BAFE opens new Emergency Evacuation Scheme with four-week consultation period

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BAFE has announced its new Emergency Evacuation Scheme, which is available to view and comment on for a four-week consultation period by industry.

BAFE SP207 covers the design installation, commissioning and maintenance of evacuation alert systems. These systems are used by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats (including single-storey flats and maisonettes) across the UK. The Scheme has been developed with the support and cooperation of the National Security Inspectorate (NSI), Gerda and other industry parties.

The new BAFE Scheme observes best practice and the recent standard developed by BSI, BS 8629 (Code of practice for the design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of evacuation alert systems for use by fire and rescue services in buildings containing flats), published in November 2019.

BAFE has made the BAFE SP207 Evacuation Alert Systems Scheme Document available to view and has launched a four-week consultation period requesting comment from the fire safety industry, Fire and Rescue Services and the wider safety industry for comment.

BSI has commented the BS 8629 Standard “exists to help ensure that systems are fit for purpose and to encourage uniformity. If systems look and function the same way in every building, firefighters won’t waste any time understanding how they work.”

In May 2020 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published a document: Government Response: Sprinklers and Other Fire Safety Measures in New High-Rise Blocks of Flats. In this it revealed that 92% of respondents believe that Approved Document B “should include a requirement for an emergency evacuation [alert] system, which could support fire and rescue services operational response by alerting residents if they need to escape.”

Government responded that “there was also strong support in the consultation responses for the inclusion of guidance on an evacuation alert system for high-rise blocks of flats, although many respondents also raised concerns about the use of this new technology.”

BAFE highlights that it was always planning to develop a Scheme to support the industry with a robust method of providing evidence of competency to work with these systems. The organisation strongly believes these systems in more buildings, when implemented correctly, will aid Fire and Rescue Services across the UK in saving lives.

The BAFE SP207 Evacuation Alert Systems Scheme consultation runs from 03/08/2020 to 31/08/2020 (closing at 11:45pm). Upon official publication, Third Party Certification for this Scheme will be available via NSI.

www.bafe.org.uk/

Pandemic support for ambulance service ends after completion of almost 1500 hours of work

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Firefighters in Northamptonshire will this week bring their programme of ambulance service support efforts to a close, having completed almost 1500 hours of work during the pandemic.

Since the end of April, on-call firefighters from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) have completed 146 shifts to support East Midlands Ambulance Service, amounting to just under 1500 hours of work.

Early in the pandemic, NFRS became one of the fire and rescue services asked to take part in work which included performing tasks such as driving Urgent Care vehicles and the safe moving and handling of patients.

Other services in the region asked to participate included Humberside, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.

In total, 12 firefighters from NFRS took part in supporting the work of EMAS during the Covid-19 pandemic.

NFRS Group Manager Stefan Douglas said: “All the firefighters who have supported this work for EMAS have volunteered to take this on and it has been a huge learning experience for them, and a rewarding one.

“Although this was borne out of managing an extremely challenging situation, there have been positives in the work the organisations have done together. The individuals who took part in the scheme have been able to take back additional skills to their on-call stations and EMAS has learned more about our way of working too.”

In order to carry out the work alongside Urgent Care colleagues in EMAS, firefighters undertook specialist training to gain the skills needed to perform their new roles.

Michael Jones, General Manager for Northamptonshire at East Midlands Ambulance Service said:

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of our colleagues from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service during these unprecedented times, helping to support our staff and patients who need us the most.

“We already work very closely with NFRS through our Emergency Services Volunteers and so this extra support has built on the great relationship we have with the fire service.

“A big thank you to all who have stepped forward to help.”

NFRS Firefighters remain ready to resume their role supporting EMAS should the need arise.

www.northantsfire.gov.uk/

Tyco presents HVAC safety solutions for removal of flammable gas from hazardous areas

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HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning) safety systems from Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions provide dilution, dispersion and removal of potentially hazardous concentrations of flammable gas gaseous mixtures from hazardous areas. The HVAC plant provides pressure differential between hazardous and non-hazardous areas. In addition they provide comfortable environments for living conditions.

