LSS Life Safety Services understands the importance of finding a contractor that you can trust.  We also realize the difficulties in finding a contractor that is available to your facilities Nationwide, without compromising the quality of service performed.  By specializing solely on passive fire protection inspections, LSS Life Safety Services’ project managers and technicians are highly experienced in the processes and nuances involved in working in a variety of facilities, including hospitals, office buildings, research laboratories, and manufacturing plants.  Experience, knowledge, and professionalism are mandatory when dealing with the critical importance of NFPA’s Life Safety Code.  Take advantage of the superior quality LSS Life Safety Services can offer by joining our National Account Program.

There are multiple benefits to joining LSS Life Safety Services’ National Account program, the first being dedicated time management.  By joining the National Account Program, you will be assigned a dedicated account manager to address your facility or groups individual needs, concerns, or special requests.  Also, through our National Account Program you will receive standardized pricing and volume discounts for all of your passive fire protection needs.  LSS also offers Nation Account members customized invoicing by working with your team to determine the best record keeping and invoice practices in order to simplify your accounting procedures.

Other benefits of joining LSS Life Safety Services National Account Program include site-specific work requirements, meaning our team will work with yours to schedule an inspection time that works best.  Also, the National Account Program offers our customers uniformity.  You can enjoy peace of mind knowing that all standards are being met and your expectations are being exceeded.  The program also offers secure documentation and reporting through our custom software, LSS Site Surveyor.  Accessing reports from any facility are available electronically by using your own personalized company portal.  Finally, LSS will be become familiar with the policies and procedures necessary for working in your facilities, which will ultimately prove to be more cost effective and efficient for you.

With services performed in over 4,000 facilities nationwide, LSS Life Safety Services is the clear choice to keep your facility safe and in compliance.  For more information about our National Account Program, visit www.LifeSafetyServices.com, or contact the representative for your area 888.675.4519.

The Top 10 Fire and Smoke Damper Deficiencies:

1. Inoperable Actuator

2. No Power to Actuator

3. No Power Wired to Actuator

4. No Air to Actuator

5. No Airline to Actuator

6. Not Enough Air to Actuator

7. Screw in track

8. Linkage out of Alignment or Broken

9. Bound in tracks (racking)

10. Damper rusted

Click the link below for additional information.

Damper NFPA code

The recent Medicare cuts have many facility managers and property managers on edge about how tight the budgets will be to maintain their healthcare facilities.  Will the Facilities and Maintenance Departments take the first hit?

How can you keep your building safe when your budget has been cut?

One of our biggest initiatives in 2013 is to work closely with hospitals and nursing homes and help them create a true  maintenance plan for their passive protection systems – from dampers, to fire & smoke doors, to maintaining your fire walls through firestopping, this maintenance is require by state and local building codes and mandated by your AHJ (including the Joint Commission).  Unfortunately, the passive fire protection system is one of the most neglected systems in your building and likely the one in need of the most attention.

In the event of a fire, the safety of the building and of the occupants relies on the fire protection system, which consists of both active and passive fire protection.  An active fire protection system is designed to detect and suppress a fire by triggering smoke detectors, fire sprinklers and through the use of fire extinguishers.  The passive fire protection system is part of the building’s overall construction and is meant to work in tangent with the building’s active fire protection system.  This system works to slow the spread of fire and smoke through a building with use of fire and smoke barriers to compartmentalize and contain fire to a specific area. Through use of fire rated walls, ceilings and floors in combination with firestopping materials, fire and smoke dampers and fire and smoke doors , this system allows the fire to be contained so fire fighters can concentrate on a fire before it has the ability to spread to other areas of the building.  In essence, your facility is only fully protected from the risk of fire when these two systems are working together, if one is working and not the other, your facility is at risk.

