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Owners and operators of parking garages must guarantee the safety of users through proper maintenance, adequate supervision and effective lighting. Moreover, according to the Bbl, they have a legal duty of care for fire safety, by limiting fire hazards, guaranteeing safe escape routes and ensuring adequate fire alarm and alarm systems and extinguishing facilities. In addition, according to the Bbl and NEN 2443, they are responsible for good air quality and control of harmful substances such as CO, NOx and particulate matter. Kingspan Light + Air supports this with a proactive and integrated approach to fire alarm and evacuation alarm systems, CO/LPG detection, ventilation and smoke control systems. From advice and realization to maintenance and inspection, in which all themes of the RAMSHEC system (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, Safety, Health, Environment and Cost) are expressly addressed.
“RAMSHEC has great interfaces with TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and LCC (LifeCycleCosts),” begins Stan Veldpaus, Project Advisor Smoke Control Systems at Kingspan Light + Air. “Especially with fire safety systems, it is crucial that they perform optimally to ensure the safety of people. Not just today, but throughout the entire installation life. For this reason, when selecting our systems, we pay explicit attention to themes such as reliability, availability, maintainability, safety, health, environment and cost. For example, is it better to install one ‘large’ 30 kW fan that provides the required air flow? Or rather three ‘small’ fans of 7.5 kW each? Are the fans still accessible for maintenance and/or replacement after completion? And how easy can any defective components be exchanged? But also: how can the safety of visitors, managers and our maintenance staff be guaranteed? Where should the work switches be located? And is it wise to stock any replacement parts? As a result, the initial investment may be slightly higher, but it will certainly pay for itself during the total service life.”
“It is very important that owners and managers of parking garages know what their obligations and responsibilities are,” Veldpaus believes. “For example, a signed maintenance agreement should already be available during the first inspection of a fire safety system. Moreover, fire extinguishers, escape routes and SHEV ventilation system all need to be maintained and inspected periodically.” Kingspan Light + Air supports this by staying involved from the initial consultation through maintenance and inspection. “We still see (too) often that fire safety and ventilation installations are ‘forgotten’ after their completion,” says Frenk van Aggelen, Director of Sales at Kingspan Light + Air. “We like to change this by offering a maintenance quotation as standard with our (certified) handovers. This contains extensive information about what needs to be done after delivery to keep the installation reliable, sustainable and in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. At the request of our customers, we can take care of the maintenance, management tasks and the necessary inspections, working together with specialized partners. Predictive maintenance within multi-year maintenance plans (MJOPs) is also among the possibilities. In addition, customers benefit from our 24/7/365 breakdown service, ensuring that all legal requirements are met in this area as well.”
“In 75 to 80 percent of the projects we have delivered in recent years, we have remained involved for maintenance,” Van Aggelen says. “In addition, we are involved in several projects as a subcontractor, checking, cleaning and balancing the installations according to a fixed step-by-step plan. We check whether the project is still in line with the assumptions made at the time and whether all the logbooks are complete, after which we carry out all the maintenance work required in accordance with current legislation and regulations as well as supplier instructions, and complete the maintenance reports. If the conclusion is yes, then the installation is ready for certification by an independent accredited body. If a no-conclusion follows, we discuss the reason and associated follow-up actions directly with the client, so that a high-quality and safe situation can be restored as quickly as possible.”
“Besides quality and safety, periodic maintenance is essential to ensure the reliability and energy efficiency of installations,” Veldpaus emphasizes. “For example, ventilation systems in parking garages are expected to run 24/7, so they are subject to contamination, aging and wear and tear. If they are not maintained (properly), the systems will start running increasingly heavy, consume more power and eventually even break down, with all its consequences. On the advice of the safety region, a municipality recently closed a parking garage because a number of fire fans were faulty. As a result, safety could no longer be guaranteed. Residents now have to park their cars in the congested streets around their apartment complex - which also has paid parking. Periodic maintenance could have prevented this. In a personal conversation we would be happy to tell you more about it.”
