Drop-in or suspended ceilings are one of the most popular and efficient interior treatments in a wide range of new and remodeled structures, including hospitals, hotels, auditoriums, office buildings, retail centers, schools, and many others. These ceilings provide a consistent and neat appearance, sound absorption, hide a multitude of utilities, and provide a plenum space for HVAC air flow.
While they offer many benefits, suspended ceilings represent a significant installation challenge for fire sprinkler installers. Fire sprinklers must be installed in the ceiling panels which is labor intensive. Individual holes must be cut through these panels for pipe and sprinkler heads to extend below or mount flush. Suspended ceilings are also prone to settling or shifting that can move them out of position relative to fixed sprinkler pipes (fig 1). This can be especially problematic in active seismic zones.
During the last 20 years, flexible sprinkler hose has been growing in use in both wet and dry fire protection systems. Typically, these factory assembled systems come pressure tested, complete with the appropriate fire sprinkler installed. They are most commonly used to make the final connection from the rigid water supply pipe to the final location in a suspended ceiling (fig 2).
According to manufacturers, flexible fire sprinkler hoses are up to 10x faster to install than traditional threaded pipe, provide flexible positioning options, can accommodate ceiling movement, provide seismic protection, and are remodeling friendly. In most cases, the higher initial cost of flexible sprinkler systems (vs. threaded pipe) can be offset by reduced labor and overall faster project completion times (fig 3).
CE marked flexible sprinkler hose now available
Until early this year, there were no CE-marked flexible sprinkler hose systems available in the European Union (EU). That's because until recently, there were no harmonized European Norm (hEN) standards or European Assessment Documents (EADs) that covered this important category of fire protection products.
Yet, individual EU countries have increasingly begun to require that fire protection products and systems be either CE-marked or they must obtain certification by a local notified body. In many cases, there are no qualified EU notified bodies for sprinkler components within these countries, which has led to project delays in some cases.
To help alleviate this situation, FM Approvals, through its original EU Notified Body in Maidenhead, England, and its post-Brexit EU Notified Body based in Dublin, Ireland, has worked for years to champion the adoption by the European Organization for Technical Assessment (EOTA) of EAD 100012-00-1106, Flexible Sprinkler Hose With End Fittings.
The new EAD, known as a harmonized technical specification under the EU Construction Products Regulation (CPR), is based in large part on Approval Standard 1637, Flexible Sprinkler Hose with Threaded End Fittings. This was possible because the Dublin-based FM Approvals Europe Ltd (NB #2809) is one of 40 members of EOTA, a group of Technical Assessment Bodies (TABs) tasked with overseeing the European Technical Assessment (ETA) of construction products to ensure consistent performance information throughout the EU.
The European Technical Assessment for flexible sprinkler hose systems was requested by Easton, Pennsylvania-based Victaulic Company, a leading producer of mechanical pipe joining solutions and fire protection systems. A long-time customer of FM Approvals, Victaulic has hundreds of models of FM Approved flexible sprinkler hose systems marketed under the VicFlex™ product line.
The ETA was prepared by FM Approvals Europe based on the new EAD for flexible sprinkler hose. The ETA is the basis for the Declaration of Performance (DoP) issued by Victaulic, which is also a requirement for CE marking.
EU sprinkler coalition supports alternate path
Victaulic is a member of the European Fire Sprinkler Network (EFSN), a small but influential non-profit coalition of manufacturers, contractors, AHJs, insurers, other associations, and consultants. According to ESFN's executive director, Alan Brinson, the organization members have long-noted that the flow of new harmonized European Norm (hEN) standards covering fire protection products had virtually ceased many years ago.
"Forty years ago, before we had the EU, every European country had its own national standards or requirements for fire protection products," Brinson notes. "The intent of the EU and CE marking was to help lower trade barriers by providing a common way to show that a product meets applicable EU requirements. Unfortunately, if there are no harmonized standards or EADs for many fire protection products, we cannot CE mark our products. This opens the door for local or national governments to impose their own requirements or regulations, which is exactly what started to happen."
In one recent case, Spain required national certification for ESFR sprinklers that were required for a new facility in that country. No CE-marked ESFR sprinklers were on the market because no hEN standards or EADs had been developed. In addition, no Spanish labs were qualified to issue their own certifications for ESFR sprinklers. The project was held up until the Spanish government compromised by allowing FM Approved ESFR sprinklers to be used in the project.
The EFSN membership decided in 2018 that it would choose a representative fire protection product and follow the alternative path to CE marking provided within the Construction Products Regulation—that of an EAD through the EOTA process (fig 4). Flexible sprinkler hose products were selected by the EFSN members as a pilot project because they represented a somewhat uncomplicated and widely used product.
"We went through a process where we educated our membership in the EOTA process and its pros and cons," Brinson notes. "The CE mark is important, but is not a quality mark like the FM diamond. For one of our members, Victaulic, this was an important product category and they decided to invest the time and money to do it."
