Fire safety engineering:
Quarterly Newsletter - August 2018
Monideep Dey, PhD
This newsletter from Deytec, Inc. is published every quarter to inform subscribers of developments in Fire Safety Engineering (FSE), especially on topics related to conformity assessment of fire safety designs based on FSE. Monideep Dey, the principal of Deytec, Inc., served as Chairman (Convenor) of ISO TC 92 SC 4 WG 7 from 2013 to 2017 instituting significant improvements in ISO FSE technical standards.
Deytec, Inc. is a company member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), and a voting member of the International Conformity Assessment Committee which is the U.S. interface to the ISO Council Committee on Conformity Assessment (ISO CASCO). ISO CASCO writes standards and guides for the effective operation of conformity assessment bodies and activities.
ISO CASCO initiates development of a guideline and example of a certification scheme for processes
Conformity assessments of fire safety designs based on FSE presently is a costly process with a high level of uncertainty for the applicant. Formal certification of the FSE designs based on a conformity assessment standard will assure safety, especially for designs that utilize free software without 3rd party certification. Deytec, Inc. has launched the development of a scheme for conformity assessment of FSE designs which may be used for certification.
FSE is a process and conformance to technical standards is most efficiently conducted utilizing a conformity assessment standard for processes. ISO CASCO has published ISO/IEC 17065,Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services. It has also published ISO/IEC 17067 and ISO/IEC 17028 which are guidelines for developing schemes for tangible products and services.
CASCO has now initiated (WG 52) the development of ISO/IEC TR 17032,Conformity assessment - Guidelines and examples of a certification scheme for processes. Processes include complex systems engineering designs for safety and environmental protection. The goal is to also develop examples for this document to clarify its use for different types of processes. One such example could be certification of the process for developing a fire plan in Germany (see DIN 14675). Monideep Dey is the US expert nominated by ANSI to WG 52. Monideep Dey will use this document to develop a scheme that can be used for 3rd party certification of fire safety designs based on FSE. Please contact Monideep Dey if you have any questions, or would like to set up a certification system in your country.
33rd ISO CASCO Plenary Meetings
US Delegation to ISO CASCO 33rd Plenary Meetings, Mexico City, 25-26 April, 2018