Air Handling Units

We work with some of the top Air Handling Unit manufacturers around the World.  We specialise in the refurbishment and repair of existing systems, to ensuring equipment is fit for purpose and fully operational.  Our design team have worked with many different clients to provide bespoke solutions for some of the harshest environments around the World.

Fans

Supply and extract Fans are an important part of essential ventilation systems. Ensuring their performance and operation is key to the safety of equipment and personnel. Tyco Fire & Integrated Solutions are able to supply and repair all types of Fan’s and specialise in the maintenance of this equipment.

Fire Dampers

Fire Dampers are instrumental in the safe operation of HVAC systems in Hazardous areas. The prevention of Fire, Smoke and Gas ingress is essential in Offshore and Onshore locations and ensuring the operation of this equipment falls within the recommended standards is of upmost importance. Our engineering team and Offshore Service teams understand these requirements and have assisted many clients with this type of equipment.

HVAC Equipment

In addition to the previously mentioned equipment, we also design and supply a full range of standard and non standard HVAC equipment.  These include, Heaters & Controls, Filters, Weather Louvers/ Moisture Eliminators, Attenuators, Grills/Diffusers, Ductwork and many other items.  We design and manufacture Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning equipment for the Oil, Gas, Petrochemical, Marine, Nuclear and Process Industries.

HVAC Consultancy, Design & CAD

Tyco Fire & Integrated Solution’s Environmental design team comprises of consulting engineers, project engineers, designers and CAD operators whose combined experience has overcome most design challenges likely to be encountered.

Examples:

  • Hazardous Area Ventilation
  • Smoke and Gas ingress analysis
  • Central Air Conditioning Plant
  • Accommodation and process filtration
  • Fire damper and ESD systems
  • Galley and equipment room cooling
  • Hazardous Area Air Conditioning
  • LEV Design

www.tyco.no/

BRNS Group maintains compliant fire safety with Amthal

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UK residential property management and letting company, BRNS Group has partnered with Amthal Fire & Security to deliver on fire maintenance for its extensive London development portfolio.

BRNS Group provides a full, integrated service of management and letting in property, from acquisition and refurbishment, through letting and management.  It has entrusted 20 plus luxury developments through the Capital and Greater London.

Working closely with Amthal, BRNS Group established a maintenance system that could secure residents fire safety systems across its property portfolio.  This is especially in communal areas, including all fire alarms, emergency lighting, automatic opening vents, dry-risers, sprinkles and associated services.

Says Cassandra Orhan – Jones, Estate Manager at BRNS Group: “Fire safety is an ongoing priority for BRNS Group to continue to deliver a safe living environment, and one we commit with our legal responsibility.  Whilst this is a clear enough statement, the considerations and precautions to be taken are challenging due to the large tenure of property we look after.

“We found Amthal through recommendation as a support supplier. Amthal’s team has proven to be responsive at any time of day or night, helpful in offering invaluable advice, right from site surveys through to ongoing planned preventative maintenance and emergency 247 on site demands and telephone support. Their knowledge of the industry and proposed changes to Government legislation on fire safety is also hugely reassuring to ensure we remain compliant.”

Fire safety for residential developments is currently under Government review to implement recommendations from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, including effecting change and requirements for responsible persons through the Fire Safety and Building Safety Bill, under the guidance of a new Building Safety Regulator

Phil Bryant, Amthal Fire & Security, Strategic Accounts Team Manager: “The introduction of the new Government legislation on fire safety will have a significant impact on the role of responsible persons, who will face ‘enforceable action’ from emergency services if they do not manage fire risk in a building’s structure.

“As BRNS Group has shown, by proactively taking action and having a fire safety partner such as Amthal in place with dedicated maintenance plans, we can constantly review each development to ensure residents are always protected and take action where necessary or essential.  BRNS Group can be assured that they are compliant and achieving all their operational and legal requirements.”