As with any system that assures reliability, it is important that these systems are properly maintained to make sure they are working as intended. Many strides have been taken over the years by the NFPA and national building codes to require the inspection and maintenance of fire protection systems and in most instances, the active fire protection systems seem to be in relatively good shape.  Fire sprinklers and alarm systems are being properly maintained with accurate maintenance records and mandated regularly by Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ’s). What many people don’t realize is that by only maintaining the active fire protection side of the system and neglecting the passive fire protection system, you are, essentially, rendering the entire fire protection system of your building useless and making your facility extremely vulnerable to loss from fire.

We don’t want to see the maintenance of your passive fire protection put off (or forgotten about all together) in order to save money for other things in your facility. LSS has created a service plan made specifically for healthcare facilities that will allow you to spread your payments out and lock in 2013 prices over the next three years.  Please, take your passive fire protection system as seriously as we do.  Should a fire break out in your facility, your guests will be sure to thank you for it.

For more information about maintaining your passive fire protection system, visit  www.LifeSafetyServices.com or contact the representative for you area 888.675.4519.

The November/December 2012 Edition of the NFPA Journal focuses primarily on fire sprinklers and their role in keeping commercial and residential facilities safe from the threat of fire.  While I enjoyed learning a little more about NFPA 72 and the importance of fully-sprinkled buildings in the grand scheme of fire protection, I couldn’t help but think about all of the instances in which sprinklers DIDN’T work. Let me explain…

In our line of work we speak to a lot of facility managers and facility engineers in all different types of facilities.  A good majority of our time is spent educating facility professionals, particularly those in the non-healthcare arena.  The codes that require the inspections that we perform, fire damper inspections, fire door inspections and firestop, are not mandated outside of healthcare and quite frankly, most of the building professionals who manage these buildings are really not aware of the important role that dampers, doors and firestop play in the overall safety of their buildings.  You wouldn’t believe how many times we hear from facility managers, ” My sprinklers work. They’ll put out a fire.”

NFPA’s Fire Analysis & Research Division published a study in February 2010 titled, “U.S. Experience with Sprinklers & other Extinguisher Equipment”.  The study showed that up to 32% of sprinkler systems FAIL during fires. What I hope these facility professionals realize is that your passive fire protection (dampers, doors and fire rated barriers), works WITH your building’s sprinkler system to stop or slow the spread of fire and smoke.

Ask yourself these questions. If you answer “No” or “I don’t Know” to any of these questions, then we might need to talk.

1.  Do you know if your building’s passive fire protection system works?

2.  Do the fire and smoke dampers work?

3.  Are there any holes or problems in your fire walls?

4.  Do the fire and smoke doors work and meet all requirements of NFPA 80?

We have representatives situated throughout the country who can help you evaluate the state of your passive fire protection system.  The dampers, doors and fire walls are just as important as any other system in your facility. Find out more  by calling us at 888-675-4519.

California has adopted the 2009 Edition of the International Building Code and International Fire Code, which means fire & smoke damper inspections, fire door inspections and the fire-rated barrier maintenance is mandatory in your facility.  These building codes require that all commercial facilities follow NFPA 80 and NFPA 105, which are the codes that mandate passive fire protection systems.  Since passive fire systems can essentially be broken down into three main groups (Dampers, Doors and Barriers), here’s a quick run down of the codes and what you need to do to stay in compliance with them:

