Watermist systems are highly effective but must be designed with the exact environment in mind. As the design of a system is often almost entirely unique, every system should be tested prior to installation.
At the Fire Protection Association, we offer testing on residential and domestic watermist systems to BS EN 14972-17:2025. We are passionate about improving fire safety standards across the built environment and we are proud to be leading the way as the first UKAS accredited testing laboratory in the UK to offer this important British Standard test.
Third party testing conducted by a UKAS accredited laboratory evidences the effectiveness of a system via an industry approved method, assuring residential and domestic system designers and installers that their system has been tested to the highest standard and will perform as intended, when installed under the test conditions, should a fire occur.
Our independent Fire Testing Laboratory provides an ideal environment in which to research and develop residential and domestic systems, and we also have the capability to undertake watermist nozzle testing for industrial, commercial, domestic, and residential systems.
Why test to BS EN 14972-17?
BS EN 14972-17:2025 - Fixed firefighting systems. Water mist systems - Test protocol for residential occupancies for automatic nozzle systems replaces the BS 8458 standard which was withdrawn in July 2025.
The suite of test protocols for BS EN 14972-17 has been introduced as part of a European harmonisation effort for watermist systems and the UK is duty bound to adopt BS EN 14972-17 as part of the CENELEC agreement.
BS EN 14972-17 is identical in many ways to Annex C from BS 8458 but notable differences include:
- Provisions for fire testing sidewall watermist nozzles – these were unable to be tested before
- Greater flexibility in fuel materials – some alternatives to Pinus Sylvestris are permitted, which has become harder to source
- Ceiling height requirements - the corner test is to be completed at both 2.5m and 3.5m
- Minor procedural changes for test houses.
Whilst there is no legislative requirement for systems that have previously been successfully tested to BS 8458 to now be tested to BS EN 14972-17, designers and installers may wish to do so to evidence that their system has been tested against the latest fire performance test standard, providing assurance of its effectiveness in a fire scenario.
Download our fire research and testing brochure.
The FPA is a UKAS accredited testing laboratory No. 10536