From the design to the 72-hour trial run and commissioning, with no remarks on fire safety.

The Fire Safety design section is prepared by a designer with design competence for that section, registered with the Bulgarian Chamber of Engineers in Investment Design (KIIP).

Its scope and content are set by Ordinance No. 4 to the Spatial Development Act, and the technical solutions by Ordinance No. Iz-1971. The section is coordinated with the other design sections and with the fire safety authorities.

The Fire Safety section is commissioned together with the other parts of the investment project, before the project is submitted for approval.

The earlier we enter the project, the cheaper the solutions are. Fire compartments, escape routes and system routes are set at concept stage; changing them during construction always costs more.

Yes. FIREHOLD takes on the whole Fire Safety scope: design, installation, commissioning and maintenance.

One contract instead of three, and one party answerable for the result. With split contractors, the gaps between design and execution usually surface at the acceptance committee, when they are most expensive to fix.

The 72-hour trial run is a continuous test of the system under real conditions for 72 hours before commissioning.

The trial run checks for false activations, for how the system behaves on standby power, and for the interfaces with the other building systems. The result is recorded in a protocol that goes into the package for the acceptance committee.

The Fire Safety section is mandatory when the building falls within the scope of Ordinance No. Iz-1971. That depends on the functional class of the building, its floor area and number of storeys.

The ordinance allows exceptions for small buildings. From the architectural drawings or a site survey we tell you whether your building needs the section and at which design stage.

The price of the Fire Safety design section depends on the gross floor area, the use of the building and the design stage.

The systems to be sized and the complexity of the evacuation also play a part. Send us the architectural drawings and we reply with an offer within one working day.

The price of a fire alarm system depends on the floor area and number of rooms, the type of system and its interfaces with the other building systems.

An addressable system costs more than a conventional one, but on large sites it makes maintenance and fault finding easier. The type of detectors and panel and the cable routes also play a part. We quote after a site survey or from the design.

A fire alarm system is required by Art. 3(1) and Annex No. 1 of Ordinance No. Iz-1971, depending on the type of building, its floor area, the number of occupants and its height.

Annex No. 1 lists the types of buildings and rooms and states for each when fire detection is required and whether it must be automatic and manual or manual only; buildings not listed are treated like similar ones. For example, automatic and manual fire detection is required in offices, banks, shops and shopping centres over 500 m² and in schools with more than 100 people present at the same time, and in hospitals and care homes for the elderly everywhere except sanitary rooms. For buildings in use, except those of subclasses F1.3 and F1.4 (such as residential buildings), Art. 14(2)(1) and (3) of Ordinance No. 8121z-647 require a system with an audible alarm on every floor if it was mandatory when the building was commissioned but was never installed.

Yes. FIREHOLD also takes over systems built by other contractors: first a survey and an assessment of their condition, then a maintenance contract.

The survey shows what is installed, what works and what is missing from the documentation. If repairs or additions are needed, we quote them separately and you decide. You do not have to find the original installer.

A fire alarm system is inspected on a schedule set by Ordinance No. 8121z-647 and by the equipment manufacturer's instructions.

For every building we prepare a programme with the frequency of inspections and tests, and we record every visit in the system logbook. The schedule depends on the type of building, the installed systems and the manufacturer's requirements.

After each inspection a protocol of the inspection and testing is issued and added to the system file.

The protocol states the scope of the inspection, the condition found and the recommendations. It is the document you show during a control visit, so we write it to be readable by someone who is not an engineer.

The 24/7 emergency response is a call-out outside working hours for buildings with an active maintenance contract.

On a fault or failure of the system we take the call at any time. The scope, response time and conditions are written into the maintenance contract, so that nothing is unclear at the moment there is a problem.

Only a firm holding a permit from the Chief Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection (ГДПБЗН) of the Ministry of Interior may maintain a fire alarm system.

The requirement is in Art. 22(5) of Ordinance No. 8121z-647, and the permit is issued under Art. 129(2)(5) of the Ministry of Interior Act. FIREHOLD holds such a permit for the whole country - its number and a link to the Ministry of Interior register are in the Compliance section.

The fire alarm system logbook records every event in the system: real and false alarms, faults, shutdowns or isolations, maintenance, servicing and repairs.

The requirement is in Art. 13b of Ordinance No. 8121z-647 and also covers fire suppression installations, voice alarm systems and smoke and heat control systems; shutting down only part of a system is recorded as well. The logbook is kept on site, in a place set by the written order of the building's owner or manager, and the same order names the people responsible for keeping it. The ordinance gives no template for the logbook. Separately, every maintenance visit by a permitted firm is certified by a protocol under Art. 31(8) of Ordinance No. 8121z-531, which stays with the owner.

Internal fire hydrants are designed to Ordinance No. Iz-1971, and a firm with a Ministry of Interior permit inspects them every year and tests the hoses every 5 years to BDS EN 671-3.

Under Art. 193 of Ordinance No. Iz-1971, hydrants are required in all buildings except the listed exceptions, among them residential buildings with a maximum occupied height of up to 25 m and other buildings of classes F1-F4 with a built volume of up to 5000 m³; closed garages for more than 10 motor vehicles need them even then (in residential buildings, more than 10 per floor or in a garage unit). Every room must be within reach of the compact jet of at least one hydrant (Art. 198), and the number of hydrants working at the same time and the water flow follow Table 19 to Art. 199. Maintenance follows BDS EN 671-3 and is carried out by a permitted firm (Art. 22(2) and (5) of Ordinance No. 8121z-647): every year each hydrant is checked with the hose fully run out under pressure, and every 5 years the hoses are tested at maximum working pressure. The records are kept in the building's fire safety file (Art. 8(1)(2)).