Independently owned, Amthal Fire & Security is dedicated to satisfying end user needs for security safety and convenience offering design, installation, service and remote monitoring of advanced electronic fire & security solutions, including intruder, Fire, Access and CCTV systems.

Amthal Fire & Security is accredited by the Security Systems and Alarm Inspection Board (SSAIB) United Kingdom Accreditation Services (UKAS) and British Approvals for Fire Equipment (BAFE.)

For more information, please visit www.amthal.co.uk

Chubb presents high tech solutions to protect data centres from fire

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Due to the growing usage of mobile data, the production and consumption of rich internet content anytime and anywhere, as well as secure data storage demand from a variety of industries, our lives now rely on data centres. These data centres host and manage the data that makes our day-to-day activities possible – from energy and lighting, to urban traffic management, collaborating with friends, family, co-workers and customers, and even security systems.

Data centres are one of the fastest-growing categories of real estate assets in our cities, and London alone has over 300 data centres. According to commercial real estate firm JLL, there are currently 63.4 million square feet of data-centre space globally and another 4.3 million square feet under construction*. The U.S. and EU currently have the most, and the number in the Middle East and Asia is also growing rapidly**.

Data centres are large, complex and mission-critical facilities. The high-value equipment contained within them needs to be running 24/7/365 with uninterrupted electricity and a constant flow of cool air to secure IT equipment and information. Any interruptions to its operation can have an enormous ripple effect. The operational risks around any disruption are high, in terms of time, money and reputation. A recent report found that, on average, a single hour of downtime can cost an organisation around $300,000***.

One of the key operational disruption risks to a data centre can be from a fire event. The threat of fire at a data centre is higher than people might imagine, with electrical fires a significant risk given the vast networks of power, cabling and electronic equipment used. The risk of fire not only poses a threat to property and human safety, it can also pose a dramatic threat to a business. For co-location and cloud service providers, fire events can be highly significant as service providers are often held to strict service level agreements for application availability.

Businesses rely on highly technical, advanced computer storage and networking resource availability. These are dependent on the availability and performance of the underlying critical infrastructure of which fire systems is an important component. For some businesses, a power outage at a data centre would be detrimental to its survival. For example, ‘business as usual’ at a financial services institution, such as a bank or trading platform, would be seriously compromised by a data centre fire. Hospitals also rely on huge swathes of readily available data and computer power, and so are dependent on the fire and security measures in place to avoid an outage. It is true that fire events are not commonplace, however, they can be costly and catastrophic.

The dependence of businesses on data centres is only going to increase, with the global roll out of 5G in addition to the rise in company outsourcing to third parties for their data needs. This has resulted in the development of large-scale data centres, utilising Internet of Things (IoT) technology or providing AI/ML capabilities, which use high speed and high power. Seconds matter when dealing with data centres, so the solutions need to be fast-acting. They also have to be very reliable, as false alarms result in unnecessary stoppages, which must be avoided at all cost.

There are a number of different ways of protecting a data centre from fire. Before deciding on the type of system required to protect a data centre, it is important to conduct a risk analysis to understand the needs of the organisation, the environment and the main risks. This analysis is complicated by the fact that the data centre industry is constantly evolving, with the development of new technologies and systems posing new challenges for fire and security professionals. For example, Edge Computing systems feature high-powered and advanced data processing at the edge of a network and are typically “lights-out” compared to a centralised data processing centre. This means that fire and security systems have to be set up and engaged remotely, often without industry professionals present. Adding to this complexity, is the high speed processing and power densities that can result in higher temperatures across the network.

In the case of the Hong Kong financial markets operator, after a thorough study of the existing operational and fire and security protection requirements, Chubb designed and recommended an intelligent, integrated solution. This leveraged 3,000 fire detectors and a surveillance system with 400 CCTV cameras to enhance building safety.

One of the choices for fire and security protection methods is between a water or gas solution. Gas protection consists of injecting halogenated gas into the room, which both reduces the oxygen content and interferes with the combustion process.

