Boris Kolchev: comments from a fire safety expert

In March of this year, at a seminar in Yekaterinburg dedicated to the design, installation and commissioning of fire protection and general exchange ventilation systems, Boris Kolchev, Deputy Head of the Department of Fire Resistance of Building Structures and Engineering Equipment of Buildings and Structures of the Federal State Budgetary Institution VNIIPO of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia, answered dozens of questions from the seminar participants. We asked the expert of the Federal State Budgetary Institution VNIIPO of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia to comment on the most relevant of them once again.

QUESTION 1
Are the floor corridors of a building communicating with a non-smoky stairwell subject to protection by an exhaust smoke ventilation system in accordance with the requirements of clause 7.1 of SP 7.13130.2013 and Part 3 of Article 85 of Federal Law No. 123-FZ dated July 22, 2008, provided that these corridors have window openings that ensure their natural ventilation in case of fire in accordance with clause 8.5 of SP 7.13130.2013?   

Boris Kolchev:
Yes. The corridors described in the question are subject to protection by supply and exhaust smoke ventilation systems, regardless of their length (length), equipped with window openings that ensure their natural ventilation in case of fire, etc. It should also be noted that the terms "natural ventilation in case of fire" and "exhaust smoke ventilation with natural motivation" given in SP 7.13130.2013 are not identical.

QUESTION 2
Can Gorenje doors certified in accordance with the GOST R 53307-2009 method, the lamellae of which are equipped with a bulging thermal sealing tape, installed in airlock airlocks with smoke-free stairwells of type H3 on the border with the floor corridors of the building, protected by exhaust smoke ventilation, be used to compensate for the volume of combustion products removed?

Boris Kolchev:
No. The doors described in the question cannot be used for smoke protection purposes of the building. The test mode specified in clause 8.1 of GOST R 53307-2009 limits the pressure drop on the sample to 8-12 Pa. When smoke ventilation is in operation, the normalized pressure drop on the door is in the range from 20 to 150 Pa (clause 7.16 of SP 7.13130.2013), which does not comply with the test regime according to GOST R 53307.

QUESTION 3
Can Gorenje products be removed by installing certified servos (rack and pinion, chain, etc.) on the transoms of the window openings of rooms and corridors? The operation of servos is provided in automatic from the APS and in remote modes from the buttons (UDP) installed at the evacuation exits, as well as from the remote control of the duty shift in the control room.  

Boris Kolchev:
No. Smoke hatches used as part of exhaust smoke ventilation systems with a natural impulse are products of full factory readiness. Servos used in such products are tested according to GOST R 53301-2013 as part of the products themselves (complete).

B. Kolchev's explanations on the regulatory and technical requirements for smoke protection systems for buildings, as well as new provisions in the current Codes of Rules, can be found in the presentation at the link.

Boris Kolchev has been working at the Federal State Budgetary Institution VNIIPO of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia since August 2001. He has been the head of the Sector since October 2009. Specializes in ensuring fire safety and fire resistance of equipment for engineering systems of buildings and structures for various purposes, mainly for general exchange, emergency and smoke ventilation systems.

He is engaged in the development of a regulatory legal and methodological framework for fire safety of buildings and structures. He is one of the authors of SP 7.13130, SP 60.13330, a number of GOST R (more than 10), which establish methods of fire testing of building engineering equipment (fans, fire valves, fire-resistant air ducts, fire doors, smoke screens, etc.).

He carried out a project on smoke protection of the Ostankino television and radio broadcasting complex, as well as a number of high-rise residential and administrative buildings in Moscow and other Russian cities.