Fire Safe Certificates Fall Short Without Strict Interpretation of the Test Standard

The article shows that fire-safe testing often creates a false sense of security in practice because test results are misinterpreted or incompletely executed. Although many petrochemical companies require fire-safe certification, essential boundary conditions such as minimum fire temperature, test pressure, cavity-pressure monitoring and pressure-relief provisions are not always applied correctly. ITIS regularly observes that valves do not actually reach the required 750–1,000 °C during the burn or that steam formation and pressure build-up influence the measurements. The result is certificates that appear formally valid yet cannot reliably predict the behaviour of valves, seals and cavities under real fire conditions, posing direct risks to installation safety and compliance. These shortcomings become visible during a properly executed Fire Safe test under controlled fire conditions.

According to Colin Zegers, strict adherence to and correct interpretation of ISO 10497 are essential to demonstrably safeguard fire safety. The standard sets clear requirements for test set-up, temperature control, pressure monitoring and re-qualification after material changes because small deviations can have major consequences during a fire. As an active member of ISO/TC 153 and an independent specialist in fire-safe testing, Zegers stresses that end users themselves must verify whether fire-safe certificates fall within the valid qualification range. Anyone who wants to understand why fire-safe by design only works when technical discipline and compliance with standards are maintained will find crucial insights in the full article that cannot be ignored.