A second method is to reduce the oxygen level by injecting an inert gas into the room. When activated, gas systems may require evacuation of staff if the event is not localised. However, in order to minimise disruption to the data centre, the extinguishing gas nozzles can be fitted with sound absorbers that limit the noise associated with gas release and prevent damage to data centre equipment.

Alternatively, there are two water-based options to consider – conventional sprinkler or water mist systems. Water mist will spray a fine, high-pressure water mist into the burning area. It may sound strange to introduce water into an area with electricity and mission-critical information, but in fact the high-pressure water mist system brings together the best of sprinkler and gas methods and is highly suitable for suppressing fires.

Indeed, it can be favoured in certain instances because in order to incorporate methods using gas, the room housing the data centre needs to be either purpose-built with gas suppression in mind or retrofitted to withstand a semi-pressurised environment.

The systems involving water do not require the room to be pressure sealed, the ventilation system to be switched off, or require people to be evacuated. The discharge is localised so it minimises the water damage, and resetting to standby position is both fast and inexpensive.

However, recently, a shift has been taking place across our cities, as buildings utilise integrated solutions to manage their fire and security solutions. An integrated system can include surveillance systems, fire suppression systems and alarms – all aligned to optimise response time and protect vital internal infrastructure. In Hong Kong, we helped a financial client utilise 3,000 fire detectors and a surveillance system with 400 CCTV cameras to enable them to have real-time video of fire alarm scenes. The data centre operators can see the actual fire situation, so the whole process of identification to extinguishing takes 10 seconds, reduced from 15 minutes with a traditional fire alarm response.

The dependence of businesses on data centres is only going to increase. Key considerations across all these system choices are safety, cost of implementation and best utilisation of the space available. In addition to this, it is important to be mindful of the impact on the environment and operations around the systems that make up part of the data centre’s infrastructure. Ultimately, business continuity is the most important factor for data centre fire solutions.

Footnotes 

*https://www.jll.co.uk/en/trends-and-insights/investor/global-capital-shows-commitment-to-booming-data-centre-market

**Kaiser Research – Technavio (2016) Global Data Center Market 2016 -2020

***Gartner: The cost of downtime

www.chubbfiresecurity.com

DuPont publishes 2020 Sustainability Report

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DuPont has announced the release of its 2020 Sustainability Report, which is the first for DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (following its separation from DowDuPont), and covers integrated activities during the calendar year 2019.

DuPont’s innovation culture and diverse portfolio position the company to deliver science-based solutions that create sustainable, positive societal change and competitive advantages in essential areas such as clean water, health and safety, high- speed connectivity, and automotive electrification. Among the many ways the company’s competitive differentiators are being harnessed to create social and environmental advantage are its investment in advanced technologies for 5G networks to support more connected, sustainable communities, and DuPont’s AHEAD™ automotive program, which will help accelerate the transportation industry’s transformation to hybrid and electric vehicles.

DuPont’s 2030 Sustainability Goals underscore the importance of bringing sustainable innovations to market and draw inspiration from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), which help to gauge what the biggest market drivers will be in the years to come and chart a clear path ahead for its businesses.

“At the end of 2019, we announced our 2030 Sustainability Goals—nine ambitious, long-term goals developed to amplify our company’s contributions in areas that are critically important to our stakeholders and society,” said Alexa Dembek, DuPont Chief Technology & Sustainability Officer. “In this, our first sustainability report, we introduce our roadmap to meet our goals, hold ourselves accountable, and track our progress. You’ll read about how we engage our colleagues and the communities we live in by empowering people to drive change and be part of the solution. While the report tracks 2019 performance, this commitment is especially visible right now, as we find new ways to secure the health and safety of our own teams, recommit to our responsibilities to assure racial justice for Black Americans, and partner with fellow industry leaders to provide the protective equipment frontline workers, including many of our own, need to combat the pandemic.”

