Solvents and chemicals
Solvent is in use across dispensing, process and storage. Vapour travels, and it does not need much to light.
Industries we protectFire Protection Systems for
Fire Protection Systems for
Pharma & Life Sciences
A pharma site holds a lot of solvent, and rooms where putting a fire out can cost as much as the fire. We design, install and maintain detection that finds a problem early, and suppression that does not wreck the room it is protecting.
Industry overview
Fire Safety in Pharmaceutical and Life-Sciences Facilities
A pharma site is really several different buildings under one roof. Clean rooms and sterile production areas where you cannot simply fit a detector on the ceiling. Laboratories full of instruments worth more than the room. API and formulation plants where solvent is in use rather than just stored. Chemical and solvent stores, which carry the highest fire load on most sites. And cold rooms and finished-goods warehouses holding product that is already paid for.
What makes pharmaceutical fire protection different is that the response can cost as much as the fire. A sprinkler discharge in a clean room or a laboratory destroys product, instruments and validation the fire never got near. So the job here is finding a problem very early, and putting it out without wrecking the room.
We design, install, commission and maintain fire detection and suppression across all of those areas — manufacturing plants, cleanrooms, R&D and QC laboratories, API and formulation facilities, solvent stores, cold rooms and finished-goods warehousing.
- One contractor, start to finish Survey, design, supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance, all by us.
- Nothing added to a controlled room Air-sampling pipework inside, the detector itself outside the clean area.
- Suppression that leaves no residue Clean agent and inert gas in the rooms where water would cost more than the fire.
- Paperwork you can show an auditor Design, installation, commissioning and test records in a form a regulator will accept.
Risk profile
Key Fire and Safety Considerations
The six points we look at most closely when we survey a pharmaceutical site.
Panels, motors and process kit
Most fires on a plant start in something electrical. It usually begins inside an enclosure, where nobody can see it.
Cleanrooms and HVAC
Air changes are high, so smoke is thinned out and carried away before a ceiling detector would ever notice it.
Instruments and control systems
Lab instruments and process control hardware. A water discharge here costs you far more than the fire would have.
Raw material and finished goods
Stores hold both ends of the process. Losing either one stops the plant just the same.
Downtime and re-validation
Getting production running again is rarely just a repair. That is the cost most sites underestimate.
Recommended solutions
Recommended Solutions for Pharmaceutical Facilities
Not every site needs all of this. What goes where depends on the hazard in that room, the way it is built and the standards that apply to it — which is what the site visit is for. Gas and heat detection go in alongside these wherever the area calls for it.
Addressable Fire Alarm Systems
The system everything else waits on — addressable panels, detectors and notification devices…
Solution detail
Aspirating Smoke Detection Systems
Detect the earliest signs of smoke with air-sampling technology built for critical…
Solution detail
Clean Agent Gas Suppression Systems
Put the fire out without destroying what it has not reached — inert gas and Novec 1230 systems…
Solution detail
Sprinkler and Deluge Systems
The layer that works with nobody present — wet, pre-action and deluge systems designed to your…
Solution detail
Flame Detection Systems
See the fire itself, in seconds — for fuel handling, process areas and outdoor zones where a…
Solution detail
Electrical Panel Fire Protection
Deal with the fire inside the cabinet, in the first seconds — tube-based suppression that needs…
Solution detailProducts & technologies
Products and Technologies We Supply
We supply and commission kit from the manufacturers we are partnered with. Each page below has that manufacturer's own product information and datasheets.
Simplex Fire Alarm & Detection Systems
Intelligent fire detection and alarm solutions for modern buildings — addressable control…
Product detail
Xtralis VESDA Aspirating Smoke Detection
Very early warning air-sampling detection for server rooms, clean rooms and high-value assets —…
Product detail
HYGOOD Clean Agent Suppression
Engineered clean agent suppression for equipment rooms — sized to the volume and proven to hold…
Product detail
INERGEN Inert Gas Suppression
Inert gas suppression that lowers oxygen below what fire needs while remaining survivable for…
Product detail
Oldham Fixed Gas Detection
Controllers and fixed detectors for toxic and combustible gases — selected per gas, placed by…
Product detail
Firetrace Panel and Enclosure Suppression
Tube-based suppression that deals with the fire inside the cabinet, in the first seconds, with…
Product detailApplications by area
Protection by Facility Area
These are the things we weigh up in each area. They are starting points for a conversation, not a finished design — that only comes after we have seen the room.
Cleanrooms
Air-sampling detection is the usual answer. The sampling points are small holes in pipework and the detector itself sits outside the clean area, so nothing is added to the room.
Laboratories
Solvent at the bench and instruments worth protecting. Normally detection plus a clean agent system, so nothing is left behind on the equipment.
Production floors
Depends on what is running. Where solvent is in use, gas and flame detection go in alongside the alarm system.
Electrical and control rooms
Detection inside the panel and suppression in the cabinet, so a fault is caught in the enclosure rather than in the room.
Solvent and chemical stores
Gas detection for vapour, flame detection where a leak could light quickly, and suppression chosen to suit how the area is classified.
Warehouses and finished goods
Height and what is stored drive this one — usually beam detection across the space with sprinklers sized for the racking.
Our clients
Trusted by Organisations We Serve
Pharmaceutical, biotech and life-sciences organisations Intech has worked for. Every logo below is already published on our clients page or carries a named reference on our testimonials page.
This is the pharma and life-sciences part of our client list. The full list is on the clients page.
