FM Approvals

FM Approvals traces its origins to 1886, when John R. Freeman began fundamental experimentation with hydraulics related to fire protection, considered the official beginning of the Factory Mutual Laboratories, now known as FM Approvals. The organization states that its certification confirms which property loss prevention products perform as expected under demanding circumstances, and that the FM APPROVED mark provides independent validation of performance recognized worldwide. It reports more than 200 standards, 130,000+ FM Approved products, and 1.1M FM Approved roofing assemblies, and it has opened a new headquarters in Norwood, Massachusetts.

FM Approvals states that its history of property loss prevention testing spans over a century. In 1886, John R. Freeman began fundamental experimentation with hydraulics as it relates to fire protection, which is considered the official beginning of the Factory Mutual Laboratories, now known as FM Approvals. The Factory Mutual Laboratories are described as the first permanent laboratories in the United States—and possibly the world—dedicated to the testing of fire-protection devices. In 1892, Freeman performed an extensive series of tests to determine the pipe sizes necessary to provide adequate water volume at each sprinkler in a system, with results still the basis for sprinkler system hydraulic calculations. In 1897, Approved Electrical Fittings was published and eventually evolved into the Approval Guide, an online resource of more than 60,000 FM Approved products. In 1916, Factory Mutual fire testing began modestly in a shed in the middle of an apple farm in Woburn, MA, USA. In 1922, the fire test facility moved from Woburn to a site in Everett, MA, USA, where engineers began a series of tests to study explosions of flammable dust and vapors in special enclosures, and other tests were run to determine the effectiveness of various extinguishing agents. In 1946, the Laboratories were the first to use square steel pans to advance fire extinguisher testing.

1. 1FM Approvalsfmapprovals.com
2. 2FM Approvals: Historyfmapprovals.com
3. 3Examination Standardsfmapprovals.com
4. 4FM Approvals: Approval Guidefmapprovals.com