In a Building Where the Average Resident Is Over 60, Who Can Actually Hold the Hose? The Operating Reality of Type 1 vs Type 2 Indoor Fire Hydrants

Taiwan's residential fire numbers are hard to ignore. According to National Fire Agency statistics, there were 15,387 building fires nationwide between 2022 and 2024. Residential fires accounted for 71.6% of them (11,014 cases), resulting in 360 deaths and 591 injuries. The top three causes were electrical factors (40.1%), cooking fires (28.0%) and unattended ignition sources such as incense and cigarettes (20.3%) — all of them ordinary, everyday behaviours.

But the more unsettling fact is not in the statistics. It is this: almost nobody living in your building has ever opened the red fire hydrant cabinet in the lift lobby.

This article is not another piece about whether you should hold a fire drill. It addresses something more basic and far more often skipped: which type of indoor fire hydrant is installed in your building, and given the age profile and night-time staffing of that building, can anyone actually operate it?

That is a specification question — and the window for changing a specification is narrower than most management committees realise.

Two Numbers That Get Skipped: 17.7 kg and 10.5 kg

Almost every comparison of Type 1 and Type 2 indoor fire hydrants starts with a specification table. And the row most often skipped is the one that matters most in practice: nozzle reaction force.

Reaction force is not a feeling — it can be calculated

The Taipei City Fire Department's Implementation Plan for Promoting the Installation of Type 2 Indoor Fire Hydrants (issued 27 May 2024 under Taipei City Fire Dept. Ref. No. 1133024760) sets out the formula:

F = 1.5 × (d ÷ 2) × P d: nozzle bore (cm) | P: discharge pressure (kgf/cm²)

Applied to real values:

What does 17.7 kg of reaction force feel like? Roughly the effort of holding a case and a half of bottled water steady with both hands — while water pressure pushes you backwards, the floor may already be wet, smoke may already be limiting visibility, and you still have to aim the stream at the seat of the fire.

This is precisely why the regulations specify two-person operation for Type 1 indoor fire hydrants: one person controls the nozzle, the other opens the control valve and manages the hose at the cabinet. Take either person away and the line is effectively unusable.

Does the "two people" assumption hold in a residential building at 3 a.m.?

Put that requirement back into a real setting.

In a 3 a.m. apartment fire, the first people to notice are usually residents on the same floor or the floor above or below. At that moment the available manpower is typically: one security guard (probably at the ground-floor desk, several floors from the fire), one or two residents who discovered it, and everyone else either asleep or already evacuating.

Finding two people who are willing to stay near the fire, physically able to absorb 17.7 kg of reaction force, and who know how to couple two hose lengths together is not something you can take for granted. And in Taiwan, many buildings over 20 years old now have a visibly ageing resident profile, with retirees and carers making up most of the daytime population.

The Taipei City Fire Department states the problem plainly in its plan: Type 1 indoor fire hydrants have "a large reaction force on discharge and require two-person operation, which for premises with limited routine emergency manpower may result in insufficient personnel to carry out effective initial firefighting and evacuation guidance."

There is one more failure mode that rarely gets discussed: if the hose kinks or tangles, nozzle discharge pressure will be insufficient or the hose may fail to discharge at all. A Type 1 hydrant is equipped with two 15-metre (or 10-metre) hose lengths that must first be coupled and then laid out. In a stairwell, around a corner, or along a corridor with items stored in it, both of those steps are much harder than they are on a training ground.

Full Comparison: Type 1 vs Type 2 Indoor Fire Hydrants

The table below is compiled from the appendix to the Taipei City Fire Department's promotion plan — currently the most complete official comparison available:

Three rows in this table deserve a second look from any management committee.

First, the horizontal protection distance is 25 m for both. On the single most important safety metric — coverage — the two types now start from the same line.

Second, Type 2 requires less of everything upstream: smaller water supply capacity, smaller rooftop tank, smaller riser, lower pump output. For an existing building, that means lighter demands on exactly the items that are expensive to change — tank, riser and pump.