He adds, "They chose to go with FM Approvals for the EAD and European Technical Assessment since they already had many FM Approved products and FM was experienced with EAD development."
Victaulic leads the way
The EOTA process requires a manufacturer to make a formal request of an EU notified body to carry out the European Technical Assessment (ETA) required for CE marking. "My department manages hundreds of product testing and certification programs each year through laboratories and notified bodies around the world," notes Len Swantek, director of regulatory compliance for Victaulic. "In most cases, we have a well-established set of performance requirements to follow; however, for flexible sprinkler hose, there were no harmonized standards by which these products could be evaluated, and as such, the only option available was to use the EOTA process. We chose FM Approvals because of our strong partnership with the organization and their overall experience with the EOTA process and familiarity with Victaulic’s extensive flexible sprinkler hose product line.”
According to Andrew Was, FM Approvals assistant vice president and EMEA auditing and quality manager, prior experience in developing EADs for flood barriers, seismic sway bracing and ESFR sprinklers helped smooth the way for the new effort.
"New harmonized standards are developed through a committee process," Was explains. "That approach can be challenging when consensus cannot be achieved and the timeline for the development of new standards can be considerable, often running into years. The development of an EAD through the EOTA process provides manufacturers with an alternative approach, something that European Fire Sprinkler Network members were quick to recognize."
The flexible sprinkler hose European Assessment Document—the basis for FM Approvals' European Technical Assessment covering Victaulic's products—was accepted by EOTA in April 2020, but did not become official until it was cited in the Official Journal of the EU last fall.
New EAD impact on others
Under the EU's Construction Products Regulation (CPR), any construction product, material or system that becomes a permanent part of any structure must be CE marked in accordance with any existing harmonized European Norm (hEN) standards. The CPR was introduced in 2013 as a more legally binding replacement for the original Construction Products Directive.
In cases where a product is not covered by an existing hEN—there are many—it may still be CE marked voluntarily via an alternative process called the European Technical Assessment (ETA). The ETA request must be made by the manufacturer to a qualified Technical Assessment Body (TAB), such as FM Approvals Europe. Now that a European Assessment Document (EAD) has been established for flexible sprinkler hose systems, other manufacturers may apply for ETAs against the same EAD, which is now a harmonized technical specification.
At Johnson Controls Fire Suppression, based in Cranston, Rhode Island, USA, vice president of engineering, Prashant "PK" Kulkarni, has worked for many years with FM Approvals to obtain and maintain certification for hundreds of fire protection products.
He notes, "The benefit of working with an organization like FM Approvals is to help us achieve a harmonized standard or technical specification for the EU so we are not having to seek separate certification in every EU country. When FM Approvals is able to essentially use one of its own standards as the basis for a new EAD, like it has done with flexible sprinkler hose, that helps all of us who already have FM Approved products in the same class."
At Viking's EMEA headquarters in Luxembourg, EMEA product manager Chris Gill also has a keen interest in the newly available EAD for flexible sprinkler hose products. "We have hundreds of individual models of flexible sprinkler hose systems and by far the biggest market for these is for commercial suspended ceilings." Gill notes. "The requests for and specification of CE-marked products has really increased in the last five years. We have begun to see certain individual EU countries writing their own regulations in which they require CE marking or a national certification."
Viking EMEA is an active member of the European Fire Sprinkler Network and encouraged the pilot project that led to the new EAD for flexible sprinkler hose products. Gill adds: "The only harmonized standards for fire protection products fall under the EN 12259 series in 1999, and really no new fully harmonized standards have been accepted since then. There's a backlog of standards that are needed. The only path open is through the EAD process and that's what we're pursuing with the help of FM Approvals. An EAD for ESFR sprinklers is awaiting citation in the official EU journal. That will allow CE marking of those products. We now have one for flexible hoses and are working on the next set of products as we see the demand for CE increasing and FM Approvals is perfectly positioned to help us. They have done a great job taking their own standards though the EAD process to streamline this effort without compromising product safety and quality."
EU market awaits
Analysts such as Euroconstruct, project European construction will grow this year by 3.4% and 3.7% in the residential and non-residential markets, respectively. The number of new building permits for non-residential construction is expected to double in the coming years. An increase in renovation is also taking place thanks to the European Commission's "Renovation Wave" effort, which aims to renovate up to 35 million buildings.
Most agree that the need for and preference for CE marked fire protection products will continue to grow throughout the European and the European Economic Area (fig 5) with a 2020 estimated GDP of approximately $20 trillion.
"We were happy to partner with FM Approvals to make this happen," notes Victaulic's Len Swantek. "As the first manufacturer to provide a CE marked flexible sprinkler hose system—the VicFlex line—for the EU market, we provide that extra level of assurance for our customers. They recognize the CE mark means our systems conform to applicable harmonized EU standards for product safety, which in this case is the new EAD. CE marking also streamlines projects within the EU that may be subject to local/regional oversight or other national requirements."