iCO Products has announced that its concealed low pressure water mist nozzle has successfully completed independent fire testing to BS EN 14972 Part 17.
The achievement follows the company’s earlier development of a high pressure nozzle tested to the same standard, which replaces the residential fire testing requirements previously covered by BS 8458:2015.
Residential water mist protection
BS EN 14972 Part 17 establishes fire testing requirements for automatic water mist systems protecting residential occupancies.
The standard operates alongside BS EN 14972 Part 1, which covers system design, installation, inspection and maintenance.
iCO Products said its newly tested nozzle can support water mist installations in care homes, houses in multiple occupation, hostels and student accommodation.
Systems incorporating the nozzle may provide an alternative to conventional sprinklers in appropriate residential applications up to 45 metres in building height, subject to correct design and installation.
Reducing fire suppression water requirements
Low pressure water mist systems use lower water flow rates than conventional sprinkler systems.
According to iCO Products, this can reduce stored water requirements by up to 50%, potentially allowing smaller storage tanks and pumps.
The reduced space requirements could benefit residential developments and refurbishment projects where plant room capacity is limited.
Independent fire testing completed
Testing was undertaken at Baltic Fire Laboratory, an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited facility with specific accreditation for BS EN 14972 Part 17.
The concealed nozzle successfully completed Tests A to E at installation heights of 2.5 metres and 3.5 metres.
These tests assessed fire suppression performance under the residential fire scenarios defined by the standard. The maximum tested nozzle installation height is 3.5 metres.
iCO Products said the results provide supporting evidence for specification and approval when systems are designed and installed in accordance with BS EN 14972 Part 1 and the manufacturer’s design, installation, operation and maintenance instructions.
Greg Farmer, Business Development and Partnerships Manager at iCO Products, said: “Protecting people from fire where they live is at the heart of everything we do.
“We wanted to make sure our new concealed low-pressure nozzle had robust, independent evidence of its performance before we brought it to market, so successfully completing the BS EN 14972-17 testing is a really important milestone for us.
“It means installers, specifiers and approvers have that evidence from day one, giving them greater confidence in the product and helping to make conversations around specification and approval much more straightforward.”
