Timely and proper emergency fire sprinkler head replacement can mean the difference between life and death for your tenants.
State and local governments mandate regular fire sprinkler inspections and proper fire sprinkler head replacement. Keep your customers, clients, tenants, and surrounding neighborhood—not to mention your reputation and income—safe with regular sprinkler head inspection.
What Equipment Is Required for Fire Building Safety?
Fire protection protocols include specific standard fire protection equipment for commercial buildings. This equipment includes:
- OSHA approved Fire Alarm System
- Portable Fire Extinguishers
- Automatic Fire Sprinkler System
- Fire Prevention Plan
These protocols protect your building and the tenants within the building from a significant loss of life and property. Safety protocols help tenants escape the worst fires with minimum injury.
How Can You Protect Your Commercial Property In Case of Fire?
Fire protection is much more than having the protocols in place. Protocols are only as good as their weakest aspect. Therefore, regular inspections are a must. To keep your property safe every day, follow these steps for commercial property fire protection:
- Check your fire alarms monthly. Make sure they are loud enough for anyone in the unit to hear. Replace the batteries at least two times a year. If you notice that new batteries are no longer helping the alarm work efficiently, replace the alarm unit as soon as possible.
- Verify your fire alarm monitoring monthly. Your fire alarms should be monitored around the clock. Any alarm should be sent directly to your local fire and police department to ensure an immediate response. Verify your system is properly monitored when you run monthly checks. Without proper monitoring, your property could burn to the ground before the emergency response team arrives. This also includes regular fire sprinkler monitoring.
- Maintain and inspect your commercial lighting during monthly fire alarm inspections. The National Fire Protection Association lists lighting as one of the top five causes of fires in commercial buildings. Federal laws mandate commercial buildings maintain proper commercial lighting. All lighting must be adequately spaced. After all, one of its primary jobs is to guide people to exit the property in the event of a fire. Repair any faulty or weak fixtures or wiring.
- Keep portable fire extinguishers throughout the property. Extinguishers should be placed every 75 feet at the minimum. Replace regular fire extinguishers every 5 years. Dry chemical fire extinguishers last 12 years.
- Inspect your sprinkler system yearly. Pipes can break, clog, and leak.
These safety measures should be part of your fire system inspection checklist to be performed once a month.
What Steps Are Necessary for Fire Sprinkler Inspections?
Did you know fire sprinkler systems release 8 to 24 gallons of water per minute to extinguish a fire successfully? While putting out a fire is critical, the flood that results in damages property, furnishings, and inventory. Fire sprinkler inspection services, including sprinkler head inspection, will keep this damage to a minimum.
This inspection should check the following:
- Valves
- Gauges
- Fittings
- Pipes
- Sprinkler Heads
- Hoses
Your inspector will check for the rust, damage to hoses, and water build-up that impedes the system’s efficiency. Repairing issues immediately not only keeps the system efficient, but it also provides peace of mind. The safety of your tenants and commercial property depends on your diligence.
How Often Do Fire Sprinkler Heads Need to Be Replaced?
Sprinkler heads must be inspected annually. Annual inspections help ensure the system is working correctly, and no rust or water back-up has occurred.
Even with regular maintenance, sprinkler heads do not last forever. Fire safety protocol recommends you get sprinkler heads replaced once every five years to prevent fire sprinkler leaks.
Final Thoughts
Diligent maintenance of your commercial fire protection system shields everyone involved with your business. It also protects your business’s reputation and long-term success. More, the state requires documented inspections to maintain your certificate of occupancy. Part of the maintenance and inspection process includes replacing your sprinkler heads at least once every 5 years.
To learn more about how often fire sprinkler heads need to be replaced and fire sprinkler inspection in general, contact the experts at APFE Corp. at 1-866-353-2790. Our licensed professionals will be happy to answer any questions you have.
