News

Regularly we hear of fires in commercial laundry's, usually in a hospital or nursing home. Commonly the laundry is protected by a Type B heat detector however there are simple steps we can take to reduce or eliminate the causes of fire in these areas.

Just in the last month alone, Google News reported there were 423 hits on laundry related fires....

I have just received the email below that was distributed by the Australian Institute of Building Surveyors regarding new requirements from South East Water for all new construction projects from March 1, 2008.

Practice Note 2007-61 almost slipped passed my desk without me picking up this little nugget. According to the Victorian Building Commission Practice Note 2007-61 issued November 2007, building owners may have a common law obligation to adopt AS1851-2005. Here is a full extract of the relevant clause;

Well its out today, the first public draft of Amendment No. 2 of Australian Standard AS1851-2005.

This draft is 18 pages long and includes many changes that people involved in the Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment should consider carefully.

The summary of the draft reads as follows;

It is with great excitement that I announce Maintenance Essentials in partnership with Fire Safety Consulting and SKIP Consulting have been selected by the Building Commission of Victoria to prepare a report that determines whether people involved in the maintenance of Essential Safety Measures (ESM) in Victoria should be a Registered Building Practitioner (RBP).

The National Fire Protection Association of America (NFPA) publishes a free monthly newsletter providing detailed information on NFPA codes and standards activities. NFPA News typically includes special announcements, notification of proposal and comment-closing dates, requests for comments on NFPA documents, publication of Formal Interpretations (FIs), Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs), errata, and notice of the availability of Standards Council agendas and minutes.

On November 28, the Building and Plumbing Industry Commission issued a Media Release (below) that The Building and Plumbing Industry Commissions, water authorities and fire protection industry are taking action to reduce the large volume of water used for testing fire sprinkler systems.

Maintenance Essentials continues to take a lead role in the efficient use of water use in fire protection by supporting South East Water, The Building Commission and customers to carry out a pilot program and implement water saving initiatives which may be used industry wide.

I stumbled across an interesting November 2007 article from the USA that discusses building design from an ongoing maintenance perspective.

Written by authors Stephen Schrag, Karen Smith, and Brett Stollenwerk, the article seeks to consider the various stakeholders involved in the design and construction of community facilities (such as architects, engineers, maintenance professionals, and occupants) to better understand each other's perspectives and to achieve an improved project outcome. There is no intent to pinpoint specific building deficiencies, but to illustrate - in general terms - past deficiencies and to encourage thought as to how these and other deficiencies can be reduced.

Recently I was nominated in the 2007 election for Fire Protection Association of Australia board election.

In accepting the nomination, I am required to provide a short (150 word) candidate statement. I have included a copy of the statement below...

Now begins the process of getting member support for the election....