NFPA 80 – Fire Damper Inspection
19.4* Period Inspection and Testing
19.4.1 Each damper shall be tested and inspected 1 year after installation.
19.4.1 The test and inspection frequency shall then be every 4 years, except in hospitals, where the
frequency shall be every 6 years.
19.4.2 All tests shall be completed in a safe manner by personnel wearing personal protection equipment.
19.4.3 Full unobstructed access to the fire or combination fire/smoke damper shall be verified and corrected as required.
19.4.4 If the damper is equipped with a fusible link, the link shall be removed for testing to ensure full closure and lock‐inplace
if so equipped.
19.4.5 The operational test of the damper shall verify that there is no damper interference due to rusted, bent, misaligned,
or damaged frame or blades, or defective hinges or other moving parts.
19.4.6 The damper frame shall not be penetrated by any foreign objects that would affect fire damper operations.
19.4.7 The damper shall not be blocked from closure in any way.
19.4.8 The fusible link shall be reinstalled after testing in complete.
19.4.8.1 If the link is damaged or painted, it shall be replaced with a link of the same size, temperature, and load rating.
19.4.9 All inspections and testing shall be documented indicating the location of the fire damper or combination fire/
smoke damper, date of inspection, name of inspector, and deficiencies discovered.
19.4.9.1 The documentation shall have a space to indicate when and how the deficiencies were corrected.
19.4.10 All documentation shall be maintained and made available for review by the AHJ.
19.5 Maintenance
19.5.1 Reports of changed in airflow or noise from the duct system shall be investigated to verify that they are not related
to damper operation.
19.5.2*All exposed moving parts of the damper shall be dry lubricated as required by the manufacturer.
19.5.3. If the damper is inoperable, repairs shall begin without delay.
19.5.4 Following any repairs, the damper shall be tested for operation in accordance with Section 19.4
19.5.5. All maintenance shall be documented in accordance with 19.4.9 and 19.4.10

NFPA 105 – Smoke Damper Inspection

6.5 Periodic Inspection and Testing.
6.5.1 Smoke dampers for dedicated and non‐dedicated smoke control systems shall be inspected and tested in accordance
with NFPA 92A, Standard for Smoke‐Control Systems Utilizing Barriers and Pressure Differences.
6.5.2 Each damper shall be tested and inspected one year after installation. The test and inspection frequency shall
then be every 4 years, except in hospitals, where the frequency shall be every 6 years.
6.5.3 Care shall be exercised that all tests are completed in a safe manner wearing the appropriate personal protective
equipment.
6.5.4 Full unobstructed access to the damper shall be verified and corrected as required.

6.5.5 The damper shall be actuated and cycled as part of the associated smoke detector testing in
accordance with NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code. Where a fusible link is installed on a combination
fire/smoke damper, the fusible link shall be removed for testing the damper for the full
closure simulating a fire condition per the requirements and frequencies of 19.5.4 of NFPA 80, Standard for Fire
Doors and Other Opening Protectives.
6.5.6 The test shall be conducted with normal HVAC airflow.
6.5.7 The operation of the damper shall verify that there is no damper interference due to rust or bent, misaligned, or
damaged frame or blades, or defective hinges or other moving parts.
6.5.8 The damper frame shall not be penetrated by any foreign objects that would affect proper fire damper operations.
6.5.9 The damper shall be verified to not be blocked from closure in any way.
6.5.10 The fusible link shall be reinstalled after testing is complete. If the link is damaged or painted, it shall be replaced
with a link of the same size, temperature rating, and load rating.
6.5.11 All inspections and testing shall be documented indicating the location of the damper, date of inspection, name
of inspector, and deficiencies discovered. The documentation shall have a space to indicate when and how the
deficiencies were corrected.
6.5.12 All documentation shall be maintained by the property owner and available for review by the authority having
jurisdiction.
6.6 Maintenance
6.6.1 Any reports of abrupt changed in airflow or noise from the duct system shall be investigated to verify that it is
not related to damper operation.
6.6.2* All exposed moving parts of the damper shall be dry lubricated as required by the manufacturer.
6.6.3 If the damper is not operable, repairs shall begin as soon as possible.
6.6.4 Following any repairs, the damper shall be tested for proper operation in accordance with Section 6.5.
6.6.5 Smoke damper actuation shall be initiated at a time interval recommended by the actuator manufacturer.
6.6.6 All maintenance shall be documented and records shall be retained in accordance with 6.5.10 and 6.5.11.

