year-old university student, died when she fell several storeys from the window ledge of her Bankstown apartment after she became trapped by a fire. Her friend, Ginger Jiang, who had been trapped in the apartment with Connie by the fire, also fell but miraculously survived her terrible injuries. The Apartment Block was under 25 metres in height and did not have sprinklers. The Coroner, HCB Dillon commented to protect life and property, is there a way that new Class 2 & 3 buildings could be constructed with a properly functional sprinkler systems installed at a lower cost or cost neutral position. As a result of this the Coroner made the following recommendation at the inquest:

3 BACKGROUND Coroner s Recommendation To the Minister for Planning (NSW) and the General Manager of the Australian Building Codes Board ( ABCB ) That the Department of Planning (NSW) and the ABCB conduct research (jointly or individually), in consultation with Fire & Rescue NSW and the Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council, into the off-setting of costs associated with installing fit-for-purpose sprinkler systems in new Class 2 and 3 buildings through the possible reform of other fire safety requirements. That the ABCB consider amending the National Construction Code to require the installation of fit-for-purpose sprinkler systems in all new Class 2 and 3 buildings (buildings of a shared residential nature) in conjunction with the possible reform of other fire safety requirements to ensure this significant improvement in public safety is achieved in the most cost-effective manner.

4 PROJECT TEAM Name Greg Buckley Greg Wild Mark Burgess Rob Llewellyn Ray Loveridge John Clampett Morgan Cook Mark Cummings Mathew Wright Alex Webb Alan Wilson Jeremy Fewtrell Bill Lea Gary Kwok Mark Porter Brett Roddy Jamie Vistnes David Wood Role (Former) Assistant Director Fire Safety FRNSW (Current) Assistant Director Fire Safety FRNSW Director Infrastructure Technologies CSIRO AFAC ABCB JCC Consulting Chief Research Officer and Visiting Fellow FRNSW Eclipse Fire Fire Protection Association Australia CSIRO Alan Wilson Insurance Manager Fire Investigation and Research FRNSW Fire Protection Association Australia Tyco Fire Protection Products Senior Policy Officer FRNSW Team Leader Fire Testing CSIRO Manager Fire Safety Policy FRNSW Liquid Hydraulics

5 PROJECT TEAM ROLE To oversee and make recommendations in relation to sprinkler options and design, BCA offsets, testing program, insurance market, etc.

6 SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT Only general description. 1. Option based upon supply from a hydrant system The proposed sprinkler system will connect directly to a fire hydrant system otherwise installed in accordance with the requirements of Clause E1.3 of the NCC and AS Cost competitive with a AS design No reduction in currently prescribed hydrant capacity utilises the design allowances of current sprinkler availability under AS (e.g. 6m spacing) Developed by Mark Cummings of Eclipse Fire Pty Ltd 2. Option based upon supply from domestic/potable water supply Combined system design with the domestic supply (Loop) 50mm copper riser to the floor then 32mm in a material such as AusPex Pipe (Cross-linked Polyethylene) Concealed pendant 15mm sprinkler heads with a k factor of 7.1 Requires 50L/min per head, with two heads operating simultaneously, plus an additional 12L/min for possible simultaneous demand In this instance calculated the requirement for a pump capable of delivering about 250 kpa at the apartment meter no different than that needed for the domestic requirements Developed by Bill Lea Fire System Design

7 AREAS OF CONSIDERATION Cost must be as low as possible ideally cost neutral Installation costs important Adhering to sprinkler head data sheets Water supply availability and reliability Possible BCA off sets Literature review by CSIRO of other similar international research undertaken System reliability and effectiveness Limited availability on number of tests

8 INSURANCE OFFSETS Alan Wilson Insurance Brokers have undertaken a preliminary survey of the institutional insurers and found that significant discounts would be on offer for sprinklers in buildings under 25 metres. Would the fitting of approved sprinkler systems have an impact on insurance premiums for new massively constructed accommodation Class 2 & Class 3 buildings? The buildings would be a maximum of 9 stories or under 25meters high. Final specified discounts cannot be determined until after the results of the research program. Any discount will needed to be taken into account of offsetting the sprinkler costs.

9 INTERIM RESULTS Scenarios were designed to stress test the sprinkler design options: Shielded fires High fire loads Sprinkler heads at maximum distances. Sprinkler systems at minimum pressures. Interim Results: Sprinkler design options performed better than expected in controlling the fire and preventing fire spread. Tenability conditions in relation to both temperatures and toxicity were significantly reduced. No temperatures were near flashover level. Significant improvement in tenability conditions for attending fire fighters. Significantly improved conditions for occupants to escape or to take refuge in a bedroom.

10 CONCLUSION It is an experimental program!! May be a successful program maybe not. Any outcome must be at least be equal to or provide better safety than the current BCA requirements. We have undertaken 8 of the scheduled 14 tests. Results for both systems are encouraging! But always wait before all the test are done!!!

11 TEST RIG Fire Investigation & Research Unit (FIRU) Design Build Transport Assemble

12 LAYOUT

13 DESIGN Parameters Realistic size Practical Fit for purpose Transportable Easy to assemble

14 DESIGN Part 4 Part 6 X Gas sampling point Stylised furniture X Fire Location X

15 TRANSPORT

16 ASSEMBLY

17 ASSEMBLY

18 ASSEMBLY

19 INSTRUMENTATION DX4000 FTIR Gas Analyzer DT85 Series 4 Data Logger

20 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Senior Firefighter David O Brien Research Officer Fire & Rescue NSW Kim Thai Research Officer Fire & Rescue NSW Pheo Doung Research Assistant Fire & Rescue NSW Staff from the Fire Investigation & Research Unit Fire & Rescue NSW