VdS

VdS Guidelines for Water Mist Systems 3883-3en

Fire Test Protocol for

Water Mist Systems
Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor
of OH Group 1

VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

Publisher and publishing house: VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH

Amsterdamer Str. 172-174

50735 Köln, Germany
Phone: +49 221 77 66 0; Fax: +49 221 77 66 341

Copyright by VdS Schadenverhütung GmbH. All rights reserved.

VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01) Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1

VdS Guidelines for Water Mist Systems

Fire Test Protocol for

Water Mist Systems

Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor

of OH Group 1

This document is binding only if its application has been agreed on a case-by-case basis.
Otherwise, any consideration of this document is non-binding. An agreement for applica-
tion of this document is entirely optional. On a case-by-case basis, third parties may also
accept, at their discretion, other requirements that do not comply with this document.

Content
1 General ..................................................................................................................... 4
1.1 Scope .................................................................................................................... 4
1.2 Validity .................................................................................................................. 4
2 Normative References ............................................................................................ 4
3 General Preconditions............................................................................................ 5
4 False ceilings and false floors fuel package ........................................................ 5
4.1 General ................................................................................................................. 5
4.2 Housing ................................................................................................................. 7
4.3 Cable Trays ........................................................................................................... 8
4.4 Cables ................................................................................................................... 8
4.5 Conditioning of the fuel load ................................................................................. 8
4.6 Ignition source....................................................................................................... 9
5 Reference sprinkler system requirements ........................................................... 9
6 Fire Tests ................................................................................................................. 9
6.1 General ................................................................................................................. 9
6.2 Reference sprinkler tests ...................................................................................... 9
6.3 Water mist system tests ...................................................................................... 10
6.4 Test arrangement................................................................................................ 10
6.5 Fire tests ............................................................................................................. 10
6.6 Test assembly requirements ............................................................................... 11
6.7 Instrumentation requirements ............................................................................. 12
6.8 Evaluation of test results ..................................................................................... 12
7 Test Report ............................................................................................................ 13
8 Films and photographs ........................................................................................ 14

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Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1 VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

1 General
1.1 Scope
This test method is intended for evaluating the fire performance of water mist systems
equivalent to the fire performance of a sprinkler system according to VdS CEA 4001.

The test protocol is applicable to ceiling mounted automatic water mist sprinklers to be
used in unlimited volumes with a minimum hydraulic demand area of 72 m² and a mini-
mum duration in accordance with VdS 3188. The test protocol is applicable for hori-
zontal, solid, flat ceilings.

The purpose of the test protocol is to ensure an equivalent level of firefighting

performance for the water mist system in the test as described in these guidelines as
compared to sprinkler systems installed in accordance with VdS CEA 4001.

It is not possible to apply these tests to other applications than the ones specified or to
greater room heights.

In case of a positive result of the tests false ceilings and false floors the water mist
system to be approved can be approved for the protection of the following risks:

False ceilings and false floors between 300 mm and 800 mm

The following limitations apply to the protection of false floors and ceilings:

 ceiling non-combustible (raw ceiling)

 no fire load above water mist sprinklers, distance in accordance with test
 false ceiling incl. support non-combustible
 no obstruction to spray (cold test possible)
 no ventilation or air movement in false ceiling area
 applies to false floors and ceilings of 300 mm to 800 mm height with cable trays (in
case of other fire loads to be agreed with VdS)
 does not apply to EDP false floors with density > 40 % of footprint

1.2 Validity
These guidelines are valid from 1st July 2020.

Note: This is a translation of the German guidelines. If there are any discrepancies, the
German version shall be binding.

2 Normative References
These guidelines contain dated and undated references to other regulations (in alphabetical
order). The normative references are cited in the respective clauses, the titles are listed be-
low. For dated references, subsequent amendments to or revisions of any of these regulati-
ons apply to these guidelines only when published by revision or amendment of these gui-
delines. For undated references the latest edition of the regulation referred to applies.

DIN EN General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration

ISO/IEC 17025 laboratories

VdS CEA 4001 Guidelines for sprinkler systems – planning and installation

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VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01) Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1

VdS 2344 Procedure for the testing, approval, certification and conformity assess-
ment of products and systems for fire protection and security technologies

VdS 2562 Procedure for the approval of new extinguishing techniques

VdS 3115 Procedure for the approval of new protection concepts

VdS 3188 Guidelines for water mist systems – planning and installation

3 General Preconditions
The water mist system, operating without manual intervention, shall successfully
complete all described performance fire tests for their specific applications.

The water flow shall be shut-off 10 min after the activation of the first sprinkler/water mist
sprinkler. Any remaining fire shall be manually extinguished and the fire damages shall
be recorded.