NFPA 80 – Fire Door Inspection
5.2* Inspections.
5.2.1* Fire door assemblies shall be inspected and tested not less than annually, and a written record
of the inspection shall be signed and kept for inspection by the AHJ.
5.2.2* Performance‐Based Option.
5.2.2.1 As an alternate means of compliance with 5.2.1, subject to the AHJ, fire door assemblies shall be permitted to be
inspected, tested, and maintained under a written performance‐based program.
5.2.2.2 Goals established under a performance‐based programs shall provide assurance that the fire door assembly will
perform its intended function when exposed to fire conditions.
5.2.2.3 Technical justification for inspection, testing, and maintenance intervals shall be documented.
5.2.2.4 The performance‐based option shall include historical data acceptable to the AHJ.
5.2.3 Functional Testing.
5.2.3.1 Functional testing of fire door and window assemblies shall be performed by individuals with knowledge and understanding
of the operating components of the type of door being subject to testing.
5.2.3.2 Before testing, a visual inspection shall be performed to identify any damaged or missing parts that can create a
hazard during testing or affect operation or resetting.
5.2.4 Swinging Doors with Builders Hardware or Fire Door Hardware.
5.2.4.1 Fire door assemblies shall be visually inspected from both sides to assess the overall condition of door assembly.
5.2.4.2 As a minimum, the following items shall be verified:
1. No Open Holes or breaks exist in surfaces of either the door or frame.
2. Glazing, vision light frames & glazing beads are intact and securely fastened in place, if so equipped.
3. The door, frame, hinges, hardware, and noncombustible threshold are secured, aligned, and in working
order with no visible signs of damage.
4. No parts are missing or broken.
5. Door clearances at the door edge of the door frame, on the pull side of the door, do not exceed clearances
listed in 4.8.4 (the clearance under the bottom of the door shall be a maximum of 3/4″) and 6.3.1 (top &
edges 1/8″)
6. The self‐closing device is operational; that is, the active door completely closes when operated from the
full open position.
7. If a coordinator is installed, the inactive leaf closes before the active leaf.
8. Latching hardware operates and secure the door when it is in the closed position
9. Auxiliary hardware items that interfere or prohibit operation are not installed on the door or frame.
10. No field modifications to the door assembly have been performed that void the label.
Gasketing and edge seals, where required, are inspected to verify their presence and integrity.

5.2.5 Horizontally Sliding, Vertically Sliding, and Rolling Doors
5.2.5.1 Fire door assemblies shall be visually inspected from both sides to assess the overall condition
of door assembly
5.2.5.2 The following items shall be verified:

1. No open holes or breaks exist in surfaces of either the door or frame.
2. Slats, endlocks, bottom bar, guide assembly, curtain entry hood, and flame baffle are correctly in
stalled and intact.
3. Glazing, vision light frames, and glazing beads are intact and securely fastened in place, if so equipped.
4. Curtain, barrel and guides are aligned, level, plumb, and true.
5. Expansion clearance is maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s listing.
6. Drop release arms and weights are not blocked or wedged.
7. Mounting and assembly bolts are intact and secured.
8. Attachment to jambs are with bolts, expansion anchors, or as otherwise required by the listing.
9. Smoke detectors, if equipped, are installed and operational.
10. No parts are missing or broken.
11. Fusible links, if equipped, are in the location: chain/cable, s‐hooks, eyes, and so forth, are in good condition
(i.e. no kinked or pinched cable, no twisted or inflexible chain): and links are not painted or
coated with dust or grease.
12. Auxiliary hardware items that interfere or prohibit operation are not installed on the door or frame.
13. No field modifications to the door assembly have been performed that void the label.