Projects
Featured Projects and Case Studies
Three pharmaceutical jobs, written up without the client's name. Each one is work we completed and hold a written testimonial for.
Clean-agent suppression & fire alarm
Pharmaceutical manufacturing site
The problem
Critical rooms held equipment and product that a water discharge would have ruined, so sprinklers were the wrong tool — but the areas still had to be protected, and tied into alarm coverage across the building.
What we did
How we solved it Maintenance, breakdowns & project workSized a clean-agent system to the measured room volumes, laid the detection out for cross-zoned release so no single device can discharge it, and commissioned both systems together as one.
API manufacturing plant
The problem
Installed fire systems on a working plant were drifting out of condition, and the site needed one contractor who would plan the servicing, answer a breakdown call and take on new project work as the plant changed.
What we did
How we solved it Fire detection, design to handoverRecorded what was installed and what state it was in, set a maintenance programme against it, and now service, test and attend breakdowns with engineers who already know the installation.
Pharma packaging and research facility
The problem
Laboratories, packing halls, stores and offices in one building, each needing a different detection answer — and a project that had to finish properly rather than stop at ninety per cent.
What we did
How we solved it Walked the building area by area, chose detection type and spacing per area rather than on a uniform grid, zoned it so an alarm says where, then commissioned and handed it over with the documentation complete.
Our expertise
Our Areas of Expertise
The work we are brought in to do on a pharmaceutical site, and what each part of it actually involves.
Detection in controlled rooms
Air-sampling systems set for very early warning, with the detector outside the clean area and only pipework inside it.
Suppression that leaves nothing behind
Clean agent and inert gas systems for rooms where a water discharge would cost more than the fire.
Solvent and gas risk
Gas and flame detection for stores, dispensing and process areas, with equipment chosen to suit the area classification.
Electrical rooms and panels
In-panel detection and suppression, so a fault inside an enclosure is dealt with before it reaches the room.
Paperwork you can show an auditor
Design, installation, commissioning and test records handed over in a form you can put in front of a regulator.
Keeping it working
Scheduled servicing and testing under an AMC, with a written record of every visit.
Our approach
Our Project Delivery Approach
The same five stages whether it is one clean room or the whole plant. We do all of it ourselves, so there is one number to ring when you want to know where it has got to.
01
We come and look
An engineer walks the site and writes down what is in each area, how it is built, what is already fitted and where the real risk sits.
02
We design it with you
We pick the systems that suit each area and the rules that apply, then put the design in writing. You see it and agree it before anything is ordered.
03
We install and integrate it
Our own teams fit it and tie it into what you already have, phased around production so you are not shut down to let us work.
04
We test, commission and document it
Every device tested, the cause-and-effect proved, and the handover pack written so you can put it in front of an auditor.
05
We keep it working
Scheduled servicing and testing under an AMC, with a written record of every visit and the same engineers coming back.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
The questions pharma and life-sciences teams ask us first. Short answers — the full one always depends on your site.
Still have a question?
Speak directly with one of our fire safety engineers.
Call +91 88795 33000What fire protection does a pharmaceutical facility actually need?
There is no single answer, because a pharma site is really several different buildings under one roof. In practice most sites end up with an addressable fire alarm system across the whole plant, air-sampling detection in clean rooms and critical areas, clean-agent suppression where water would do more harm than good, sprinklers for the general building, and gas or flame detection wherever solvent is handled. What goes where comes out of a site visit, not a catalogue.
How do you detect a fire in a clean room?
Air-sampling (aspirating) detection is the normal answer. Instead of a detector on the ceiling, small holes in a pipe draw air out of the room continuously and test it in a unit that sits outside the clean area. Nothing is added to the controlled space, and because it is actively sampling rather than waiting, it picks up smoke long before a ceiling detector would — which matters in a room with high air changes.
Why not just put sprinklers everywhere?
Sprinklers are the right baseline for a lot of a pharma site, and you will usually still need them. But in a clean room, a laboratory or a cold store, a discharge can destroy product, instruments and validation that the fire never got near. That is why clean-agent systems are specified in those rooms — they put the fire out and leave the room usable.
How do you protect laboratories and electrical rooms?
Labs usually get detection plus a clean-agent system, because the instruments are worth more than the room. Electrical and control rooms are better handled inside the panel: detection and suppression in the enclosure itself, so a fault is dealt with there rather than becoming a room fire.
What about solvent and chemical storage?
Solvent stores are normally the highest fire load on the site. The usual combination is gas detection to warn you about vapour before it becomes a fire, flame detection where a release could light quickly, and suppression chosen to suit how the area is classified. Where the classification is hazardous, the equipment itself has to be rated for it.
Can new systems be tied into what we already have?
Usually, yes. It depends on the panel you have, whether it has spare capacity and whether the equipment is still supported by its manufacturer. We check that on site before we propose anything, and we will tell you plainly if extending it is the wrong call.
Can you upgrade our existing installation without shutting the plant?
Most of the time. The work is phased area by area and planned around your production schedule. If a short shutdown is genuinely unavoidable, we tell you that at design stage so you can plan for it, rather than finding out on the day.
What does a site assessment involve?
An engineer comes out, walks the site with you, and looks at each area — process, clean rooms, labs, stores, electrical rooms. You get a written view of where the gaps are and what we would recommend, with the reasoning. There is no charge and no obligation.
Contact our industry experts
Protect Your Pharmaceutical Facility with a Site-Specific Fire Safety Plan
Tell us about your process areas, your clean rooms and your solvent storage. An engineer will walk the site and come back with a plan built around it.