Telangana Govt issues Spl Fire Safety norms for Data Centres
Hyderabad, Oct 29 (TNT) :The Telangana Fire Department on Wednesday issued special fire and life safety guidelines for data centres, prescribing specific requirements for processing provisional Fire No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from November 6.
Director General of Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Vikram Singh Mann issued the guidelines through a circular memorandum , aiming to expedite clearances while ensuring the safety of critical infrastructure.
The guidelines take into account the specific operational requirements and fire risks of data centres, which house servers, storage systems and networking equipment supported by uninterrupted power and cooling systems.
They prescribe fire detection and alarm systems, suitable suppression systems, compartmentation, firefighting shafts, wet risers, refuge areas and adequate firefighting water storage and pumping facilities.
Automatic sprinkler systems are required in administrative areas, while technical areas must have suitable water-mist or clean-agent gas suppression systems.
Special safety measures have been prescribed for battery rooms, UPS rooms, transformers, switchgear and other critical electrical installations.
The guidelines also require fire risk assessments, adequate ventilation, fire-rated separation, emergency shutdown arrangements and protection for fuel storage and other high-risk areas.
The circular mandates integration of fire detection and suppression systems with relevant building management and emergency systems.
It also prohibits the accumulation of combustible materials, including cardboard, packaging materials, wooden pallets and waste, in data halls and other critical areas.
The guidelines take into account the relatively lower occupancy of data centres compared with conventional business buildings.
Scrutiny officers have been instructed to verify compliance with approved fire safety designs and prescribed conditions.
The initiative is intended to strengthen fire prevention and emergency preparedness while supporting the State government’s efforts to attract data centre investments through faster processing of applications.
The guidelines are available on the Fire Department website, www\.fire.telangana.gov.in.
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