A Comprehensive Maintenance Guide for Your Fire Sprinkler System
Having a fire sprinkler system installed is only the first step in maintaining the necessary levels of fire safety. Once the system has been installed, ongoing maintenance is required to ensure the reliability of your fire sprinklers to ensure you will be protected during fire emergencies.
Regular maintenance is paramount for the safeguarding of both lives and assets on your premises, meaning it is not an option but rather a necessity. Keeping on top of your fire sprinkler functionality and ensuring it operates as expected is essential for your safety, which is why it is part of national regulations, and assures everyone on site that the system will perform as needed during critical moments.
In this guide, we are going to outline the maintenance process for fire sprinkler systems and share the services that we at Axis Fire Sprinklers can provide to maintain necessary safeguarding regulations at your site.
How Often Is Fire Sprinkler Maintenance Required?
A regular maintenance schedule is the key to longevity when it comes to fire sprinkler systems. This ensures that the fire sprinkler system is operating as expected and will function during emergency operations – meaning it is key for your safety, as well as for the protection of staff, assets and the overall premises.
Maintenance can be a complex process as it involves meticulously scrutinising all components of the system, from the sprinkler heads to the valves and pipes. Not all of these components are easily accessed, unlike the sprinkler heads which should be easy to locate, yet need to be accessed for any signs of damage, corrosion or blockage.
Any signs of these in any component of the system can cause issues during emergency situations and can put your safety at risk. To prevent this, a typical inspection schedule will include:
- Monthly: A visual inspection of control valves, gauges, and fire department connections. On such a regular schedule, a visual check will be sufficient to investigate any apparent issues and ensure they can be repaired.
- Quarterly: The testing of water flow alarms, valve supervisory alarms, and control valve operation. This is done once every quarter to ensure the long-term stability and functionality of the overall fire sprinkler system.
- Annually: A thorough inspection and testing of the entire system, including a check for physical damage, operational tests on fire pumps, and antifreeze concentration in systems where this is applicable. For this, organising a professional inspection is the best option.
During any of the regular inspections, make sure to pay particular attention to the areas of the fire sprinkler system with high susceptibility to complications, such as the pipes which are prone to freezing during colder months or areas which high corrosion potential.
This focus is likely to change with each season, based on the climate and the fluctuating conditions that the system will face. With regular inspections, you will become familiar with these fluctuations and develop a better understanding of where special attention is required at any given time – professional engineers can help with this too.
What Needs To Be Considered During Inspections?
When assessing your fire sprinkler system, there are some obvious signs of wear and damage that need to be addressed. These can develop over time and will influence the effectiveness of the system as a whole, and therefore need to be identified as soon as possible so any repairs can be scheduled.
During inspections, you will be paying attention to any signs of corrosion, as well as addressing the sprinkler head functionality and the fire pump conditions.
Addressing Corrosion: A Necessary Prevention
A hidden danger that can dramatically affect your fire sprinkler system’s effectiveness is corrosion. Corrosion within sprinkler systems can lead to many issues, such as leaks, blockages, and ultimately, system failure which puts your safety at risk.
If you have found signs of corrosion during your inspections, then this needs to be addressed as quickly as possible.
Based on the type of fire sprinkler system being used on your premises, the inspection and repair process for corrosion can vary.
Dry Pipe Systems
One of the primary causes of corrosion in dry pipe systems is trapped air, which significantly increases oxygen levels inside the system.
As oxygen is a key player in the corrosion process, having this trapped inside a dry pipe fire sprinkler system will fuel it, causing corrosion throughout the whole system and could lead to lasting damage without the necessary repairs done on time.
To combat this, regular elimination of trapped air is required with dry pipe fire sprinklers. This can substantially minimise oxygen levels within and therefore reduce the risk of corrosion.
Like any other fire sprinkler maintenance service, this process is not merely a suggestion but a necessity for those with dry pipe systems, due to how damaging corrosion can be and how large a role oxygen levels play in this.
Wet Pipe Systems
While oxygen levels are still a factor in regards to corrosion within wet pipe systems, because of its overall role in fuelling corrosion and rust, protecting these systems is not the same as with dry pipe sprinklers.
Another effective strategy to restrict corrosion which will suit the functionality of wet pipe systems better is to implement corrosion inhibitors. Corrosion inhibitors essentially create a thin protective layer on the internal surfaces of the system pipes to block the corrosive elements in the water and thus reducing the risk of rot and rust over time.
Implementing these inhibitors does not protect your system forever, which is why you should also make it a regular maintenance routine to drain the wet pipe sprinkler and replace the water.
Much like with releasing trapped air from dry pipe systems, regular draining and replacing of the water should be a scheduled inspection with wet pipe systems. This regular maintenance can help curtail fresh oxygen-laden water within the system, which will increase corrosion rates and therefore slow down the rate of wear.
Maintaining Sprinkler Heads: Keeping Them Clear
To ensure the optimal functioning of your fire sprinkler heads, it is essential to keep them unobstructed at all times.
To ensure that they are kept clear and can function as required during an emergency, spraying water across the premises to douse the flames, regular maintenance is required.
There are two main points that need to be addressed during inspections of fire sprinkler heads and you should endeavour to ensure these are always in operation for your protection, as they allow the sprinkler heads to function as required during critical situations.
