AS1851 ("AS1851")

AS 1851 is an Australian Standard for the Routine Servicing of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment. It is not a law or regulation but rather a suite of prescriptive requirements comprising; inspections, tests and maintenance activities to ensure that the fire protection systems and equipment in a building are operating in accordance with the approved design.

The objective of this Standard is to maintain the reliability of fire protection systems and equipment such that they continue to meet the requirements of the approved design and are likely to do so until the next scheduled activity.

The Standard contains inspection, test, preventive maintenance and survey requirements to demonstrate that the fire systems and equipment installed in a building are achieving a standard of performance to which they were designed (the approved design).

The Standard may be applied to fire systems and equipment regardless of building age. The Standard may be applied to demonstrate the minimum performance standard required by the National Construction Code (NCC) BCA, Volume 1, for new buildings or it may also be applied to existing buildings constructed to an approved design prior to the current BCA edition of the NCC.

The Standard may also be used to develop specific routine service requirements for fire systems or equipment that are part of an alternative solution designed to satisfy the performance requirements of the NCC. Application of the Standard may also support health and safety acts and regulations.

This Standard also includes a requirement to annually test all aspects of system interconnection; for example, detection and alarm systems with atrium smoke exhaust plant, alarm systems with stairwell pressurization, automatic fire sprinkler systems with mechanical services fire mode operation and warning facilities.