Firestopping:

703.1 Maintenance. The required fire‐resistance rating of fire‐resistance‐rated construction (including walls, firestop, shaft
enclosures, partitions, smoke barriers, floors, fire‐resistive coatings and sprayed fire‐resistant materials applied to structural
members and fire‐resistant joint systems) shall be maintained. Such elements shall be visually inspected by
the owner annually and properly repaired, restored or replaced when damaged, altered, breached or penetrated. Where
concealed, such elements shall not be required to be visually inspected by the owner unless the concealed space is accessible
by the removal or movement of a panel, access door, ceiling tile or similar movable entry to the space. Openings made
therein for the passage of pipes, electrical conduit, wires, ducts, air transfer opening and holes made for any reason shall
be protect with approved methods capable of resisting the passage of smoke and fire.

If you need more information about the codes mandating the maintenance of your passive fire protection system, contact us and we will be happy to send you some information. Looking for a damper inspection company to service your facility in California or Hawaii?  You do know that we work nationwide, don’t you? In fact, we have built quite a resume of facilities that we have worked with across the West Coast. Looking for references? We have those, too.

Visit www.LifeSafetySevices.com or call us at 888-675-4519 for more information about our services in California and Hawaii.

Lately we have been hearing from quite a few people that there are other companies out there pretending to be us or affiliated with our company, LSS Life Safety Services.  While we will be the first to admit that imitation is the best form of flattery, it does hurt when companies that have less-than-stellar track records in the field are pretending to be part of our award-winning team and could potentially ruin our name.  There are companies on both the East and West Coast that we know are doing this, so beware! They are pretending to be us because they want to be us! If you receive a sales call from a company claiming to be from “Life Safety Services”, please be sure to ask a few questions before agreeing to talk to them about your damper inspections, door inspection and firestopping needs.

• Does the company work nationwide?
• Is their corporate office out of Louisville, Kentucky with offices in Las Vegas, Orlando, Boca Raton, Dallas and the United Kingdom?
• Do they perform damper inspections, door inspections and firestopping services in well over 300 facilities per year?
• Do they inspect over 100,000 dampers every year?
• Do they provide their technicians with the most comprehensive, top-notch training in the industry?
• Do they offer custom, web-based reporting?

If the company on the phone claiming to be “Life Safety Services” answers “NO” to any of these questions, you can be pretty confident that you have encountered an imposter.  If you want to work with the best partner in the business, contact the REAL LSS Life Safety Services.

As fire safety, facility and maintenance professionals, it’s amazing how much time we spend trying to decipher building codes. Their anything-but-direct language  can leave a person easily stumped.  We find ourselves looking for straight-forward codes – the ones that are in black and white that clearly say “you must do this” or ” you don’t have to do that”. Unfortunately, building codes just aren’t that easy.  In the end, despite how the reader might interpret their meaning, the interpretation and enforcement of building codes is ultimately up to your Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ).  We get a lot of calls about the requirements for fire damper inspections, fire door inspections and firestopping here at LSS. Luckily, the portion of the codes that require our damper inspection services are relatively straight forward. In regards to fire and smoke damper inspections the NFPA , International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC) state quite frankly [that]: 1.) fire and smoke dampers must be inspection either every four or six years 2) documentation must be kept, and  3) repairs must be made. Pretty straight forward, huh?

While reading through the Fire and Smoke Protection Features Chapter of the IBC, I also ran across another pretty straight-forward portion of the code for dampers that I want to remind you about.  Chapter 716.4 of the 2009 IBC states, :

“Access points shall be permanently identified on the exterior by a label having letters not less than 1/2 inch (12.7mm) in height reading: FIRE/SMOKE DAMPER, SMOKE DAMPER, or FIRE DAMPER.”

This is an important note to make about access doors.  The codes states that fire and smoke dampers shall be provided with an approved means of access (typically an access door).  If you are contracting with a company to perform these inspections for you, make sure to remind them that your state has adopted and is following the 2009 IBC so they can make sure to follow this requirement.

Here is a list of states that have adopted the 2009 IBC :

• Alabama
• California
• Colorado
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Montana
• Nebraska
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Dakota
• Utah
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin

Don’t forget! Just because your state isn’t on this list doesn’t mean your city isn’t following the code. Be sure to check with your local AHJ for requirements!