System components, component locations, operating conditions and test enclosure

details shall remain unaltered throughout all of the fire tests for a given application.

All fire tests shall be conducted using the manufacturer instructions in regard to water
mist sprinkler placement, spray flux, and spray duration.

The fire test protocol is only applicable to ceiling mounted water mist sprinklers.

The water mist sprinklers shall be located in accordance with the manufacturer’s instruc-
tions.

The water supply shall be capable of supplying a flow rate and pressure according to the
specific requirements, which are based on the actual layout of the pipework installation.

As a matter of principle, confirmatory tests shall also be conducted.

4 False ceilings and false floors fuel package

4.1 General
The test assembly to be provided for the tests by the applicant shall comply with the fol-
lowing specifications and figures.

The test scenario is based on a typical false ceiling comprising the appropriate fire load in
terms of cabling.

The test assembly shall include the following elements:

a) housing
b) cable trays
c) cables as fire load
d) heptan pan as ignition source

Figure 4-1 shows an example of the test assembly in accordance with the requirements
specified in this clause.

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Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1 VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

100mm raw ceiling

T7/8 T1/2/3
300mm
tray 2

800mm
300mm
tray 1
heptane pan
T4/5/6
200mm

Figure 4-1: Assembly of fire loads and position of ignition source

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VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01) Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1

T2/5
ignition source:
Sp 1 T8 heptane pan
200mm*200mm*20mm

length = T1/4 T9
3 x water 3,0m
mist
sprinkler
distance

4 cables without tray, loosely hanging on

the false ceiling, length 3000 mm:
Sp 2 combustible loading: 3,5 kWh/m²

T3/6 T7

upper cable tray

lower cable tray

200 mm

300 mm

Figure 4-2: Assembly of ignition source below the cable trays

The test assembly comprises the following elements. All tests are carried out with identi-
cal test assemblies which shall fulfil the requirements specified here.

4.2 Housing
A false ceiling/false floor is simulated by a standardised housing. The housing shall be
constructed as follows:

Dimensions:

 height: 800 mm
 width: 400 mm
 length: 3-fold distance of water mist sprinklers to be approved

Materials:

 ceiling: non-combustible, e. g. steel plate

 side wall (opposite of cable trays): untreated plywood board, width 5 mm

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Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1 VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

 floor plate: non-combustible material, proportion of holes 15%, optionally via the
entire length of the test assembly a gap of 15 cm width

4.3 Cable Trays

The cable trays used in the tests shall fulfil the following requirements:

Position according to Figure 4-1 and Figure 4-2

Tray 1:

 width: 200 mm
 material: non-combustible, appropriate for the heat impact to be expected

Tray 2:

 width: 300 mm
 material: non-combustible, appropriate for the heat impact to be expected

4.4 Cables
The fire loads to be provided shall have normal humidity before the test as is achieved by
indoor storage at (20 ± 5)°C.

Preferred cabling:

Tray 1

 NYY 3x1.5; number 15, fire load per cable approx. 0.75 kWh/m

Tray 2

 NYY 3x1.5; number 30, fire load per cable approx. 0.75 kWh/m

Alternative cabling (to be agreed with VdS):

Tray 1

 HHJ 5x2.5 (PE/PP); number 7, fire load per cable approx. 0.80 kWh/m
 MMJ 5x2.5 (PVC); number 8, fire load per cable approx. 0.72 kWh/m

Tray 2

 MMJ 5x2.5 (PVC); number 15, fire load per cable approx. 0.72 kWh/m
 HHJ 5x2.5 (PE/PP); number 15, fire load per cable approx. 0.80 kWh/m

4.5 Conditioning of the fuel load

The fuel package elements shall have a normal humidity content prior to the test, as ob-
tained by storage indoor at (20°±°5) °C for two weeks. Prior to the tests individual
plywood boards are random-checked.

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VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01) Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1

4.6 Ignition source

The ignition source is a pan of heptane complying with the following requirements:

 Dimensions: 200 mm x 200 mm x 20 mm

 Material: steel
 Filling: 120 ml n-heptane
 Position in accordance with Figure 4-1 and Figure 4-2 below cable tray 1, centrally
between the two sprinklers/water mist sprinklers

5 Reference sprinkler system requirements

The sprinkler system used in the reference tests shall be characterised as follows:

a) classification: Ordinary Hazard 1 according to VdS CEA 4001

b) water flux 1 : 5.75 l/min/m2
c) protected area per sprinkler: 12 m2
d) sprinkler arrangement: 2 sprinklers (3.5 m spacing)
e) sprinkler:
1. type: VdS approved pendent or upright spray sprinkler (depending on the water mist
system to be tested) in accordance with VdS CEA 4001, surface mounted on the ceil-
ing with a flat escutcheon.
In case of upright water mist sprinklers upright sprinklers shall be used. In case of
pendent water mist sprinklers the sprinklers shall be pendent also.
2. installation of the sprinkler according to VdS CEA 4001
3. thermal sensitivity: special response as specified in VdS CEA 4001
4. nominal K factor: 80
5. temperature rating: 68 °C

The water supply shall be capable of supplying a flow rate and pressure according to the
specific requirements, which are based on the actual layout of the pipework installation.

