What does AS 2118.1 cover?

General automatic fire sprinkler systems. It is Part 1 of a series that covers other system types — drencher, deluge and combined systems — in further parts.

Does a regulator cite AS 2118?

We have not completed that check. We are not claiming a citation exists, and we are not claiming one does not — it is simply a piece of research we have not finished, and we would rather say that than guess.

Is AS 2118 the design standard or the servicing standard?

Design. Once a sprinkler system is installed, ongoing routine service sits under a separate standard, AS 1851.

Is AS 2118 the same document that governs my building’s fire rating?

No. Fire ratings for a building’s construction sit with the National Construction Code and related building standards. AS 2118 covers the sprinkler system specifically, one part of a wider fire-safety picture.

Who typically designs a sprinkler system to AS 2118?

A fire engineer or specialist fire-protection designer, working with the building owner and, usually, the relevant fire authority. It is not a document written for a general facilities manager to apply directly.

AS 2118, the standard for automatic fire sprinkler systems

AS 2118 is the Australian Standard series for automatic fire sprinkler systems. We confirmed Part 1’s current designation and title directly. We have not yet completed the separate work of checking whether a regulator cites it, and this page says so rather than guessing.

Last updated 2026-08-24

What it is

AS 2118.1:2017, reissued incorporating Amendment No. 2 in 2020, is titled "Automatic fire sprinkler systems, Part 1: General systems." Further parts of the same series cover other system types — drencher systems, deluge systems and combined sprinkler and hydrant systems among them.

In our own words: Part 1 covers how a general automatic sprinkler system should be designed. It sits alongside the standard covering how it gets serviced once installed and the emergency plan a working sprinkler system is assumed into as three layers of the same fire-safety picture — design, upkeep and human response.

The regulator citation question, left open

We have not completed a search specifically for a regulator citing AS 2118. That is a gap in our own research, not a finding that no such citation exists — given how consistently the standards elsewhere in this reference turned up inside regulator guidance once we actually read the document, we would expect one exists somewhere. We just have not confirmed it, so we are not claiming to.

What we may not tell you

No sprinkler spacing, water-supply design flow rate or coverage-area requirement from AS 2118 appears here. Those figures are inside a document Standards Australia sells, and this reference exists specifically to point at that document rather than reproduce it.

The same goes for the boundary between what counts as a "general system" under Part 1 and the specialised system types in the standard’s later parts — deluge and drencher systems, for instance, are genuinely different design problems from an ordinary warehouse sprinkler layout, and which part applies to a given building is exactly the kind of question a fire engineer, not this page, is positioned to answer.

Where it sits in a warehouse fire-safety picture

For a warehouse running automated storage specifically, fire protection in an automated store is a genuinely different design problem to a conventional shed, and worth reading alongside this page rather than instead of it. For the difference between a standard like this one and how a Code of Practice differs from a standard as a category of document, that distinction is worth understanding before you go looking for either.

The general rule this whole reference applies — the two-layer test any standard like this one has to pass before it carries real weight — applies here as much as anywhere else.

Common questions

What does AS 2118.1 cover?: General automatic fire sprinkler systems. It is Part 1 of a series that covers other system types — drencher, deluge and combined systems — in further parts.
Does a regulator cite AS 2118?: We have not completed that check. We are not claiming a citation exists, and we are not claiming one does not — it is simply a piece of research we have not finished, and we would rather say that than guess.
Is AS 2118 the design standard or the servicing standard?: Design. Once a sprinkler system is installed, ongoing routine service sits under a separate standard, AS 1851.
Does one part of AS 2118 cover every sprinkler system type?: No. Part 1 covers general systems. Other parts of the series exist for drencher systems, deluge systems and combined sprinkler and hydrant systems, among others — different building and hazard types need different parts.
Is AS 2118 the same document that governs my building’s fire rating?: No. Fire ratings for a building’s construction sit with the National Construction Code and related building standards. AS 2118 covers the sprinkler system specifically, one part of a wider fire-safety picture.
Who typically designs a sprinkler system to AS 2118?: A fire engineer or specialist fire-protection designer, working with the building owner and, usually, the relevant fire authority. It is not a document written for a general facilities manager to apply directly.

Sources

Standards Australia — online store — The publisher’s own catalogue, confirming AS 2118.1:2017 (Amdt 2:2020) as the current Part 1 designation and title. Retrieved 2026-08-24.

Part of our guide to warehouse-related Australian Standards.