Hyderabad: The Telangana Fire, Disaster Response, Emergency and Civil Defence Department has issued special fire and life safety guidelines for data centres, aiming to speed up the processing of provisional Fire No Objection Certificates (NOCs) while maintaining safety standards.
The guidelines prescribe specific measures for data centres, which house servers, storage systems and networking equipment that depend on continuous power and cooling. These facilities also contain batteries, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, transformers, generators, fuel storage and extensive cable networks, all of which present distinct fire risks.
According to the department, the new norms cover fire detection and alarm systems, suppression equipment, fire compartmentation, firefighting shafts, wet risers, refuge areas, and adequate water storage and pumping facilities.
Automatic sprinkler systems are required in administrative areas, while technical areas must have appropriate water-mist or clean-agent gas suppression systems suited to the equipment and associated risks.
Special Safety Measures for High-Risk Areas
The guidelines place particular emphasis on battery rooms, UPS installations, transformer and switchgear rooms, fuel storage facilities and other areas with elevated fire risks.
They also require comprehensive fire risk assessments, adequate ventilation, fire-rated separation and emergency shutdown arrangements.
Additional provisions aim to prevent combustible materials from accumulating in data halls, where a fire could threaten critical equipment and disrupt essential digital services.
Fire NOC Applications From November 6
Director General of Fire Services Vikram Singh Mann issued the guidelines, which are intended to address the specific safety requirements of data centre infrastructure.
The special norms will apply to provisional Fire NOC applications submitted on or after November 6, according to the information provided by the department.
The move seeks to establish clearer safety requirements for data centre projects while facilitating the processing of provisional fire clearances across Telangana.
