Environmental Health and Safety

THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT TYLER

FIRE SYSTEM IMPAIRMENT PROCEDURES

PURPOSE

This document establishes the procedures to be followed when a fire system is required to be impaired at The University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler).

An impairment is any situation in which all or part of a fire system is turned off, or otherwise temporarily rendered inoperable.  Fire systems shall include automatic fire sprinklers, fire alarm and detection systems, under/above ground water supply mains, etc.

DISTRIBUTION

This procedure is distributed to the Office of Business Affairs, Environmental Health & Safety, Physical Plant Department, Police Department and all Contractors who will perform work that may impair the fire systems at UT Tyler.

COMPLIANCE AND RESPONSIBILITY

Any person, and his/her organization, who performs fire system installation, maintenance, testing, repair or other operation which requires impairment of a fire system shall be responsible for compliance with these procedures.

NOTIFICATION/COORDINATION/AUTHORIZATION

1.    The following individuals shall be notified immediately for all emergency impairments.

Director Environmental Health & Safety   566-7011

Director of Physical Plant    566-7431

Chief of Police              566-7060 

                                                                  

2.    The person or organization reporting or scheduling fire system impairment, hereafter referred to as the “requester”, is responsible for coordinating the impairment.  The requester is typically the Maintenance Supervisor or Construction Inspector on construction and renovation projects.  Fire system impairments shall be coordinated and scheduled by the requester to minimize life safety and property risks and inconveniences to the affected building occupants.

a.   Coordination of fire system impairments shall start approximately 5 working days prior to the anticipated impairment date.  A “Request for Fire System Shutdown” form (see attachment) shall be completed for all fire system impairment requests. Written notification of fire system impairments is required when substantial risk to life or property is involved, critical operations are affected, numerous occupants are affected or the impairment is for an extended period of time (in excess of 48 hours).  All coordination and scheduling of impairments shall be completed a minimum of 48 hours prior to the impairment, except for minor and emergency outages which are addressed below.

b.  Minor and emergency fire system impairments may be accomplished with less than 48 hours notice, provided that all notification and coordination is complete.  Fire system impairments considered to be minor in nature include fire system testing, maintenance and repairs which are of a short duration (24 hours or less), do not impact critical operations and do not include substantial risk for loss of life or property.

c.  The requester shall obtain authorization to impairment a fire system from the following individuals:

                        1)         Director of Physical Plant                                         566-7431

                        2)         Director, Environmental Health & Safety                    566-7011

d. The requester shall also notify, coordinate and schedule all fire system impairments with all building occupants who will be affected.

e.When a fire system is placed back in service, all personnel who were previously notified of the system impairment shall be notified that the fire system is back in service.  Responsibility for notifying occupants and other appropriate entities when the fire system is placed back in service shall rest with the requester.  This notification may be verbal.  Responsibility for this notification shall rest with the Construction Inspector on construction and renovation projects.

f.  When a fire system is inoperable for more than 4 hours in a 24-hour period, the Director, EH&S will contact the Chief of Police to engage the fire guard service.

SYSTEM IMPAIRMENT

1.  Immediately before the scheduled impairment of any fire system, the job foreman or supervisor shall notify the Director of Physical Plant, and Director, EH&S (or designee).

2.  When a fire sprinkler or standpipe system or any portion thereof is impairment for testing, maintenance, repair or other reason, the job foreman or supervisor working on the system shall fill out a Factory Mutual (FM) Red Tag Permit (impairment tag) with the Director, EH&S (or designee).  The Director, EH&S (or designee) will use Part 1 of the tag to notify the insurance carrier.  The Director, EH&S (or designee) will retain part 2 of the tag.  The job foreman or supervisor will attach Part 3 of the tag to the affected shut valve(s) at the point of work (or any other location required by applicable procedures) to indicate that the system is inoperative.  The job foreman or supervisor performing the work shall open the shut valve(s) and remove the impairment tags when the system is placed back in service.  He/she shall also fill-out the reopening information on the tag and return it to the Director, EH&S (or designee) for record keeping purposes.

3.   Whenever a fire alarm and detection system is shut down for testing, maintenance, repair, or any other reason, an impairment tag shall be filled out and Parts 1 and 2 will be handled following the same protocol as mentioned above.  The job foreman or supervisor shall attach Part 3 of the tag to the annunciator panel for that system and at any other location, as required by other applicable procedures, to indicate the inoperative status of the system.  The job foreman or supervisor performing the work shall reset the alarm system and remove the impairment tags when the system is placed back in service.  He/she shall also fill-out the reset information on the tag and return it to the Director, EH&S (or designee) for record keeping purposes.

4.  All work on a fire system shall, when possible, be continuous until the system is restored to operational status. All work on a fire system shall be completed as quickly as possible to minimize downtime. In the event of interruptions or lengthy delays in excess of 48 hours, the Director, EH&S (or designee) shall use discretion to exercise the powers and authority granted under applicable Fire Prevention Codes to alleviate a fire hazard.

5.  Upon completion of all fire system work, all affected components of the system shall be inspected and tested by the job foreman or supervisor and other applicable personnel.

6. All fire systems shall be mechanically secured when they are placed back in service (fire alarm system panels shall be locked, fire sprinkler system valves shall be locked open, etc.)

7. The Director, EH&S (or designee) shall determine the appropriate level of occupancy or activity that may take place in a building or area during fire system impairment.  Buildings requiring fire system impairment shall be evaluated by the Director, EH&S (or designee) to determine if any temporary fire protection measures need to be implemented during the impairment (e.g. fire guard service).  At the discretion of the Director, EH&S (or designee), any impairment of a fire system may be canceled if the required temporary fire protection measures have not been fully implemented, or the building may be ordered vacated if fire system impairment renders building unsafe for occupancy.

Any unauthorized fire system impairment shall be reported to the Director, EH&S (or designee) for immediate follow-up initiation of appropriate action.

The Director of Physical Plant will perform the activities mentioned above if the Director, EH&S (or designee) is unavailable.