Third, the hose service life row drives long-term cost. Type 1 hose must undergo a pressure test or be replaced once it passes 10 years; the semi-rigid hose used with Type 2 is not subject to that requirement because of its abrasion resistance.

After the 2018 Amendment, Type 2 Is No Longer the "Weaker Option"

Many owners — and some fire protection engineers — still hold a view of Type 2 hydrants that is a decade out of date.

The Taipei City Fire Department's plan records the history clearly: before 17 October 2018, cost and protection considerations led most owners and licensed professionals to specify Type 1. Type 2 installations were rare, which meant the market accumulated little operating experience and manufacturers received little feedback to improve products.

The turning point was 17 October 2018, when the Ministry of the Interior amended Article 34, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 2 of the 「各類場所消防安全設備設置標準」(Standard for Installation of Fire Safety Equipment Based on Use and Occupancy). Three changes matter:

Horizontal protection distance revised to 25 metres

Before the amendment, Type 2's shorter protection distance meant more cabinets were needed to cover the same floor area, which made it uneconomic. At 25 metres it is now identical to Type 1 — which means cabinet quantity and layout logic now work on the same basis for both types.

Discharge pressure revised to 1.7 kgf/cm² or more

Discharge pressure determines reach and impact. The same 1.7 kgf/cm² floor as Type 1 means Type 2 is no longer a compromise on the ability to knock down an early-stage fire.

Discharge volume revised to 80 L/min or more

This is the only row where a meaningful gap remains (Type 1 requires 130 L/min or more). But it needs to be read in context: an indoor fire hydrant exists for self-help firefighting in the first minutes of a fire, not to replace the high-volume attack of a fire brigade. While the fire is still confined to a single item or room, 80 L/min delivered immediately by one person often matters more in practice than 130 L/min that arrives late because no second person could be found and the hose kinked.

The Taipei City Fire Department's own assessment of the amendment is that Type 2 is now "comparable to Type 1 on a design basis."

It is worth noting that even after the central amendment and local promotion, most premises still specify Type 1. That is inertia, not evidence — designers are used to it, reviewers are used to seeing it, and owners have never heard of the alternative. For a residential building, that means if you do not raise it, nobody will evaluate it for you.

Why a Semi-Rigid Hose Can Discharge Without Being Fully Laid Out

What makes single-person operation possible is not the hydrant body but the 30-metre semi-rigid (shape-retaining) fire hose.

A conventional hose is stored flat. With no water inside, the walls lie against each other, and if it is pressurised before being laid out, the flow is blocked at every fold. A semi-rigid hose keeps a circular cross-section — that is what "shape-retaining" means — so water flows through even when most of the hose is still in the cabinet and only the length you need has been pulled out.

According to the Hailong 25A semi-rigid fire hose technical data:

What a 12 cm bend radius and 155 g/m mean in practice

A minimum bend radius of 12 cm means the hose can turn within a 24 cm envelope without forming a flow-killing kink. Stair landings, structural columns and the cabinet door frame itself are all real turning points in a residential building — this number decides whether water still comes out after the hose is pulled around them.

155 ± 10 g/m is the number behind operability: a 30-metre hose weighs roughly 4.65 kg plus coupling and nozzle. Compared with two conventional 15-metre lengths that must also be coupled together, this is where single-person operation becomes realistic.

Check the cabinet dimensions first: Ø55 × 19 cm

This is the trap most often sprung in practice. A Type 2 cabinet is larger than a Type 1 cabinet (see the comparison table) because a 30-metre coil measures about 55 cm in diameter and 19 cm thick, and the cabinet design must also allow for retaining-strip thickness.

Any existing building planning to convert an existing cabinet position must first confirm the depth and width available in the lobby wall. This has to be settled at design stage, not discovered when the equipment arrives. Dimensions by pressure rating and diameter are available on the semi-rigid fire hose product page.

