Service companies protection systems

In the context of fire protection system design, approved or listed equipment for fire service is generally understood to mean acceptable to the authority having jurisdiction (AHJ). The AHJ includes organizations or individuals that are responsible for accepting equipment, materials, an installation, or a procedure. In other words, the AHJ could be a fire marshal, insurance company, owner, or some other organization. 

The company or facility should make use of the services of an engineer knowledgeable and trained in fire protection. Ideally, a registered fire protection engineer should be available to review fire protection designs. Fire safety, loss prevention, or process safety engineers should assist in the analysis of hazards, selection of protection system specifications, approval of the system, and acceptance testing. 

Many facilities outsource all or part of the design, installation, and testing and maintenance functions to engineering and fire protection service companies. These companies perform a variety of services including design of fixed systems, flow test of water systems, operational test of equipment, maintenance and repair systems, and design and installation of new systems. 

It is important that the outside service company meet the facility pre-qualification criteria. As part of the selection process, it must be determined if the service company is knowledgeable and experienced in the types of fire protection systems they will be designing, installing, or maintaining. 

The Fire Protection Focal Point may utilize a service company to conduct periodic inspections, flow testing, repairs, and maintenance of the systems. 

This section deals with the qualifications of personnel who manage the fire protection equipment and systems and conduct the inspections, testing, and maintenance. This includes qualifying service companies and qualification of service company employees. 

Before any fire protection service company is selected to perform inspecting, testing, and maintenance on fire protection systems at the facility, they should be qualified. The service company qualifications may include ... 

The importance of the qualification process of technical systems in the pharmaceutical industry has been steadily increasing over the last 10 years. It has been driven primarily by the requirements of regulatory bodies and not by the need to save money in this part of the industry. If the industry made use of the full scope of the GMP requirements, the qualification process would be more efficient and the cost of qualification would drop. On the other hand, pharmaceutical companies want to protect themselves from a less than perfect result during a regulatory inspection and therefore demand 120% effort from their suppliers and service companies. New methods and tools must be implemented to reach the goal of qualifying a technical system while minimizing effort. 

Contracts with reliable and responsive service companies for maintaining facility support equipment (i.e., HVAC systems, electrical systems) are vital for efficient laboratory operations. Many modern systems are computer driven and so complex that only a specialist can repair them. When laboratory integrity is threatened, e.g., by flooding from a burst pipe or power failure, only fast response by a maintenance service company can protect against expensive losses and prolonged down time. 

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