6 Fire Tests
6.1 General
The tests with the water mist system shall be conducted at maximum spacing and
minimum discharge condition. The system shall be installed in accordance with the
manufacturer's design and installation manual, reflecting the maximum allowed time
delay of water pressure build up of the system.

6.2 Reference sprinkler tests

The sprinkler system shall be pressurised to be capable of the minimum required
pressure immediately after operation of the first sprinkler. Upon activation of the first

1
This value includes a safety factor of 15 %.

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Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1 VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

sprinkler, the flowing water pressure shall be maintained at a system operating pressure
of at least 0.56 bar.

The water flow shall be shut-off 10 min after the activation of the first sprinkler. Any re-
maining fire shall be manually extinguished and the fire damages shall be recorded.

6.3 Water mist system tests

The tested system shall:

a) either be pressurised to its minimum operating pressure specified by the manufacturer.

Upon activation of the first water mist sprinkler, the flowing water pressure shall be
maintained at the minimum operating pressure for systems using a constant operating
pressure. For systems with non constant operating pressure the pressure
characteristics used in the test shall resemble the conditions of a real installation when
supplying the required 72 m² and shall resemble the last 10 min of the operating time of
the system;
or
b) be pressurised to the minimum stand-by pressure specified by the manufacturer. Upon
activation of the first water mist sprinkler, the flowing water pressure shall be gradually
increased to the minimum operating pressure, specified by the manufacturer. The delay
time until the minimum operating pressure is reached shall correspond to the delay time
expected in an actual installation.

The water flow shall be shut off 10 min after the activation of the first sprinkler/water mist
sprinkler. Any remaining fire shall be manually extinguished and the fire damages shall
be recorded.

6.4 Test arrangement

A total of two sprinkler or water mist sprinkler positions shall be installed which are desig-
nated Sp 1 and Sp 2. The positions of the two sprinklers are shown in Figure 4-1 and Fi-
gure 4-2.

In all tests, the water mist sprinklers of the water mist system to be approved shall be in-
stalled with maximum distance between each other (as specified by the applicant before-
hand). The layout of the water mist sprinklers is analogous to that of the sprinklers.

Note: If VdS considers the ventilation insufficient, O2 measuring points may have to be
installed in the test facility.

6.5 Fire tests

As specified a reference test with a sprinkler system shall be carried out in order to verify
the extinguishing effectiveness of the extinguishing system to be approved. Prior to the
tests with the reference sprinkler system and the water mist system to be approved a
free-burn test shall be carried out to proof if the fire development is developing properly
and continously.

The tests shall be designated as specified in Table 6-1 for traceability reasons.

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VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01) Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1

Designation Extinguishing system

Free-burn test No extinguishing system

Spr.1 Reference sprinkler system
WM1 Water mist system
WM2 Water mist system

Table 6-1: Designation of the tests

6.6 Test assembly requirements

The test assembly shall fulfil the following conditions:

The test facility should be of adequate size with natural or minimal ventilation so as to not
interfere with the fire testing within the enclosure or about the mock-up or test fuel
package.

The size of the test facility should not impact firefighting capabilities of any test fires (i. e.
depletion of oxygen due to an inadequately sized test laboratory).

There shall be a minimum 1 m from ceiling rim to test facility wall, sufficient ventilation or
space, sufficient ventilation to guarantee sufficient O2 concentration over the entire test
period.

Oxygen concentration shall not decrease below 20%.

If the above mentioned conditions are not met during the tests, the water mist system
shall only be installed in rooms with a maximum size equal to the limits of the facility they
are tested in.

For all fire tests, the ceiling, floor, and walls should be as dry as possible, with only ambi-
ent moisture content allowed. The relative humidity in the test enclosure should not signif-
icantly differ from that of the ambient relative humidity.

The test enclosures shall be at an ambient temperature of 20°C ± 10°C prior to the start
of the test. The enclosure or hall shall be at as uniform an ambient temperature as
reasonably possible. Localized hot or cold spots are not permitted. All non-fire induced
drafts shall be eliminated.

The minimum operating nozzle pressure (as specified by the manufacturer) shall be used
for all tests, unless otherwise noted. System operating pressures shall be repeatable to
within ± 5 %. If the system pressures cannot be controlled within the specified tolerance,
fire tests should be conducted at the minimum and maximum pressure by using external
means to control the system pressure.

