(a) Immediate removal of existing Halon 1301 and replacement with a presently available alternative is not a requirement of the Bank nor of any SA legislation.

(b) Normally these protection systems can be expected to remain operational for many years if properly installed and maintained. Any servicing or repairs that may be required should be done by a servicing organisation that is a Halon Bank member, who is obliged to comply with a code of conduct and certain minimum standards. In this regard it is advisable to have the fire detection and control systems properly checked and tested, or the servicing audited, by an independent organisation.

(c) If a container pressure test is necessary in terms of safety legislation or acceptable codes of practice, such work must only be done by a Halon Bank approved vendor. If a 'top up' of Halon 1301 is required at the time of such testing, Halon Bank permission must be obtained.

(e) If a discharge does occur, an application for refill may be made to the Halon Bank.

(f) The Bank's experience is that much of the Halon that has been in use does not comply with the ISO quality requirements, and that there is only a limited amount of certified quality-compliant stock of Halon available at any one time.

(g) If the Bank is unable to authorise a refill, a suitable alternative extinguishing system should be placed in service. Planning in advance, for expenses and equipment changes that may be required following a Halon discharge or leakage, is thus a requirement.

(h) Should Owners replace Halon 1301 with an alternative agent, caution should be exercised as the utilisation history of many of these agents is not well established and is evolving. Authoritative advice should be sought.

(i) Any Halon that has been removed from service must be returned to the Halon Bank, as it is a controlled substance of national concern. The Bank will issue a certificate to the original user for any Halon so taken into stock.

This policy document supersedes policy document reference APY8607 of

September 1994.
December 2001 Ref no: APY20883
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS & TOURISM
HALON BANK OF SOUTH AFRICA
P O Box 15165 Impala Park 1472 Fax: (011) 880 6286
Joint Managers:
P R Davey : Tel: +27(0)11 397 1618 / 9 or +27(0) 397 1881/2/3/4  or Emergency Mobile +27(0)82 223 9613
A E Greig : Tel: +27(0)11 880 6251

HALON RETURNS POLICY

There are a number of options for returning Halon officially into the care of the Halon Bank for Southern Africa.

A) The containers and Halon can be delivered to the Bank's site, located at the FPA college near Johannesburg Airport. The Bank will take the delivery into its stock holding for disposal as subsequently determined by the Bank. An official certificate declaring the quantities so taken into stock will be issued. At present there is no charge for disposal, but an administration fee of R750 per batch is levied.

\B) The containers and Halon can be delivered to one of the Bank's approved vendors. The vendor will take the Halon and containers into stock on behalf of the Halon Bank, and the Bank will issue a certificate accordingly, for a
fee of R750.

Thereafter, there are two options:

1. the vendor can decant the contents into a holding tank, and return the containers and valves to the delivering agent. A decanting charge for this service will be levied, as the process is time consuming, requires expensive equipment, and incurs holding tank demurrage charges. If subsequent assay testing is feasible, and the results are per the ISO standard for Halon 1301, a payment for the product will be made per present market conditions. A testing fee of R3 900 plus the Vendor's sampling charge is currently applicable, payable in advance.
2. Alternatively, if the delivering agent is unwilling to pay the vendor's quoted decanting charge, the vendor will take the containers and contents into stock on behalf of the Halon bank, and process same as subsequently determined fair and reasonable by the Bank. Any financial or equipment refunds due to the delivering agent or end user by the vendor will thus be determined by the Bank acting as an
   independent third party.

May 2003 Ref no: APY21656 rev 1