The Standards Australia committee, FP-009, Fire Hydrant Installations, has recently published a revision AS 2419.1:2021, Fire hydrant installations, Part 1: System design, installation and commissioning. 

The updated scope of AS 2419.1:2021 now limits the use of the standard to buildings having an effective height of not more than 135 m and Class 7 and Class 8 buildings having a total volume of not more than 108,000 m³.  The limitations in the scope also prevent the direct application of the standard to any building that includes an automated storage and retrieval system.

The revision has been restructured to improve readability and also includes many of the commonly applied performance solutions to the requirements of AS 2419.1:2005 which is referenced in the National Construction Code (NCC).

The next edition of the NCC will be released in September 2022. Revised standards, like AS 2419.1:2021, are not automatically adopted into the NCC. Documents are adopted when they have been referenced by the NCC and the new 2022 version of the NCC is adopted.

Setting the above limitations recognises that some buildings of significant height or volume and their associated risks are better considered on a case-by-case basis in consultation with fire safety and hydraulic engineers and fire authorities. This approach is consistent with the NCC and the Australian Building Codes Board which recognise that buildings are becoming increasingly more complex[1].

The inclusion of all commonly applied performance solutions to the requirements of AS2419.1:2005 aims to minimise the costs and red tape currently associated with the development and application of these performance solutions.

In summary, AS2419.1:2021 seeks to standardise fire hydrant system designs for buildings within scope and promote the development of performance solutions outside of scope.

The recently published standard is: AS 2419.1:2021, Fire hydrant installations, Part 1: System design, installation and commissioning