Howdy,
The mfg/company who has made or treated his
goods should have provided him the certs originally...but whether its FR or
IFR treated--the retardants do not last for 20 years and neither do the certs stay valid that long. If he got them treated 20 years ago--past time for a re-treatment...
Safety first..we don't want any unprofessional or shady 'fake certs' done when it comes to
safety... Having a hard time about providing a FR certification is nothing compared to the hard time he would get if a fire broke out and his
softgoods were the contributing factor... Hate to be a broken record...but--Great White/The Station fire--the fallout & suits from that accident held no bounds--right down to the
speaker manufacture (JBL I think) got sued because their
speaker cones &
insulation inside the speakers were not flameproof and contributed to injury and death...even the guy who filmed parts of it that we saw on the news was sued because 'he didn't help and was in the way'...so getting a cert is not a hard time--not having a cert and having a fire IS a much harder time....
Also to note--if he is in NY and the show is in NY--if I recall the NYFD rule for theater flame certs is they are only considered valid for one year from treatment date. Important to note. I've toured all over the US--some houses want to see the certs...some trust or don't care...some have to make a copy for insurance purposes before you can hang... Just cause no one ever asks doesn't mean the drops &
softgoods shouldn't be treated routinely...the liability fallouts from an accident don't discriminate on being naive...
Lots of companies out there to do a good FR treatment and provide a cert...if in New York then there are just dozens of companies who can treat and cert.. I can think of a company called "Guaranteed On Site Flame Certs" in NJ....another called Advanced Flameproofing or something like that....then there is
Rosebrand in NJ....I-Weiss is in NJ...and I think "SewWhat" is also in NJ--most softgood retailers & sellers will do treatments.....but a google search on Theatrical Flame Retardant Services should yield results. Your friend can shop around OR he can ask the
venue who they suggest he use as they may have someone or several options...
-w
I am having a Similar Problem for certs being requested by the local town FM/
AHJ in small township in the NE. We are putting up Producers in a week and the "Leo Bloom" Presents
Drop was a part of a package of scenery bought for the show from another
theatre in the direct Boston city area so there
AHJ rules I assume are even more strict than
NFPA 701 (I believe that to be the NFP code our
AHJ is requesting to be followed).
The theater we purchased from will provide us a letter of proof that the
drop was treated.... but this is not a "true cert" and we may be forced to forgo using this
drop..
Drop is
Muslin and assured was purchased as treated
muslin. and then painted on both sides with water based black for approx 98% of the surface areas except where the Lettering of the Bloom
drop is just the
Muslin. Does haing it painted on both sides not help increase the FR nature of the
drop if it is water
base paint?
I have even asked that the
AHJ perform a Burn Test but
AHJ seems to be uncomfortable with that as there is assumption that even if a Burn Test passes that the entire
drop could not be assumed to have the same treatment consistency coverage. I understand the
AHJ's position and we are all very closely located to where the Station nightclub fire took place and many know people that were lost in that sad event.
I have also been advised by a reputable FR company that it would make more sense for us to do the FR application ourselves but our
AHJ does not want to accept that even though we would be sending a sample of the treated
goods to receive a cert since this is exactly what a FR company would do.. The
AHJ wants the FR company to be on the hook for liability if the
drop(s) were used and somehow where a contributing factor to a fire.
I inquired about what type of liability insurance the FR companies would provide in this case .. and the answer was a
bit surprising as they could not answer what there liabiltiy would be in this case..... So I am wondering if our
AHJ is being misguided somehow that having a professional FR application also provides an inferred or implied liability insurance clause for the services... I am not so sure that is the case..
I looked into a way to become a Licensed or certified/trained FR applicator and I have been told that there is no Licensing for such a process by a reputable and professional FR company.
In other local professional houses the application is done by local
stage employess.. records are kept.. there local
AHJ does a Burn test and a sample material is sent out to get an official cert. This seems quite reasonable but our particular
AHJ wants to have no part in allowing us to perform our own FR applications..
So I am hoping that someone has a suggestion.. please... please ...as to how to approach and reassure our
AHJ that a Burn Test is the right way to go along with a letter of assurance from the former owner of the
drop that it was FR treated...
I have also reached out the same local FR company and they are concerned about applying over a painted
drop and I can only assume that they fear it may ruin the
drop by causing the paint to run...
Any suggestions are welcome.. please... I really don't want to have to eliminate this
drop form the show..
Many thanks for any response..