The software can simplify complex system configurations into easily understood workflows
Inim Electronics has launched its FireDesigner software for fire safety professionals, designed to simplify complex system configurations and shape them into intuitive, easily understood workflows
The FireDesigner software has been developed for fire detection, fire sprinklers, and suppression systems. The software is able to automate manual tasks, ensuring each component is accurately specified, compliant, and integrated.
It can generate customisable reports with detailed sizing and autonomy calculations, along with a configurable materials list. At the same time, the documentation package includes a technical dossier containing manuals, datasheets, certificates, and AutoCAD drawings.
Paul Kerman, director of operations for Inim Electronics, said, “Fire Designer represents a major leap forward for fire safety design. Our goal has always been to make life easier for fire safety professionals, and with FireDesigner, we’re removing complexity, increasing accuracy, and saving time, so engineers can focus on delivering safe, compliant systems.”
Hazardous environments and regulations
FireDesigner has been developed to operate in high-risk, heavy-industrial environments. It aligns with core standards, including BS 5839, BS EN 12845, and ISO 15004. It incorporates configuration pathways, documentation outputs, and device-selection logic that reflect requirements common to oil and gas, energy production, chemical processing, and pharmaceuticals.
Users are alerted by the software’s rule-checking engine whenever a design or configuration is outside the constraints of the relevant framework, helping maintain compliance, even if the project specifications exceed BS and EN codes.
Detection and suppression technologies
The software can model a broad spectrum of detection and suppression technologies. For oil and gas projects, as well as conventional water-based and single-agent systems, the software supports:
- Control equipment proof of concept for deluge and pre-action control arrangements
- Gas and condensed aerosol extinguishant system modelling
- Fire and gas control system arrangements
Engineers can size distribution network cables, perform battery and load calculations where applicable, and generate cause-and-effect matrices that reflect multi-stage release sequences in Previdia Studio, a programming tool from Inim Electronics. The documentation output is designed to be accepted by consultants, insurers, and AHJs, providing a trail of design justification.
Large industrial facilities
FireDesigner’s database-driven architecture ensures that every device, loop, zone, and strategy is linked, validated, and traceable. For large-scale industrial projects:
- Automated device management tools help break down large sites into manageable, standards-compliant subsections.
- Real-time consistency checks flag overloaded loops, incomplete cause-and-effect paths, or configuration conflicts, all before documentation is produced.
- Cross-disciplinary synchronisation ensures that fire, gas, and suppression systems share a common data core, reducing clashes and improving coordination with mechanical and electrical design teams.
- Revision management and audit trails mean that every design change is recorded, timestamped, and attributable.
Reducing human error
The software consolidates what historically required multiple spreadsheets, manuals, and handwritten calculations into a single, controlled environment.
It can automate cable sizing, battery calculations, loop loading, network topology, control panel build concepts, bill of materials production, drawing, and compliance documentation.
Reducing manual data entry and automatically checking calculations against manufacturer-specific and code-based rules helps the software decrease the risk of human error, accelerate design cycles, and provide confidence that outputs can be issued to consultants, clients, or insurers without extensive rework.
Supporting the assets lifecycle
FireDesigner has been created to remain relevant long after the initial design is issued. It achieves this by providing centralised digital documentation that automatically updates as designs evolve, ensuring that as-built drawings, device registers, and compliance documents are accurate, and by enabling lifecycle configuration management that lets engineers track modifications within the conceptual design.
In addition to FireDesigner, Inim FireCloud provides as standard:
- Maintenance-compatible outputs, including device lists, zone charts, cause-and-effect tables, and test plans that align directly with ongoing inspection and verification regimes.
- Digital compliance tools that support audits, change tracking, and alignment with standards such as COMAH, ATEX, IECEx, and site-specific safety-integrity frameworks.
This ensures that the system’s fire safety integrity is maintained from design through commissioning, operation, and future expansions, and supports better oversight and safer long-term operation of high-risk facilities.
