| In May, 2008 the U.S. Fire Administration's National Fire Academy presented a "Coffee Break
Training" item with the learning objective of helping the professional fire protection trainee to
identify the minimum requirements for annual sprinkler inspection. It is a maintenance tip of
great value and importance to the engineering function within the lodging industry.
If visual inspection of a sprinkler head indicates discoloration, it may be a warning of what may
be an impending problem; a water leak or sprinkler failure that will result in significant and
unexpected damage to the contents of a given section of the property. The orange hue in the
water droplets may suggest this is a problem with the iron pipe connecting the sprinkler, and not
the sprinkler itself, but that can be determined only by closer inspection and repair or
replacement. NFPA 25, Standard for the Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Water-Based
Fire Protection Systems, requires that sprinklers be inspected annually as part of the overall
sprinkler system inspection process.
Here are some critical items the inspector must check:
Sprinklers must not show signs of leakage; must be free of corrosion, foreign materials, paint,
or physical damage; and must be installed in the proper orientation in accordance with their
listing. Any sprinkler suffering from those conditions must be replaced.
Glass bulb sprinklers must be replaced if the bulbs have lost their fluid contents. Unacceptable
obstructions to spray patterns must be corrected.
The supply of spare sprinklers must be inspected annually for the proper number and type of
sprinklers and a sprinkler wrench for each type of sprinkler.
Some of the material in this document is used with permission from NFPA 25, Standard for the
Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, Copyright ©
2002, National Fire Protection Association.
Sprinklers
For archived downloads, go to: www.usfa.dhs.gov/nfa/coffee-break/ |
Article
Sprinkler Problems