Have you ever watched a news report on TV about a fire and gotten a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach? It's always so hard to watch or hear about a tragedy like a devastating fire. Fortunately, horrific fires are not something we see every day. And primarily, that's because good fire prevention measures and tactics are at work and doing their magic. As a business owner in NYC, there are many things you are required to do by the FDNY in order to keep your business site safe from fire and compliant with laws. Having your facility flameproofed is just one of those things, and there are some specific regulations pertaining to what needs to be treated with fire retardants. Today we will be discussing the particulars of these mandates.
You might be wondering what the FDNY (and the Building Department, Health Department and insurance carriers as well, by the way) requires you to flameproofed. As per NYC regulations, objects and materials that are used for artistic enhancement - things like hangings, curtains, drapes, scenery, decorations, greenery, etc. - have to be coated or soaked with flame repellents. The only exception would be if any of these items are already inherently flame resistant. Any decorative item or scenery must be flameproofed before it is installed at a business site. When those items are compromised in any way through washing, dry-cleaning, etc, they must be treated again.
Additionally, all required objects need to be treated with fire retardants in the time span that is indicated by the manufacturer of the chemicals. However, if the time frame is more than 3 years, the FDNY requires that those items be treated every 3 years, minimally. These items are only considered flameproofed when they pass the field flame test, conducted by the flameproofing company, a C-15 Certificate of Fitness holder. If an item fails, it must be treated until it passes.
The FDNY allows for some wiggle room in the methods used for flameproofing. A flameproofing treatment will depend of how big the job is, the person performing the treatments and the object that is being treated. However, the common factor is that the object or material must be soaked in or sprayed/brushed with flameproofing chemicals. Soaking is typically the more effective treatment, allowing the fire retardants to penetrate to the deepest layers of the fiber or fabric.
When looking at the chemicals, the FDNY provides a list of approved flameproofing treatments. Typically, water-soluble chemicals are preferred because they cost less and work best. The flip side of water-soluble chemicals is their water-solubility: they lose some of their protection power when they come into contact with water, due to weather or washing or even dry-cleaning. There are chemicals that may discolor or could potentially damage certain items, and others only protect for a certain period of time. Your flameproofing provider can discuss with you which chemicals would be best to use on the items that you need treated.
And in order for these flameproofing treatments to be recognized by the FDNY, they need to be performed by a C-15 Certificate of Fitness holder (like Queens Flameproofing) who can issue you a flameproofing affidavit that meets their requirements.
Flameproofing is a fairly fast and simple process. It usually can be completed within 24 hours. While not complicated, the protection power of flameproofing has prevented many fires from getting out of control and minimized loss of property and human life. It's importance can not be emphasized enough.
If you are in need of flameproofing treatments or have other questions, please call us today. We would love to talk with you and see how we can help. We looking forward to hearing from you today: 1-800-972-5587.