In June, FM Approvals' three Regional Advisory Councils – Asia-Pacific, EMEA and the Americas—met in Vienna for the biennial combined FM Approvals Advisory Council meeting. The three-day meeting featured presentations and breakout discussion sessions.
Attendees got an insider's view of how FM Approvals has expanded global demand for FM Approved products and helped lower barriers to market entry for manufacturers.
“We have followed a clear strategy to increase the demand for FM Approved products around the world,” said Witali Engelhardt, operations vice president and manager new business for EMEA, who presented on the first day. “There are three key mechanisms that have proven effective for us in reaching our goals—Education, Knowledge-Sharing, and Market Presence.”
He cited several examples of how FM Approvals has been a part of education efforts in global markets, noting that knowledge-sharing is key to improving loss prevention practices. "Our representatives have spent many years serving on standards development committees and providing seminars around the world," noted Engelhardt. "Our goal is to achieve close alignment between FM Approvals standards with the certification requirements worldwide. In this way, we help to minimize additional testing."
Engelhardt highlighted the work FM Approvals has undertaken to help the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) working group on water mist systems (WG 10) to build a suite of standards covering this technology. Six of the 17 water mist standards provided by CEN (prEN 14972) are based on FM Approvals Standard 5560, Water Mist Systems.
FM Approvals by way of two Notified Bodies (NB) in the European Union (EU)—(NB # 1725 and #2809)—based in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, respectively, also provides a means for manufacturers to achieve the required CE marking in the EU.
Both NBs are also Technical Assessment Bodies (TAB) under the European Organization for Technical Approvals (EOTA) and are qualified to issue European Technical Assessments (ETAs) for applicable construction products required for CE marking when there are no applicable harmonized European Norm (hEN) standards or European Assessment Documents (EADs). (Fig. 1)
Engelhardt provided several examples where FM Approvals assisted manufacturers—using the EOTA process—to achieve certifications required for CE marking, for products including ESFR sprinklers, flood mitigation systems, and seismic sway bracing.
He also touched on other examples of how FM Approvals has worked on standards development committees, consulting with AHJs, advising companies and organizations whenever possible.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Civil Defense organization has incorporated FM Approvals Standards in its local codes and accepts most FM Approvals' standards for product certification. The impact of this is being felt in the construction of many venues and infrastructure projects that specify FM Approved products, including those for the 2022 FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar.
In China, FM Approvals has worked for years to provide guidance and standards frameworks for improved fire protection, better building products, and enhanced semiconductor industry loss prevention. In Mexico, and Central and South America, FM Approvals has played an important role through participation in many standard-setting associations and seminar presentations.
According to Engelhardt, FM Approved products are available in approximately 100 countries. He also points out that that registrations to access the Approval Guide have increased to nearly 140,000 since the online version was introduced in 2008 and are now evenly split between North American registrants and those from other regions. (Fig. 2)
These developments, and others, have led to a steady increase in the availability of FM Approved products around the world. The capability to purchase products across various regions in the world results in the local sourced property loss prevention solutions to a greater number of end users.