A new policy, ‘Acceptable standards and equivalencies for portable fire extinguishers required on Canadian vessels’, has been published by Transport Canada.
This policy is to clarify the required standards that are accepted by Transport Canada for portable fire extinguishers (PFE) equipped on all Canadian vessels and provide a table of equivalency for PFE required for compliance with Part 1 of the Vessel Fire Safety Regulations (VFSR). It applies to PFE installed on all Canadian vessels.
Transport Canada accepts PFE that are certified by a product certification body in accordance with the following standards as meeting the requirements of the International Code for Fire Safety Systems (FSS Code) and resolution A.951(23):
- NFPA 10 Portable Fire Extinguishers
- ISO 7165: Fire Fighting – Portable fire extinguishers – Performance and construction
- EN 3-7 Portable fire extinguishers Characteristics – Part 7: performance requirements and test methods
- EN 3-10 Portable fire extinguishers – Part 10: Provisions for evaluating the conformity of a portable fire extinguisher to EN 3-7
United States Coast Guard approved PFE must bear a label displaying “Marine Type”.
PFE carried on vessels for compliance with Part 1 of the VFSR must meet the requirements of the FSS Code Chapter 4 and be type approved by a Recognized Organization. PFE meeting the requirements of Part 1 of the VFSR, and their equivalents, may be used aboard vessels subject to that requirement to satisfy the PFE carriage requirements of that part, as well as on grandfathered vessels when PFE’s that comply with requirements of the FDEER are replaced.
For vessels less than 24 metres in length, PFE must comply with Part 3 of the VFSR, section 12 of the Small Vessel Regulations (SVR), section 3.18 of the Fishing Vessel Safety Regulations (FVSR), or subsection 25(8) of the Large Fishing Vessel Inspection Regulations (LFVIR), a PFE that meets the approval requirements of the VFSR that is of the classification and capacity of PFE, is required by one of the provisions above, or an equivalent may be used.
The Table of Equivalencies for Portable Fire Extinguishers provided in Appendix 1 gives PFE accepted by Transport Canada as equivalent to 9L water or foam fire extinguishers with a 2A fire rating and larger capacity foam extinguishers required by SOLAS.
Read the full policy: Transport Canada – Acceptable standards and equivalencies for portable fire extinguishers required on Canadian vessels
