The Importance of Room Integrity

The Importance of Room Integrity

So you have a Gas Suppression System on site, which may have been installed before your time or you have recently been given the responsibility to maintain. You have been told that it has to have a Room Integrity Test (RIT) every year to maintain compliance, but what is an RIT and why is it so important?

What is a Room Integrity Test (RIT) & Why is it Important?

Have a read of our other blog on what exactly happens during a Room Integrity Test, but the crux of the matter is that you must have a “Hold Time” of more than 10 mins. This in actual fact means that the room must retain or “Hold” the suppressant gas for a minimum of 10 minutes. Why?

Think about a fish tank – this is your room, and the water in it is your suppressant gas. If the tank is sound, the water will stay in there an awfully long time. If there is a (or multiple) big cracks in the tank, then the water will start to leak out, the level in the tank will drop and it won’t be long before your fishes are no more…

Gas Suppression works in the same way – unless the gas is kept inside the room then it cannot work. This applies for all gases.

How to Pass a Room Integrity Test

First of all, all rooms and enclosures can be sealed – it’s just a question of time, effort and of course money to do it.

Sealing works are usually done with a “Fire Batt” type insulation board and intumescent sealant and while it is quite time consuming, can ensure future system compliance and more importantly can help your suppression system be more effective.

Leaks in rooms occur where the room’s boundary is breached, i.e.

• Where cable trays/cables go through the room boundary wall – this is quite common as it is usually an irregular shape and quite difficult to seal. Don’t forget about Ceiling and Floor Voids, just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there!

• Where aircon pipework goes through the room boundary wall – see above.

• Cracks along the wall/ceiling interface – don’t disregard this one – it seems like a small cross-sectional area, but there may be lots of it.

• General poor upkeep of the room’s structure – old holes for redundant equipment.

• If there is air being fed into the room via ductwork for either cooling or air movement, does the ductwork have air-tight dampers that close before the suppressant gas is deployed? Do they work correctly?

If you have just failed your Room Integrity Test and found out that your Hold Time is not up to the required 10 minutes, our experienced engineers can help you – please don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an enquiry via our online form. Here at Sovereign Extinguishing, we are the UK’s leading experts in fire extinguishing servicing and have years of experience in room integrity testing.

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See more: The Ultimate Guide to Gas Suppression Systems