firas Australia is a
certification scheme for installers of fire protection products and systems.
Concern about the quality of fire protection installation resulted in the
development of the scheme, which now covers a number of product areas.
As
well as certifying products, the basic premise of the scheme is to train the
operators and supervisors in those aspects of installation critical to the
performance of the product or system in a fire. FIRAS Australia accredits the
installer/contractor company.
Key
features of certification are the use of trained employees, the use of a quality
management system and site inspection of installation work.
CERTIFIRE
Australia is the only third party product
certification authority set up exclusively for passive fire protection products
and systems and installers of passive fire protection products and systems.
It offers the manufacturer the means to independently demonstrate the quality
and fire performance of their products against agreed technical schedules.
Through the use of quality management systems and audit procedures, the
manufacturer can demonstrate that the products leaving the factory are as fit
for purpose as those submitted for test.
Why
CERTIFIRE?
Companies entering the scheme are assessed against the specific
CERTIFIRE schedule requirements for the type of systems they are manufacturing
or supplying. The schedules are based on Australian Standards, where available,
and quality assurance is assessed to AS/NZS/ISO9000 standards or Certifire QA
requirements. Company personnel are evaluated in terms of
CERTIFIRE
competency criteria that will be referenced to industry competency and
training schemes.
The aim is to provide an effective certification scheme that does not duplicate
effort or unnecessarily add to the costs of companies being certified. The
objective is to permit companies to maintain the relationship with their
preferred test laboratory, QA provider and training body.
Manufacturing premises and building sites are visited together with scrutiny of
company operating procedures and record keeping. All firms are required to have
a quality system with a quality manual and documented procedures to ensure
traceability of materials.
Detailed certificates are prepared for products/systems identifying the
information required by specifiers and authorities, the field of application
based on test data and opinions from registered testing authorities and any
specific installation requirements. These are compiled in a consistent manner
and published on the CERTIFIRE website.
Each company entering the CERTIFIRE
scheme is provided with a display certificate identifying the systems
they are qualified to manufacture or supply under the
CERTIFIRE Scheme.
The CERTIFIRE website,
www.certifire.com.au, contains copies of the schedules documenting fully the
requirements of the CERTIFIRE
scheme together with copies of all current certificates. Regular updates of
the website are provided to ensure users are kept up-to-date with any changes to
the scheme or certified systems.
Only when evaluated in this way, including non-regulated performance aspects
from the product standard and when combined with additional quality system
components such as audit testing can end users, specifiers and enforcement
authorities be assured that they will have the fire protection they expect and
pay for.