Highlights of the company’s 2019 performance include: 

  • In our operations, we continue to deliver world-class health and safety performance. In 2019, 75 percent of DuPont sites achieved zero injuries and/or illnesses, which is the best safety performance our businesses have ever recorded.
  • We are advancing water security, availability and quality worldwide through our filtration and purification technologies, and we’ve expanded our capabilities with strategic acquisitions of Memcor, Inge, Desalitech and OxyMem.
  • We partnered with Habitat for Humanity International to provide safe, affordable, and energy-efficient housing for people in need worldwide. In the second half of 2019, 400 DuPont employees donated more than 2,550 service hours to Habitat projects in 16 communities across the U.S. and Canada.
  • We continue to affirm our commitment to address climate change as a member of the CEO Climate Dialogue, a collaboration between large companies and NGOs working together to advance effective climate legislation in the U.S.
  • We were named to the 2019 Bloomberg Gender- Equality Index (GEI), and for the sixth year in a row, scored a perfect 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI).  

“DuPont’s businesses and employees have a long history of improving the world through science-based innovation and that is reflected today in an approach to sustainability that empowers people everywhere to be agents of change,” said Ed Breen, DuPont Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Our goals include achieving a more just and equitable world for all, which is why I felt it was so important to sign on to the Catalyst CEO Champions for Change, pledging to advance more women, particularly women of colour, into senior leadership positions and onto our board, and the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion pledge. In this period of profound global change and unprecedented health, economic, and societal challenges, I expect this first Sustainability Report will be the foundation for meaningful change, with DuPont innovation helping to lead the way to dramatic improvements on multiple fronts.”

https://www.dupont.com/about/sustainability.html

Honeywell launches digitised workforce management suite

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Honeywell has announced a complete, modular software solution to help industrial companies enforce compliance with key health and safety requirements as their employees returning to the workplace, including body temperature checks and automated entry management processes.

Leveraging Digitised Workforce Management with real-time location functionality, the solution facilitates site monitoring compliance in accordance with social distancing policies and enables contact tracing and monitoring of worker safety. It also includes remote collaboration capabilities to empower company operations with a reduced workforce.

As part of a broader Plant & Personnel Safety portfolio, Honeywell Digitised Workforce Management – Business Continuity and Response solution combines software and hardware technology to support return to work and transition to operations.

The system can support Honeywell thermal cameras that can be used with systems compliant with NDAA 2019, Section 889 to check for elevated body temperatures and provide input to the access control system. This can enable operators to restrict entryway access if an elevated temperature is detected helping to automate the preliminary screening process and reducing manual tasks. This helps to optimise the individual and collective risk profiles of the workforce. Digitising the entryway approval workflow for visitors and returning employees and contractors enables organisations to onboard the workforce  efficiently, leveraging workforce management and access control into a new layer of protection.

“These new layers of protection help industrial companies bring their workforce back to work with greater protections, at the appropriate time,” said Pierre Van Neste, global director of sales, Plant & Personal Safety, Honeywell Process Solutions. “These protections don’t just provide utility here and now – they give workers, businesses and industry alike a broader solution for preparedness and situational awareness in the future.”

Honeywell’s integrated safety and security solutions with digitised workforce management software creates scalable support services for clients to minimise the risk of exposure and transmission within their workplace while enabling business continuity and accelerating a managed return to safe operations.

For more information, please visit Honeywell’s Plant and Personnel Safety Solutions.

AP Sensing: above-ground conveyor belt monitoring

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AP Sensing is monitoring conveyor belts at the largest salt production site in Germany. The Zielitz Plant extracts approximately 12 million tons of crude salts per year and the mine operator, K+S, is an international mining company with sites across five continents.

K+S pursued an AP Sensing fire detection solution for early detection on conveyor belt bridges. Such bridges typically have a wooden floor, which would burn quickly. AP Sensing’s Linear Heat Detection (LHD) protects these conveyor belt bridges, and due to the project’s success and AP Sensing’s scope of certifications, K+S and AP Sensing entered a firm partnership to equip further sites.

In total, 22 conveyor belts are monitored with 11 LHD devices spread across the entire site. The operator, K+S, conducted trials and a benchmark comparison at the beginning of the project, additionally testing thermo cameras and point sensors. But due to the salty air in the conveyor belt bridges, the other sensor types were unsatisfactory as the corrosion of components is high, visibility low, and the maintenance effort higher.

