User Manual

Fire Safety

Building Technologies 049_Archives_and_Libraries_A6

V10271399_a_en.doc

Fire Safety & Security Products 03.2009

communicated, not even to employees and security guards, in order to test the

awareness of the people and the quality of the safety plan.

The cooperation between private security guards with the local fire brigade must be

developed; aspects like where they would meet in case of an alarm, how they

would interact, how must the building be evacuated and where are the most sensi-

tive items stored must be periodically exercised. Fire brigades must have a very

good knowledge about the building, rooms and valuable items stored, so that fast

intervention with minimum collateral damage can be assured.

The appropriated technology in place, customized to the specific needs of the ap-

plication is a basic requirement, but doesn’t assure complete fire safety. Deep

knowledge about the operation and response of the technology from everybody in-

volved in the fire safety plan is a key ingredient that must be assured.

Prevention can compensate for failures: One of the most frequent causes of fire in

archives and libraries are electrical failures. Air conditioning, lighting systems and

every other electrical installation can suffer damage that ultimately develops into a

fire. Technologies like Thermography and Ultrasound can help in the early detec-

tion of overloads and equipment malfunctioning, providing additional fire safety.

This aspect gains a particular relevance in old buildings, where infrastructure and

maintenance is in many cases not completely reliable.

Compartmentalization plays a key role in fire contention in archives. NFPA 232

recommends that each storage compartment for archives should not exceed a vol-

ume of 3.540 m

and for files a surface of 1.416m

(files are considered archives

for non-vital records). They should be designed to contain fire from spreading to

adjacent storage compartments. Fire barrier walls should be a minimum of 2-hour-

fire-resistive.

An additional fire safety measure is the protection against fire coming from the out-

side, exterior walls of archives facing adjacent buildings should be accordingly pro-

tected. Where openings in an exposed wall are necessary, provision should be

made to prevent the transmission of heat and flames.