NFPA 2001, Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems, which is published by the National Fire Protection Assn. (NFPA), serves as the principal (primary) standard covering clean agents and the systems used to store and discharge the agents for fire protection purposes.
The next edition of NFPA 2001 is set for publication in late summer 2011. While the standard was set for an earlier publication date, certain issues could not be resolved during the document’s initial revision cycle timetable, and in accordance with NFPA’s Codes and Standards Making Process, these issues have been scheduled for consideration at NFPA’s 2011 Association Technical Meeting in Boston, June 12-15, 2011, during the NFPA Conference and Expo.
In addition to highlighting the issues that caused NFPA 2001’s delay in publication, this article summarizes key technical changes for the next edition of the standard. These changes will affect how engineers, designers, and facility operators need to consider future installations of clean agent fire suppression systems. Specific details regarding the changes to NFPA 2001 and pending issues to be considered by the NFPA membership in June can be found in the 2010 Fall Revision Cycle Report on Proposals, 2010 Fall Revision Cycle Report on Comments, and the Report of the NFPA Motions Committee on Fall 2010 Revision Cycle Documents. The changes discussed below are presented in the order in which the relevant sections appear in NFPA 2001, and not in any order of importance or priority.