Through use of fire rated walls, ceilings and floors in combination with firestopping materials, fire and smoke dampers and fire and smoke doors , the passive fire protection system allows the fire to be contained so fire fighters can concentrate on a fire before it has the ability to spread to other areas of the building.  In essence, your facility is only fully protected from the risk of fire when these two systems are working together, if one is working and not the other, your facility is at risk.

A plethora of building codes, such as the 2006 and 2009 International Building Code, as well as the International Fire Code and NFPA, require the maintenance of fire-rated barriers and serve as a reminder that all openings made within these barriers for the passage of pipes, electrical conduit, wires, ducts, air transfer openings, and holes should be protected. Maintaining the integrity of a facility’s passive fire protection system made the Joint Commission’s most recent list of “Top Ten” frequently cited standards and occurred in more than 50% of the hospitals surveyed for accreditation. According to the list, The Joint Commission seems to be noticing more and more unsealed penetrations in fire rated walls and barriers. In many cases, barriers had been filled but with inappropriate firestop material.

Often times due to budget constraints, many facilities challenge themselves with maintaining fire rated barriers and choose to tackle applying firestop material in-house. This is proving to be an unfortunate mistake as some of the most common penetration deficiencies in hospitals range from improper installation of firestop material and the use of incorrect UL Systems for the barrier at task. Many maintenance engineers do not realize that choosing the correct firestop system is often a complex and difficult task and education and training is required to determine the correct certified UL system that brings a rated barrier back to its original rating once compromised. The inability to dedicate staff to education on firestopping and training limitations seem to be making an already troublesome problem in hospitals even bigger.

NFPA Statistics

I ran across some alarming statistics on the NFPA website this week and wanted to take a minute to share what I found.  NFPA states that between 2005 and 2009, there was an estimated average of 6.260 structural fires annually in educational properties. Statistics show that 85 civilian fire injuries and over $112 million in property damage occurred as a result of these fires.  These statistics have me thinking about all sorts of things:  maintenance budgets being cut as a result of fiscal boundaries, little to no resources (both human and financial) and most importantly, our children’s safety should a fire strike in their school.

LSS’ statistics show that approximately 22% of the fire dampers and smoke dampers fail as a result of a mechanical issue*.  If the dampers don’t work in a facility, what happens? The facility is vulnerable to fire.  Located in ductwork, mechanical rooms, wall chases and above drop ceilings, fire and smoke dampers are perhaps the most overlooked element of building’s passive fire protection system.  These dampers, often forgot about because they aren’t easily in our line of vision, sit waiting to operate and to stop the fire and smoke from spreading through the building’s HVAC system.  Unfortunately, with the exception of hospitals that have The Joint Commission mandating the inspection of dampers, many facilities do not inspect their dampers every four years as required by NFPA 80 and NFPA 105.  Furthermore, top damper manufacturers, increased testing should extend the life of the damper and lessen the need to replace the dampers thus saving money and making buildings safer at the same time.

Need more information about passive fire protection or fire and smoke damper inspections? Contact LSS Life Safety Services at 888.675.4519 or visit www.LifeSafetyServices.com

*Based on LSS’ inspection data.

I love when our technicians send me pictures from the field.  It seems like that past couple of weeks have been really “hot” for deficiencies out there.  We are finding all sorts of alarming trends – from pipes and pieces of metal holding dampers open to fire doors literally falling apart, the passive fire protection systems in the majority of the facilities we inspect, in general, could use a little maintenance. Check out some of these pictures from recent damper testing, fire door inspections and firestop surveys:

I’m sharing this last picture simply because it’s appalling that it was actually taken in a hospital.

Please feel free to make observations or leave comments. I’m curious as to what you have to say about these!

-LSS Life Safety Services