scope:

This recommended practice provides recommended procedures, methods, and documentation for commissioning of active and passive fire protection and life safety systems and their interconnections with other building systems.

Special emphasis should be placed on the phrase "recommended procedures, methods, and documentation." The recommendations in this document provide a framework for commissioning. Although the actual commissioning of systems might not be the same for two different buildings, it should follow the same process. Whenever a fire or life safety event occurs in a facility, it is critical that all systems, including interfaces with other building systems, work together properly. NFPA 3 provides recommendations for documenting the design, verifying that the installation complies with the design, training, and developing maintenance for the fire and life safety systems of the facility. Completing the Cx process will ensure that systems and their interconnections with other building systems function together properly. The recommendations in NFPA 3 are intended to pull together all associated codes and standards that each of the trades use for the design and installation, with an emphasis on using the specific design documents for the particular facility.

Purpose.

The purpose of this recommended practice is to describe the commissioning process that will ensure fire protection and life safety systems perform in conformity with the design intent.

System commissioning and integrated testing is critical to ascertain that systems are installed and function in accordance with the BOD and OPR and that testing is documented. It is not the intent of this recommended practice to supplant the existing requirements of other codes and standards, but this recommended practice can provide the appropriate guidance for a specific system or component where testing is not otherwise addressed. Such guidance should be developed by the fire protection and life safety commissioning team.