NFPA Journal - Fall 2022 - 54

In Compliance
period. While the proposed NFPA 915
will apply broadly to any inspection or
testing allowed by the authority having
jurisdiction, there are already provisions
in NFPA 25, Standard for the
Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance
of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems,
that allow for inspections or testing to
be conducted in an automated manner.
Automated inspection and testing
can be a useful option, but it's important
to know what steps must be taken
to ensure it is equivalent to a person
being at the location. If a fire pump
demonstrates an abnormal condition
during a test, for example, what should
the response be and how is the risk
mitigated? NFPA 25 contains requirements
to allow the use of technology for
automated inspection and testing and
the criteria to ensure it is equivalent to
those conducted in person.
The first thing to address is where, or
for which activities, automated inspection
and testing can be utilized. NFPA
25 does not limit the use, provided
automated inspection equipment can
meet the intent of a required visual
inspection and automated testing
equipment can produce the same action
as required by the testing requirements.
Beyond that, the other criteria for automated
inspection and testing must be
met when this is utilized, and at that
point it becomes a cost-benefit analysis
for the stakeholders and primarily the
building owner. Activities required at
greater frequencies might present more
of a benefit, while those required less
frequently might see less of a benefit.
If automated testing is utilized, additional
criteria must be met. Automated
test devices must be listed for the
purpose of the test being conducted
unless they are not subjected to system
pressure or are not integral to the operation
of the system during a fire event.
The equipment must be such that its
failure does not impair the operation
of the system unless that failure can
be indicated by a supervisory signal to
the fire alarm system. Similarly, any
failure of a component or system to
pass an automated test must result
in an audible supervisory signal, and
failure of automated inspection and
54 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2022
testing equipment must result in a
trouble signal. The monitoring and
signals required ensure that instances
where there are issues with the automated
testing or inspection equipment
or an unsatisfactory inspection or test
result notification will be made and the
situation can be remedied. The testing
frequencies of NFPA 25 must be
maintained regardless of the functionality
of automated testing equipment,
and a record of all inspection and testing
must be maintained in accordance
with the requirements that apply to all
inspection and testing.
A benefit of automated inspection
and testing is that personnel don't
necessarily have to be on site. However,
certain circumstances may need to be
addressed quickly and would require
someone on site. This is specified for
no-flow testing of fire pumps, which
is a weekly or monthly requirement
depending on the type of pump and the
building it is in. The 2020 edition of
NFPA 25 requires that when remotely
monitored automated testing of the
no-flow fire pump is being performed,
qualified personnel must be able to
respond to an abnormal condition
within five minutes-essentially meaning
that a qualified person must be
on site. For the proposed 2023 edition
of NFPA 25, which will be approved
this summer, that timeframe will be
changed to four hours. This additional
time means that someone does not need
to be immediately on site provided they
can respond quickly enough to take the
needed corrective action.
The use of technologies to perform
automated inspections and testing
will only grow. As it becomes more
widely used, as building owners, service
providers, and AHJs gain more experience,
and as the use of automated
inspections expands into other areas
of fire protection and life safety with
the future publication of NFPA 915,
it is likely that the requirements will
continue to evolve, too.
Jonathan Hart is technical lead, Fire Protection
Engineering, at NFPA. NFPA members and AHJs
can use the Technical Questions tab to post queries
on NFPA 25 at nfpa.org/25. To follow the progress
on the upcoming edition of the code, visit nfpa.
org/25next.
NFPA 70 + 70E
Electrical Safety
EV charging safety
considerations
for end users
By Corey Hannahs
Y
ou may have heard
about the billions of
dollars being spent on
building an electric vehicle
(EV) infrastructure in
the United States. The National Electric
Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula
Program has been established by allocating
approximately $5 billion from
President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure
Law, funding intended to
create a national EV charging grid to
help support the use of EVs across the
country. While it is fairly common to
see an occasional EV charger in our
daily travels, it is likely that over the
next several years EV chargers will start
popping up like dandelions in the
springtime. Over the next several years,
as auto manufacturers move toward
shifting their production from combustion
engine vehicles to EVs, it is also
likely that you may need to begin using
EV chargers yourself. But as you reach
for that handle to charge an EV, it is
also important that you do it safely.
Within the scope statement itself,
(NEC®
the National Electrical Code®
)
calls for the " practical safeguarding of
persons from hazards arising from the
use of electricity, " and EVs are no exception.
The scope of Article 625 Electric
Vehicle Power Transfer System covers
the electrical conductors and equipment
connecting an EV to premises wiring for
the purposes of charging, power export,
or bidirectional current flow.
While the full installation of the
system as a whole is vital to safety,
there are a couple of key requirements
intended to keep users safe while
charging an EV. One requirement calls
for a personnel protection system that
protects users against electric shock
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NFPA Journal - Fall 2022

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