Avoid Storing Materials Near Sprinkler Heads
Whether it’s for business or personal use, space can be at a premium, so you may be looking for any available space across your premises. However, you should never be tempted to store objects or materials within 18 inches of any sprinkler head.
This minimum distance is part of national regulations and is in place to ensure that if the sprinkler heads need to activate, they can do so without impediment. Keeping them clear of obstructions and ensuring nothing is blocking the receptors can provide high levels of fire protection across the premises, offering peace of miknd and ensuring you are within national guidelines for these systems,
Keep Sprinkler Heads Clean
Throughout their lifetime, sprinkler heads face environmental factors like paint droplets, dust, and other small airborne particles.
These everyday obstructions might seem like a minor issue, but they can potentially compromise the effectiveness of the sprinkler system overall.
To ensure that the fire sprinklers can function as required, you need to regularly check them for any signs of these issues or blockages, and promptly clean them off.
Fire Pump Testing: A Crucial Routine
Fire pumps are an integral part of many firefighting systems, and are designed to safeguard your premises from the threat of fire. If your fire sprinkler system has a fire pump, then you need to perform specific maintenance tasks to ensure their optimal performance during emergencies.
Regular fire pump testing is paramount to ensure this part of the fire sprinkler system is effective and something you can rely on during an emergency. With regular testing, you can prevent potential malfunctions when you need them the most by ensuring it is always in good working order.
This can be done through:
Weekly Checks
The key to preventative maintenance is regular testing and for fire pumps performing this weekly is your best option.
Testing fire pumps is not only a way for you to ascertain that this component works as intended, by functioning automatically in response to pressure loss which indicates fire risk, but also that it will perform a full operation smoothly.
Performing a regular maintenance routine with the fire pump is a small investment of your time that will be immensely beneficial, as it helps you to detect and then correct problems in their nascent stage, maintaining the readiness of your fire sprinkler system overall.
Annual Assessments
A performance test of fire pumps should be organised once a year, during which a complete health check-up of your fire pump will be assessed. As this is such a vital element to the fire sprinkler system as a whole, ensuring it is regulated inspected and maintained by professional engineers guarantees your protection when you need it most.
During annual inspections, critical checks on the pump’s flow rate and pressure will be performed to ensure these match the required standards and performance specifications.
These annual tests help identify any significant issues that might compromise the pump’s performance, providing an opportunity for timely corrections of the system to further strengthen your building’s defence against fire before you need it.
Record Keeping: Ensure Regulatory Compliance
The value of comprehensive and detailed record keeping cannot be overstated when it comes to such vital tools like fire guarding systems, such as fire sprinklers. With the regulations and guidelines present across the country for all kinds of premises, it is vital for you to keep track of all testing, maintenance and performances of your fire safety systems.
This means you must continuously and meticulously preserve records of all inspections, tests, and crucial maintenance work that your fire sprinkler system has undertaken throughout the year, using this as a checklist to ensure that you are up to date with the necessary inspections.
Your records should include all kinds of details regarding your fire sprinkler systems, from logs of even the most minutiae elements of your everyday checks to the specifics of crucial repair work. As the property or business manager, it is your responsibility to ensure that every piece of information is recorded thoroughly.
Why Record Everything For Fire Sprinklers?
Carefully maintained records for fire sprinkler maintenance, inspections and repairs serve a remarkable dual purpose.
Firstly, they act as an indispensable tool for ensuring regulatory compliance. Being able to present a thoroughly documented history of maintenance, inspections and tests, you can effortlessly demonstrate your compliance to any regulatory body in terms of fire safety.
Secondly, these meticulous records can make the difference when it comes to diagnosing potential issues that may arise within your fire safety systems. By having a detailed history at hand, a maintenance team can identify patterns, anticipate potential problems, and take preventative measures at the earliest possible stage.
With this information, the team can save both time and resources, while ensuring the optimal performance of your fire safety equipment for peace of mind.
Axis Fire Sprinklers Services
At Axis Fire Sprinklers, we understand the criticality of a fully operational fire sprinkler system and provide a range of services to maintain high standards of fire safety for our clients.
Our professional team of fire safety engineers are dedicated to ensuring that your fire sprinkler systems are working at optimal capacity for maximum safety when you need it most.
As a leading fire safety installation service, we apply a meticulous, detail-orientated approach to every aspect of our service – from routine checks and maintenance to emergency repairs to ensure your safety, adherence to guidelines and peace of mind.
By choosing Axis Fire Sprinklers, you’re choosing a complete end-to-end solution that prioritises your safety above all else, allowing you to focus on other aspects of management.
Conclusion
Ensuring your fire sprinkler system is well maintained is critical for fire safety measures, and this can be easily done by adhering to a strict maintenance schedule.
With a regular schedule for maintenance, you can address any issues within your fire sprinkler system promptly and significantly impact the system’s effectiveness in an emergency. Regular maintenance assures the maximum protection of your premises, assets, and occupants during critical moments.
At Axis Fire Sprinklers, we are committed to providing the expertise and services needed to maintain these high standards of fire safety, ensuring the optimal performance of all fire sprinkler systems.
Contact Us Today
For enquiries or to schedule a service appointment, please contact us today.
Our team of experts is ready to provide the support and guidance you need to ensure your fire sprinkler system is fully functional and can provide the protection you need.
