I used to have the same opinion and still do in many cases, but not to the same extent.
For the last 9 months, I have been working on a project to be built in China. We have Chinese engineers and designers here in our office and an extremely capable fire protection design engineer. I've been very impressed with their capabilities. There are GB standards in China, which are in some cases stricter than ours and go back 20 years. In 2004, NFPA signed a licensing agreement with the Chinese Fire Department and Chinese Ministry of Public Safety for translation and use of key codes and standards. The initial intent was to guide Chinese authorities in preparation for 2008 Olympics. The NFPA standards are not yet mandatory throughout China. The GB standards are the legal documents and are surprisingly detailed. Where GB standards exceed NFPA requirements, they have to be followed. If the GB standards do not cover something, or NFPA documents are stricter, the AHJ's have not problems with NFPA being followed. Regarding the manufacture and supply of bogus or lesser quality materials, the Chinese engineer knows that to be the case and always lets me know. There are many reputable suppliers in China, who follow Chinese approval standards. American listings are not required, but are recognized as being reliable. Fire protection devices and equipment used in China have to be Chinese approved. The bogus UL/FM/ULC stuff is being shipped out. This is just another example of where 90% bad apples make the other 10% look bad. On another note that many of you will find humorous. My Chinese friend told me that he had expected all Americans to have guns with them at all times because that's what he saw on TV and movies. Jim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 06/20/2008 08:25 AM Please respond to sprinklerforum To <[email protected]> cc Subject RE: Bogus Listing on Sprinklers Brought to you from the reverse engineering experts, our good friends in China. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Group Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ch2m.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Matthew J. Willis Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 7:59 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Bogus Listing on Sprinklers Some useful information. If the mail handler chops the links to bits, just highlight and cut and paste. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ul-warns-of-counterfeit-automati c-fi re-sprinklers,440032.shtml http://www.ul.com/newsroom/newsrel/nr061808.html (for pics of the sprinklers in questions) R/ Matt Matthew J. Willis Living Water Fire Protection, LLC. 1160 McKenzie Rd. PO Box 877 Cantonment, FL. 32533 850-937-1850 Voice 850-937-1852 Facsimile [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) ------------------------------------------------------------ The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain proprietary, business-confidential and/or privileged material. If you are not the intended recipient of this message you are hereby notified that any use, review, retransmission, dissemination, distribution, reproduction or any action taken in reliance upon this message is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender and may not necessarily reflect the views of the company. ------------------------------------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
