Would you rather have
a commercial building with a well-maintained fire sprinkler system or leave
your business without protection from fire emergencies? A fire suppression
system can minimize the damage to your company's property and assets due to
fire. More importantly, it can save lives.
What is a fire
sprinkler system?
The primary components
of a building's fire sprinkler system are:
Fire sprinkler systems disperse water in the affected areas to control or extinguish a fire.
We
engineer these systems to cover the largest area possible where installed. Fire
sprinklers are usually heat activated, releasing water and sounding an alarm
when they sense an interior temperature beyond a certain threshold.
Why do fire sprinkler
systems sometimes fail?
Countless multifamily
residences and businesses rely on fire sprinkler systems to function correctly.
Sometimes these systems fail, and it's important to know why.
The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) found there are over 600 sprinkler system failures annually.
The good news is that well-maintained fire sprinkler systems
function as they should more than 95 percent of the time and are highly
effective in suppressing most fires.
When fire sprinkler
systems do fail, the typical causes include:
You can easily avoid
most of these issues by conducting regular inspections of your fire safety
system. NFPA recommends conducting inspections on a monthly, quarterly, and
annual basis.
Monthly Fire Sprinkler
System Inspections
A monthly fire
sprinkler system inspection should confirm the following:
Appropriate valves are
accessible, labeled correctly, and have no leaks.
Wet gauges indicate
correct water pressure and are in good operating condition.
Dry gauges show standard water pressure and report the same pressure on both the quick-opening device and the dry pipe valve.
Quarterly Fire
Sprinkler System Inspections
A quarterly fire
sprinkler system inspection should include the following:
Inspect the
supervisory alarm and water flow alarm for physical damage.
Verify accessibility
for all fire department connections.
Confirm all fire
department connections have no leaks.
Examine
pressure-reducing valves, ensure they have no leaks, and maintain downstream
pressure.
Annual Fire Sprinkler
System Inspections
In addition to all of the items noted above, an annual fire sprinkler system inspection needs to include a professional inspection by a certified code-compliance inspector for tagging and documentation.
Every commercial
property owner is responsible for adequately maintaining fire sprinkler systems
for occupant safety and property protection.