System Interface Testing & Reporting
System Interface Testing
AS1851-2012 Section 1.12. ESM frequency: Annual
Sometimes referred to as a Full Function Fire Test, System Interface Testing confirms that all of a building's active essential services, including fire systems, HVAC, the Emergency Warning and Intercommunication System (EWIS), generators, and ventilation, respond correctly and in the right sequence when an alarm condition is triggered. Under AS1851-2012 Section 1.12, this test is required annually as part of a site's Essential Safety Measure maintenance obligations.
How Can Stokes Safety Help?
Why System Interface Testing is becoming more common
Requests for Stokes Safety to coordinate or witness a System Interface Test have become increasingly common, largely because Smoke Management Systems and their components are often poorly understood, and responsibility for testing different aspects of the system varies significantly between specialist suppliers and between states. This confusion often only becomes apparent during the first test, at which point the value of an independent party coordinating the process becomes clear. The problem is often compounded by a lack of baseline documentation, such as a Fire Matrix, that clearly sets out how each system is meant to respond.
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How Stokes Safety can help
Where a site doesn't have a Fire Matrix or similar baseline document, we draw on our extensive knowledge and experience to work out an appropriate testing methodology from what is available. Where some detail or description of the system's intended operation does exist, we can build a site-specific Cause & Effect Chart, a centralised document that pulls together every active essential services item, including FIRE, HVAC, EWIS, generators, and ventilation, and clearly shows how each system is meant to respond to an alarm condition in every zone of the building.
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Our process
We start by gathering whatever existing documentation is available for a site's essential services and interfaces, then either build or validate a Cause & Effect Chart against it. From there, we coordinate or witness the actual System Interface Test, checking that each system responds as expected and documenting any discrepancies between intended and actual performance.
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Outcomes for our clients
Sites that engage Stokes Safety for System Interface Testing end up with a clear, centralised Cause & Effect Chart they can rely on for future testing and maintenance, a documented, independently coordinated annual test that satisfies AS1851-2012 Section 1.12, and confidence that their essential services will actually work together correctly in a real emergency, not just individually.
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Get started
If your site is due for its annual System Interface Test, or you don't have a Fire Matrix or Cause & Effect Chart to test against, contact Stokes Safety to discuss how we can help coordinate the process.