Fire protection tank – why is it important to have a CNBOP-PIB certificate?

Water is the most important thing

Appropriate water storage is one of the most important elements of fire protection. Correctly calculated demand, labeling and easy access to tanks, protection against freezing and the quality of water itself (free of contaminants and elements such as plastic bags or leaves) are the most frequently mentioned aspects at industry conferences by representatives of the Fire Service.

Legal requirements regarding the equipment of fire protection tanks are relatively precisely defined in Poland. The authority receiving the tank checks the correctness of its construction from a legal, normative and practical point of view, also allowing for the possibility of deviations for e.g. technical or operational reasons. The most important thing, of course, is to ultimately ensure the highest possible fire protection.

Role of CNBOP

A product that has a certificate, test results or documentation increases the certainty that it will provide the highest possible safety from a technical perspective. One of such “certificates” is the approval certificate issued by CNBOP-PIB. Scientific and Research Center for Fire Protection Józefa Tuliszkowski – National Research Institute is a research institute of the State Fire Service, whose mission is to ensure public security of the State, in particular in the field of fire protection, environmental engineering, and civil protection. It is CNBOP-PIB that examines and approves products such as tanks (and inspects their manufacturers) that are responsible for “ensuring public safety or protection of health, life and property” for use by fire brigades.

Portable water tank as a year-round tank

The Exflo Waterbase F tank has obtained a certificate of approval from CNBOP-PIB as a portable water tank, thus confirming its suitability for ensuring safety and use by the Fire Service. It is worth noting that the same Waterbase F tank, after adding a few external elements (without changes in the structure), can operate all year round, even in winter conditions (graphics below).

1. Water
2. Tank coat
3. Thermal insulation
4. Tank cover
5. Vent valve
6. Venting – overflow elbow
7. Filling connection
8. Inlet connections with valve protection kit
9. Heating mats with temperature sensor
10. Switchgear
11. Sand bedding

The path to the CNBOP-PIB Certificate

Our process of creating a product that will obtain an approval certificate took almost a year. Over ten years of experience in the flexible tank industry and cooperation with demanding customers (QHSE procedures and rules) helped us a lot. The period before the CNBOP study included, among others:

• consultations with appraisers, firefighters, component suppliers
• investments in production facilities and control devices and instruments
• design, production and testing of tanks
• organizational changes, procedures and company processes

Obtaining the CNBOP-PIB certificate of approval for tanks manufactured by Exflo consisted of two final stages:

1. Product Testing at the CNBOP-PIB Laboratory (including evaluation of documentation): a positive test result means compliance with the requirements, safety and appropriate tightness of the product
2. Assessment of Technical and Organizational Conditions (WTO): checking many aspects that ensure that each tank sent from our company is equally made and equally safe

CNBOP-PIB inspection: how EVERYTHING is controlled

The CNBOP-PIB audit team carried out an inspection – WTO assessment, strictly verifying how the following areas operate at Exflo:

• Operating the production plant;
• Production organization;
• Organizational structure, responsibility and authorities;
• Complaints;
• Staff competences and training;
• Management of normative documents;
• Inspection of manufactured products
• Construction documentation of the product(s);
• Purchases and supply control;
• Inspection and testing during production;
• Inspection and testing of the finished product;
• Supervision of control and measurement equipment;
• Service, storage, packaging, marking of products;
  Product traceability;

Due to the dynamic development in recent years, we deliberately did not introduce the ISO system at Exflo, trying to develop the best possible processes for organizing work and ensuring the highest possible quality. We have created a system that is consistent with our corporate philosophy and at the same time ensured that the high requirements of WTO assessment by CNBOP-PIB auditors are met. In practice, the work organization system at Exflo includes:

• QHSE Book and over 20 pages of process cards
• Defined processes and responsibilities
• Tests and supply inspections
• Strictly defined stages of production, supervision and product control
• Registered reviews and inspections of equipment necessary for production and measurements
• Data archiving for up to 10 years, enabling analysis of factors affecting product quality.

From our side, i.e. the manufacturer, this means full control over the path in which, after consultations with an Exflo advisor, the “virtual” order is transformed into processes and components to ultimately become a water tank for use by fire protection units. The path to the creation of the reservoir is not that short. The production process of the Exflo Waterbase F tank itself includes:

• 40 fully controlled production stages
• 11 fully controlled packaging stages
  up to
• 10 pressure checks during product production (individual stages of production are completed with checks to eliminate errors of devices, components or operators)