The maximum nozzle ceiling height and spacing (as specified by the manufacturer) shall
be used for all tests. This includes utilizing the maximum ceiling spacing of the nozzles
from the walls.

The fire tests should be conducted in a large open test hall of sufficient area, and with a
minimum ceiling height of 5.0 m, to avoid impacting the results of the tests.

Maximum allowed time delay of water pressure build-up of the system shall be specified
by manufacturer and shall be used for all tests.

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Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1 VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

6.7 Instrumentation requirements

The measured values are registered by means of the following:

Thermocouples

 T1 [°C] – at ceiling of housing above ignition source

 T2 [°C] – centrally at ceiling of housing, 3 m lateral distance to ignition source
 T3 [°C] – centrally at ceiling of housing, 3 m lateral distance to ignition source
 T4 [°C] – above ignition source
 T5 [°C] – below tray, 3 m lateral distance to ignition source
 T6 [°C] – centrally at ceiling of housing, 3 m lateral distance to ignition source
 T7 [°C] – at ceiling immediately at combustible side wall, laterally to T3
 T8 [°C] – at ceiling immediately at combustible side wall, laterally to T2
 T9 [°C] – centrally at ceiling, above 4 loose cables coming from side of housing

For measuring the temperature, exposed 0.5 mm thermocouples of type K shall be posi-
tioned 75 mm below the ceiling surface.

Figure 4-1 and Figure 4-2 show the positions of the individual thermocouples.

The applicant is entitled to install further thermocouples in the test assembly (e. g. at
each water mist sprinkler). However, any additional thermocouples shall also have the
a. m. characteristics.

Pressure transducer

 P1 [bar] pressure at hydraulically most unfavourable nozzle in pipework

Flow measuring device

 Q1 [l/min] flow measurement (sprinkler tests)

Time measurement

t [mm:ss] time measurement over the entire test period, in which the following times are
recorded:

 start of data recording

 ignition
 activation of extinguishing system
 extinguishment of flames (if applicable)
 end of extinguishing process
 end of data recording

All measured variables shall be recorded over the entire test period. The tests shall also
be recorded per video. Any damage of the test assembly shall be photographed and
specified in the test report after each test.

6.8 Evaluation of test results

The fire loss at the test assembly shall be evaluated in terms of quantity aspects. The fol-
lowing issues are taken into account:

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VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01) Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1

1. Determination of loss:
 length of burnt cables on both cable trays (50 %)
 area of charred surfaces at the sidewall of the cable trays (50 %)

The percentages given in the brackets describe the extent to which the criterion goes into
the pass/fail evaluation.

2. Determination of peak temperatures:

This evaluation refers to the temperatures reached after operation of the first sprinkler/
first water mist sprinkler. The temperature curves measured during the test are averaged
over a period of 30 s (maximum interval between measurements 1 s), and from the
averaged curves the peak temperatures shall be determined.

The average gas temperature at the ceiling is the average of the three peak
temperatures.

The tests have been passed, when the following applies:

 The total averaged damage of the water mist test series is less than or equal to the
total averaged damage of the sprinkler test (Spr.1).
 The total averaged ceiling gas temperature of the water mist test series is less than
or equal to the total averaged ceiling gas temperature of the sprinkler test (Spr.1).

In case of a negative result of a water mist test, the test series may be repeated only with
modified parameters of the system to be approved (e. g. higher design density, smaller
water mist sprinkler distances). In this case the entire test series of sprinkler and fine
water spray tests shall be repeated.

7 Test Report
The results of the tests shall be documented in a test report.

The test report shall be submitted to VdS as electronic document (pdf) and on paper duly
and legally binding signed by the originator. The test report acc. to EN ISO/IEC 17025
shall include at least the following:

 Title of the document

 name and address of the test laboratory and the location where the tests were carried
out if this is not the address of the test laboratory
 clear identification marking on the test report (e. g. serial number), and an
identification marking on every page to ensure that this page can be recognised to be
part of the test report, and a clear marking at the end of the test report
 name and address of the customer
 description of the used procedure
 description of the test set-up and the main parameters of the system to be tested
 test results with measuring units where applicable
 statement of compliance/non-compliance with requirements and/or specifications
 name(s), position(s), and signature(s) or equivalent designation of the person(s) who
authorise(s) the test report

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Part 3: Protection of False Ceilings and False Floor of OH Group 1 VdS 3883-3en : 2020-06 (01)

Moreover, the data acquired by measurement with unique identification of the measuring
points shall be delivered to VdS in an appropriate form (e. g. ASCII or MS Excel) as soon
as the tests are complete.

8 Films and photographs

VdS will take photos and films as part of the procedure. This applies in particular to the
test setup before and after the test (including damages).

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