DNV has provided a short summary of how to document compliance as at the first safety equipment survey after 1 January 2026, all fire-extinguishing foams on board must be PFOS-free, and this must be verified by the attending surveyor.
From January 1st, 2026, the use or storage of fire-extinguishing media – including firefighting foams – containing perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) is prohibited. This applies to both fixed and portable systems and equipment.The requirement to document PFOS-free fire-extinguishing foams applies to all types of foam on board, i.e. both fixed systems and portable equipment.
Compliance will prevent part-held surveys and/or Conditions of Authority.
Briefly summarized, there are three ways to document PFOSfree foam:
A PFOS-free declaration is provided by the manufacturer of the foam.
The foam can be sampled and tested according to a recognized standard by an accredited laboratory and concluded to be PFOS-free through a laboratory test report confirming that the PFOS concentration in the foam is below 10 mg/kg (0.001% by weight).
Although not required, the type approval (TA) or Marine Equipment Directive (MED) certificate for the foam may state that it is PFOS-free. If this is the case, it is considered equivalent to a PFOS-free declaration.
If none of the above can be provided successfully, the foam will need to be replaced with PFOS-free foam, with documentation according to 1), 2) or 3) above.
For the surveyor to verify that the PFOS documentation corresponds to the actual foam on board, the documentation must contain sufficient information to trace it to the foam in use. Such information may include the manufacturer, foam type, production date / batch number and relevant TA/MED certificate references.
Furthermore, the marking of and documentation for the foam(s) carried on board must include adequate information to demonstrate traceability back to the PFOS documentation.
To avoid follow-up actions, Conditions of Authority or part-held surveys, preparation should start early to ensure the necessary documentation for all foams on board is in place before the survey.
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