AP Sensing’s simple approach, combining our sensor cable along the conveyor and LHD units in different control rooms, is the best solution for this type of application and its tough environmental conditions.

Conveyor Belt Monitoring

The conveyor belts are used to transport the salt from the ground to the storage halls, mills, other production facilities and load out ramps. After an incident at another site where one conveyor belt bridge burned, K+S sought out a fire detection system. These conveyor belts are important to monitor as none of them are redundant.

Installation

Following a successful pilot installation, K+S installed 11 fibre optic LHD units. All units have two channels and work in a fully redundant setup. AP Sensing’s Sensor Cable Steel is installed along both sides of each conveyor to achieve maximum coverage and the fastest possible detection. The cable has been fixed with high temperature cable ties along a tension wire.

Fire Coverage

To guarantee quality and reliability in the harsh conditions of the mine, a robust and maintenance free fire detection system is necessary. This solution consists of over 10 km of cable distributed throughout the site, providing area coverage for the conveyors, three reclaim tunnels, the handling and preparation plant, and the train load out conveyor and bin.

Precision of detection is unaffected by wind, dust and harsh environmental effects. All LHD units transmit alarms via relay contacts to different alarm panels on site in order to inform the plant fire brigade immediately. Additionally, AP Sensing’s SmartVision™ asset visualisation software is in use to demonstrate the exact location of temperature events along the conveyors.

The project was successful and K+S used AP Sensing’s LHD solution for other K+S sites. AP Sensing’s DTS technology is ideal for the extreme environmental conditions often found in mines. It is fully certified, resilient and maintenance-free, withstanding extreme temperatures without losing monitoring capabilities. Fibre optic LHD provides a simple and cost-effective solution for minimising serious damage, protecting employees and reducing operational shutdowns.

www.apsensing.com/

FireWatch Solutions is named reseller of live earth’s real-time data analytics and visualisation platform

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FireWatch Solutions Inc., has been named a reseller of Live Earth’s Data Visualisation Platform, a real-time data visualisation system that connects a broad range of data sources. FireWatch Solutions will sell the software platform on a non-exclusive basis to non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with global operations and private security firms that support them.

Live Earth is a real-time data analytics and visualisation software platform that consolidates millions of data sources into a common operational picture. As a business intelligence product, customers benefit from increased situational awareness and location intelligence instantly from a single screen. Live Earth helps protect citizens and officers through a platform that integrates real-time monitoring and multiple systems simultaneously, giving a 360 degree visual of the community for more timely and accurate decision-making.

“Life Earth is a perfect software platform for any organisation that desires clarity and awareness on all the potential risks that could affect its operations,” said Brian von Kraus, CEO and Founder of FireWatch Solutions. “From weather impacts, to crime statistics, to video feeds, Live Earth meshes every data stream into one picture.”

Live Earth is unique in its ability to mesh any form of data into a common operational picture that is tailored to the special requirements of the client, according to von Kraus. “There is no other service as powerful and all-encompassing as Live Earth,” said von Kraus.

von Kraus said he first saw an earlier version of the product, called Ringtail, while serving as an operations officer in Marine Special Operations at a command centre in Afghanistan. “I was impressed by its capability to integrate almost any form of data and show it on the screen,” said von Kraus. Observers in the field worked with programmers to continually evolve the product and significantly expand its capability.

FireWatch will resell Live Earth to clients who seek to develop a higher level of situational awareness for their organisation at the local, regional, and global level. FireWatch will soon expand by providing 24/7 Global Security Operations Centre (GSOC) support, using Live Earth as the primary platform. The offering will allow companies to acquire a GSOC capability at a fraction of the cost of starting their own from scratch.

www.firewatchsolutions.com/

Fire truck leasing purchase programs from Pierce

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A municipal lease for a fire truck is not what you think it is – a common understanding is that leasing is borrowing an asset, often with high costs, and then forfeiting the asset back to the owner after a predetermined period of time.

