Fire protection
The rooms that hold a data centre's UPS, its batteries and its switchgear are where electrical faults start and where water does the most damage. This section explains the gas-based systems used to protect them, the early warning detection that comes before them, how the systems are inspected, and what a fire or a discharge means for the UPS itself.
Because they hold the equipment that keeps the data centre running, and the wrong extinguishing method can do as much harm as the fire. A UPS room combines power electronics, battery strings and cabling under load; a sprinkler discharge there means wet electrical equipment and a long outage even when the fire was small. Gas-based clean-agent systems were developed for exactly these spaces. Honeywell's manual describes them as designed for hazards where an electrically non-conductive agent is required, where agent clean-up creates a problem and where the room is normally occupied.
The UPS and battery room fire protection guide goes through what a fire, or a discharge, means for the UPS and the batteries; it is the page to read first if the UPS is your responsibility.
Two families: halocarbon agents such as HFC-227ea and FK-5-1-12, and inert gases such as IG-541 and IG-55. The halocarbons are discharged in seconds; Honeywell's FK-5-1-12 systems are designed to discharge in 6 to 10 seconds. Inert gases take longer and work by lowering the oxygen level; Honeywell's IG-541 systems discharge in 60 to 120 seconds. How each works, and where each fits, is in the clean-agent systems guide, along with what 3M's exit from PFAS manufacturing means for FK-5-1-12.
Before any agent is released. Aspirating detection such as VESDA draws air from the room through sampling pipes and can raise an alert while smoke is still invisible. Xtralis' specification gives four alarm levels, with the second one able to trip an equipment shutdown relay and the fourth able to release the suppression system. See VESDA and aspirating early warning detection.
By regular checks of the agent quantity and pressure, the controls and the room itself. Both manufacturer manuals cited here call for the agent quantity and pressure to be checked at least every six months. The clean-agent inspection service page sets out the full schedule and what each visit records.
Sprinklers are often required by code, and for lithium-ion battery rooms Vertiv notes that the 2018 edition of NFPA 1 requires them. A clean-agent system is usually added to protect the electrical equipment from fire without water damage.
3M completed its exit of PFAS manufacturing at the end of 2025. The US EPA's list names FK-5-1-12 under several trade names besides Novec 1230, so for an existing system, ask the system's maker which agent source it lists for refills.
The agent quantity and pressure are checked at least every six months, and the whole system is inspected and tested at least once a year, as the manufacturer manuals cited on these pages set out.
Fire protection work is delivered through specialist fire protection subcontractors; the UPS and battery owner supplies the battery chemistry, the heat load and the power shutdown plan they need.
Sources, checked 2026-10-04:
Tell us the site, the UPS and the timing. We reply and quote within 4 business hours, or call 1 (438) 800-0382
Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are used only to identify the equipment we service. We are not the manufacturer and are not affiliated with it.