Which Buildings May Choose Type 2? The Regulatory Boundary

This is the section that has to be precise, because getting it wrong sends a management committee down a dead end.

Three categories of premises may only install Type 1

Under the 「各類場所消防安全設備設置標準」, among premises required to install indoor fire hydrants, the following may only install Type 1:

1. Warehouses (Category B, Item 11)
2. Furniture display and sales premises (Category B, Item 11)
3. High-, medium- and low-hazard work premises (Category D premises — in general terms, factories)

All other premises may choose either Type 1 or Type 2.

Where residential buildings sit

Apartment buildings fall under Category B but are not the warehouses or furniture display premises of Item 11, so they are not caught by the "Type 1 only" restriction — they may lawfully choose Type 2.

The stated applications for the Hailong semi-rigid hose likewise cover hospitals, schools, long-term care facilities, hotels and apartment buildings.

One caveat: whether a given apartment building is required to install indoor fire hydrants at all depends on floor area, number of storeys and mix of uses. Not every building has that obligation. This must be reviewed by a licensed fire protection engineer (消防設備師) against the actual drawings, or confirmed with the local fire department — it cannot be inferred from floor area alone.

Who the fire department treats as a priority

The Taipei City plan lists priority targets for Type 2 design, including:

• Premises accommodating vulnerable occupants (Category A, Item 6 — medical institutions, elderly service, long-term care and nursing homes)
• Historic monuments, historic buildings, commemorative buildings and building complexes
• Tourist hotels, hotels, inns and guest houses (Category A, Item 3)
• Newly built public works buildings (excluding Category D), where Type 2 is to be the primary design

Apartment buildings are not on that priority list, but the reasoning behind it — "limited routine emergency manpower" — applies fully to an ageing residential community. That is the strongest opening argument a management committee has when talking to a fire protection engineer. For the policy background, see our earlier article The Real Purpose of Promoting Type II Indoor Fire Hydrants.

Three Lawful Windows for Converting to Type 2

Type 2 is not a consumable you can simply swap in. It involves the riser, pump, water supply and cabinet, which makes it a design change to fire safety equipment — and that requires a fire safety equipment plan review (消防圖說審查).

Under the Taipei City plan, the fire department will recommend that licensed professionals give priority consideration to Type 2 when reviewing plans for:

1. Extension
2. Renovation
3. Reconstruction
4. Change of use
5. Interior fit-out

For a residential building, those five items are the window of opportunity. Put another way:

When your building is refurbishing common areas, renovating the lift lobby, altering the basement, or undertaking any work that requires a fire safety plan review, that is the only low-cost moment to review the indoor fire hydrant specification at the same time.

Miss it, and resubmitting plans and reworking the riser and pump purely to change hydrant type moves both cost and resident-communication difficulty up a level. Which is why our practical advice is this: whenever a building plans any common-area project, "does the fire safety equipment need reviewing at the same time?" should be a standing question.

The Taipei City Fire Department also promotes Type 2 through leaflets, public seminars and technical workshops run with the fire safety equipment associations' joint advisory centre. Management committees wanting current information can contact their local fire department.

Five Questions to Put to Your Fire Protection Engineer

The whole article, distilled into five questions you can take straight into a committee meeting:

1. Does our building fall into the category that may choose either Type 1 or Type 2? (Confirm it is not a warehouse, furniture display premises or Category D premises.)

2. If we convert to Type 2, which of our existing riser diameter, rooftop tank, water supply capacity and pump output would need to change? (Type 2 requirements are lower: riser 50 mm or more, rooftop tank 0.3 m³ or more, water supply 3.6 m³ or more, pump 180 L/min or more.)

3. Can the existing lobby wall accommodate a Type 2 cabinet, including a Ø55 × 19 cm coil plus retaining-strip thickness?

4. Do we have any upcoming work that requires a fire safety equipment plan review? (This determines both the timing and the cost of the review.)

5. What year did our current Type 1 hoses enter service — have any passed 10 years and become due for a pressure test or replacement? (This is the information you need to price the true cost of doing nothing. Approval records can be checked on the Type Approval Certificates page.)

