NFPA Journal columnist discusses new inspection, testing, and maintenance study

Over the past year, four different NFPA technical committees asked the Fire Protection Research Foundation to conduct studies that would enhance the technical basis of the inspection, testing, and maintenance requirements in their documents, according to Foundation Executive Director Kathleen Almand. She notes in her column "Peak Performance" in the latest issue of NFPA Journal that, although the issues are different for each document, "the fundamentals of a risk/reliability-based approach to determining desirable ITM frequency are the same." As a result, the Foundation has undertaken a project with California Polytechnic State University to develop guidance that NFPA technical committees can use to determine the optimal frequency for inspecting, testing, and maintaining of a given fire protection system or equipment. For more about the study, you can read Kathleen's column online or on page 28 of the November/December issue of NFPA Journal.