Fire Acceptance Organization and Assessment Rules
Fire acceptance shall be organized by the construction unit, with the housing and urban-rural development authority participating in or entrusting a third-party technical service agency to conduct on-site assessment. According to Order No. 51 of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, fire acceptance is divided into fire acceptance of special construction projects (including hotels) and filing-and-random-inspection of fire acceptance for other construction projects. Special construction projects must undergo fire acceptance; the construction unit submits an application, and upon acceptance the housing and urban-rural development authority organizes on-site acceptance. The acceptance team comprises: staff of the housing and urban-rural development authority (no fewer than 2 persons), fire technical experts (no fewer than 3 persons, randomly selected from the expert pool), the person in charge of the construction unit, the project leader of the design unit, the project leader of the construction unit, the chief supervision engineer of the supervision unit, and the person in charge of the fire facility testing unit. The acceptance procedure is divided into: listening to reports (the construction/design/construction/supervision/testing units each report on the fire safety aspects of the project), document review (reviewing the fire design review opinion, fire product conformity certificates, concealed works acceptance records, fire facility testing reports, etc.), on-site sampling inspection (conducting on-site inspection per the sampling ratio and inspection methods specified in GA 836-2016), functional testing (conducting linked functional tests of fire facilities), comprehensive assessment (collective discussion and assessment by the acceptance team), and issuance of acceptance opinions (issuing an opinion letter if qualified, or a rectification notice if not qualified). Time limits: fire acceptance shall be completed within 15 working days from the date of accepting the application (including on-site inspection and document review); the time for re-inspection after rectification is not counted.
Quality inspection methods and standards for each professional system
Quality inspection of each professional system is the core content of on-site inspection for fire acceptance. Building fire protection inspection methods: fire compartment area—use a laser rangefinder or tape measure to measure actual dimensions and check against the design drawings (sample at least 2 boundary locations per fire compartment), with allowable deviation not exceeding 5% of the design value. Fire doors—check appearance (whether markings, seals, closers, coordinators, etc. are intact), closing test (fire doors should close automatically and the latch bolt should engage), fire rating verification (check the label to confirm Class A/B/C), and check the door opening direction (should open in the evacuation direction). Evacuation width—measure the clear width at the narrowest points of corridors and stairwells; corridor clear width shall not be less than 1.4 m, and evacuation door clear width shall not be less than 0.9 m. Fire water supply inspection methods: effective volume of fire water tank—measure the actual geometric dimensions of the tank (length * width * effective water depth) and calculate the effective volume to check against the design value. Fire pump test—start the pump to test flow, head, and current (use an ultrasonic flowmeter to measure flow, accuracy ±1%); flow and head deviations shall not exceed ±10% of the design values. Sprinkler system inspection methods: sprinkler installation quality—randomly sample no less than 20% of sprinklers to check the distance between the deflector and the ceiling (should be between 25-150 mm), sprinkler type, and sprinkler integrity. Alarm valve assembly test—open the end test device to discharge water (flow not less than 0.94 L/s), and test the water motor gong (should sound within 5-90 s, sound pressure level not less than 70 dB) and pressure switch actuation (should start the fire pump within 15 s). Fire alarm system inspection methods: detector function test—use a smoke generator box and a heat gun to test response functions respectively; response time shall not exceed 30 s. Smoke control and exhaust system inspection methods: air volume test—use a hot-bulb anemometer to measure air velocity at the outlet and calculate the actual air volume; deviation shall not exceed ±15% of the design value. Residual pressure test—use a digital micro-manometer to test the positive pressure values in stairwells and vestibules (25-30 Pa).
Key Item Veto Rules and Rectification and Re-inspection Process
The mandatory key-item veto system in fire acceptance evaluation rules is a high-voltage line in acceptance: failure of any single key item directly results in an overall acceptance failure. According to GA 836-2016, key items (Class A items) include: Building fire safety — building category and fire resistance rating not conforming to design requirements; fire compartment area exceeding the code-permitted value without equivalent alternative measures; form and number of evacuation staircases not conforming to code requirements; fire access roads and high-rise operation areas not meeting requirements. Fire water supply — insufficient effective capacity of fire water tanks; fire pump flow or head failing to meet design requirements and unable to operate normally; insufficienteffective water column at the most unfavorable point of the indoor hydrant system. Automatic extinguishing — Class I high-rise public buildings without automatic sprinkler systems; operating pressure at the most unfavorable sprinkler head below 0.05 MPa. Fire alarm — buildings without fire automatic alarm systems as required; fire alarm control panels unable to normally receive and display fire alarm signals. Smoke control and exhaust — Class I high-rise buildings without smoke-proof stairwells as required or failing to meet smoke-proof requirements; smoke exhaust systems unable to start normally or exhaust volume failing to meet design requirements. Fire electrical — Class I high-rise buildings whose fire power supply does not adopt dual independent power sources with automatic end switching; fire elevator installation not conforming to code requirements. Rectification and re-inspection process: After receiving the rectification notice, the construction unit shall, within the specified period (usually 30 days), organize the formulation of rectification plans item by item and implement rectification accordingly. Upon completion, the fire facility testing unit shall re-test and issue a test report; the construction unit shall submit the rectification report and re-inspection application to the housing and construction authority, which shall organize re-inspection within 15 working days. The re-inspection focuses on verifying the rectification of items that failed the previous acceptance. If re-inspection passes, a acceptance compliance opinion is issued; if not, another rectification cycle begins (maximum 3 rectification opportunities).
Requirements for acceptance testing instruments, equipment and data records
On-site testing for fire acceptance requires dedicated testing instruments and equipment. The list of commonly used testing instruments and equipment and their usage requirements is as follows: Digital illuminance meter — used to measure fire emergency lighting illuminance, range 0-20000 lx, accuracy ±3% (Class II or above); during use, it should be placed at the floor height where personnel stand (0.75 m above floor), and readings recorded after stabilization. Sound level meter — used to measure sound pressure level of audible and visual alarm devices and water motor gong sound pressure level, range 30-130 dB(A), accuracy ±1.5 dB (Class II or above); during use, measure at 1 m from the sound source, and background noise should be at least 10 dB below the measured sound pressure level. Hot-bulb anemometer — used to measure air velocity at smoke exhaust outlets/supply outlets, range 0-30 m/s, accuracy ±3% (Class I); during measurement, the probe should be perpendicular to the outlet cross-section, and measurements taken 3 times at the outlet center with the average recorded. Digital micro-manometer — used to measure residual pressure in smoke-proof stairwells and lobbies, range 0-200 Pa, accuracy ±1 Pa; during measurement, connect the pressure tap and instrument with silicone tubing. Multimeter — used to measure fire power supply voltage, detector circuit voltage, etc., accuracy not lower than Class 0.5. Infrared thermometer — used to measure fire pump bearing temperature, distribution cabinet busbar temperature, etc., range -20-500°C, accuracy ±2°C. Laser distance meter — used to measure fire compartment area, evacuation distance, pipe length, etc., range 0-100 m, accuracy ±2 mm. Hydrant water test device — used to test hydranteffective water column length, composed of a nozzle (diameter 19 mm), pressure gauge and flow meter. Data recording requirements: All test data shall be truthfully recorded in the Fire Facility On-Site Inspection Record Form, including inspection time, inspection location, inspection item, design requirement value, measured value, deviation rate, judgment conclusion and inspector signature. The record form shall adopt a unified format; data modifications shall bear the modifier's signature (no erasure; double-line strike-through shall be used). Testing instruments shall be within their valid verification/calibration period; zero point and range calibration shall be performed and recorded before use.