Blower Door - NFPA Enclosure Integrity Testing

NFPA Enclosure Integrity Testing

NFPA enclosure integrity testing is a specialized type of testing that typically measures the tightness of rooms within buildings (though testing entire buildings require testing on occasion) that are protected by clean agent fire suppression systems. These types of enclosures are typically server rooms containing large amounts of computer and electronic hardware.

NFPA standards for equipment calibration are more rigorous than other types of testing, but any modern blower door equipment is sufficiently accurate to perform NFPA enclosure integrity testing.

The NFPA standard requires that the blower door operator be trained, but does not specify the nature or source of this training. There is no official NFPA training available for enclosure integrity testing methodology at this time.

An NFPA enclosure integrity test result is typically reported in the form of an agent retention time which represents the duration for which the room will retain the agent at sufficient concentration to suppress a fire. This retention time varies based on the leakage area of the room, the location of the leaks and the particular clean agent being used.