At Koffel Associates, we are known for our extensive and progressive fire system designs, but we offer so much more, including fire commissioning services. While the engineering and design components of a fire system are important, fire commissioning is a vital factor in building and maintaining a superior system. What is fire commissioning? Fire commissioning...

By Erik Anderson, P.E., and Kristen Steranka During what phase does the first step in ensuring the smoke control system is properly inspected, tested, and maintained occur? The design phase. Simplicity should be the goal of the smoke control system design. When possible, a single system should control the various smoke control functions. The more complex the s...

By Mark Aaby, P.E. What is the purpose of NFPA 75, as defined by Section 1.2? “Is to provide the minimum requirements for the protection of IT equipment and IT equipment areas from damage by fire or its associated effects—namely, smoke, corrosion, heat, and water.” Users of the standard can expect the document to provide the minimum level of requirements to pr...