Municipal fire truck leasing with Pierce Manufacturing looks quite a bit different. The Pierce Financial Solutions program offered by PNC Equipment Finance provides the industry’s most extensive line of lease plans for fleet replacement.

With industry-leading tax-exempt rates, zero documentation fees, and flexible payment plans that can bypass voter referendums, Pierce Financial Solutions offers an easy and affordable way to purchase apparatus in today’s challenging economic times.

Understanding the Elements of Leasing

It’s essential to understand municipal leases, tax-exempt interest and non-appropriation clauses to realise the full benefits of leasing fire apparatus.

A municipal lease is similar to an instalment sales contract or loan. The distinguishing features of a municipal lease are “tax-exempt interest” and a “non-appropriation clause.” In a municipal lease, the Lessee owns the asset subject to the Lessor’s security interest and has lien-free ownership at the end of the term after completing all payments.

Tax-Exempt Interest

The interest income on a municipal lease is exempt from federal tax. The Lessor passes these tax savings to the Lessee in the form of a lower interest rate. The current federal corporate tax rate is 21%, which means a municipality can borrow at an interest rate that is 79% of a rate issued to a commercial enterprise.

Non-Appropriation Clause

A non-appropriation clause enables the Lessee to terminate the lease agreement at the end of the current appropriation period without further obligation or penalty. This may be done only in cases where the Lessee was unable to obtain funding for future payment obligations under the lease. The non-appropriation clause enables the Lessee to account for the lease obligation as a current expense instead of debt. In the vast majority of states, a municipal lease can be approved without a time-consuming and expensive voter referendum since it is not accounted for as debt. Please note that a non-appropriation clause is not available for volunteer fire departments.

The benefits of leasing fire apparatus are clear. When a department chooses to lease, it can:

Conserve Cash

With leasing, a department only has to come up with a fraction of the cost of the apparatus versus the entire amount and can spread the entire capital cost gradually over time. Leases do not require down payments, and generally feature lower legal and administrative costs than bonds.

Lower Cost With Prepay Discounts

In a lease, PNC Equipment Finance prepays the order and accesses Pierce’s prepay discounts which reduce the cost of the apparatus, lowers annual payments thus conserving even more cash. A lease with prepay discounts is generally more cost effective than a bond financing that does not feature prepay discounts.

Defer Payments to Future Budget Years

Payments in a lease begin one year from the time of apparatus order allowing a department to purchase at today’s cost and interest rates. The interest rate and payments are fixed at the time of order which simplifies the budgeting process. A department needs the money in next year’s budget to purchase the apparatus today. In certain situations, payments can be deferred even longer.

Maintain Fleet Replacement Plans

Fire trucks are often the most valuable assets in public safety and a lease plan enables a department to adhere to its fleet replacement plans in any economic environment through line item budgeting of the apparatus investment. Older trucks with escalating maintenance costs and depreciating resale values can be replaced with newer apparatus with lower maintenance and warranties. Maintaining fleet replacement plans is critical to matching the new technology and infrastructure demands of communities today. New apparatus offers the latest advancements in both safety and operational efficiencies benefiting communities and their first responders.

Lease Purchase

Lease purchase is an option in which municipalities pay to own the apparatus. The terms for this product range from 2 to 12 years with a one-dollar purchase option. This plan is desirable for municipalities that prefer to have ownership of the apparatus but want to spread the capital costs over a period of time.

Turn-In Lease

A turn-in lease is an option in which departments pay to use the apparatus over a predetermined lease term. This plan contains a “balloon payment” for the estimated resale value of the apparatus at the end of the lease. Terms range from 2 to 10 years with multiple annual mileage options. At the end of the term, two options are available to the department:

  1. The department can purchase the apparatus by paying or financing the balloon payment.
  2. The department can turn in the apparatus to Pierce and purchase a new Pierce apparatus. In this case, Pierce pays the balloon payment on behalf of the department. This plan is preferable for municipalities that want to pay for the use of the apparatus over the term of the lease and desire a flexible, cost-effective fleet management program.

www.piercemfg.com/