FAQ

Q1: Type 2 delivers only 80 L/min — is that enough?

The minimum discharge volume is lower than Type 1's 130 L/min, but both types share the same discharge pressure range (1.7–7.0 kgf/cm²) and the same 25-metre horizontal protection distance. An indoor fire hydrant is designed for self-help firefighting in the earliest stage of a fire, not to replace the fire brigade. At that stage, water that arrives immediately and can be handled by one person often decides the outcome more than volume does.

Q2: Can an existing building simply swap Type 1 for Type 2?

Not by changing the hose alone. The two types differ in hydrant outlet diameter (38/50 mm vs 25 mm), riser diameter, water supply capacity, pump output and cabinet size. It is a design change to fire safety equipment and must be reviewed by a licensed fire protection engineer and go through a fire safety equipment plan review. In practice the workable route is to combine it with an existing extension, renovation, reconstruction, change of use or interior fit-out project.

Q3: Is semi-rigid hose really exempt from the 10-year pressure test?

According to the appendix to the Taipei City Fire Department's promotion plan, Type 1 hydrant hose "requires a pressure test or replacement after 10 years," while Type 2 is "not subject to the requirement for a pressure test after 10 years" because of its high abrasion resistance. Actual inspection and reporting still follow local fire department requirements and the findings of your fire protection engineer.

Q4: Most of our residents are elderly — 10.5 kg of reaction force still isn't light. How should we view that?

10.5 kg is not effortless, but the decisive difference from 17.7 kg is whether a second person is needed. Type 2 operation is: open the hydrant control valve, pull out the hose (without fully laying it out), then control discharge at the nozzle. One person can complete all of it, and the risk of delayed discharge from failed hose coupling disappears. For a building short of routine emergency manpower, that is the difference between someone acting and nobody daring to.

Q5: Will the semi-rigid hose couplings match our existing equipment?

Couplings, dual-purpose nozzles and hydrant valves use fire-service thread specifications. In practice the more common problem is not thread type but choosing the wrong pressure rating or diameter. Provide site photographs and existing equipment specifications at enquiry stage, and confirm the type approval number — HS-A107002 for the Hailong 25A semi-rigid hose — which can be verified on the Type Approval Certificates page.

Q6: How much should the management committee budget?

Converting hydrant type depends on the condition of the existing riser, pump and tank, and on how many cabinets change, so no single figure applies. But two costs can be established in advance: the purchase and replacement cost of the hose itself, and the cost of the 10-year pressure test or replacement for Type 1 hose. Before taking a proposal to the owners' general meeting, ask your fire protection engineer for two estimates — "ten-year cost of the status quo" and "cost of the design change" — and decide from there.

Discuss the Specification a Year Early, and the Cost Gap Is Largest

The type of indoor fire hydrant in a building is really a question about who can act when it matters.

The gap between 17.7 kg and 10.5 kg, between two people and one, between coupling two hose lengths and discharging straight from one semi-rigid hose — none of it is visible on an ordinary day. All of it is magnified at once, at 3 a.m., on a single occasion.

SOCHIAO Industry has manufactured fire hose since 1980. Our Hailong and SUPREME brand hoses are sold in more than thirty countries across Europe, the Americas and Japan; we are certified to ISO 9001 by TÜV SÜD, passed Japanese national inspection in 2004, and obtained Ministry of the Interior type approval for fire equipment in May 2011. What we have accumulated most is not experience selling hose, but experience answering one question: can the people in this building actually handle it?

If your building has work coming up that requires a fire safety plan review, or you are preparing next year's fire safety budget, send us your site photographs, existing equipment specifications and available lobby dimensions. We can help assess:

• Suitability of Type 2 indoor fire hydrants and semi-rigid hose
• Cabinet sizing against a Ø55 × 19 cm hose coil
• Recommended pressure ratings and diameters, with type approval documentation
• Replacement timing for your existing Type 1 hose