Adrian Kay gives details on how to stay compliant and ensure competence when maintaining sprinklers.
Out of sight and out of mind, sprinklers are an essential part of a building’s infrastructure that are often forgotten.As the hidden hero of fire safety, we rely on sprinkler systems to spring into action in case of emergency, saving stock, equipment, and most importantly, lives.
As the one building service you never want to operate, ensuring that your fire sprinkler system is up to standard is vital, but it can be a daunting and complex task. This guide simplifies the process for building owners and occupiers and system users, outlining best practice for sprinkler reliability and maintenance, how you can play your part, and why it is so important.
What action do you need to take regarding your automatic fire sprinkler systems?
It is critical that your sprinklers are reliable in times of crisis, and that you can be confident in their safe and compliant operation. They can be in place for a building’s lifetime and never used, but you do not want to leave it until they need to activate to see if they can. You have a responsibility to ensure that regular sprinkler maintenance becomes the norm. It is not like other building maintenance where it is clear there is an issue, like hearing complaints of no air conditioning or sweltering heat when HVAC systems go awry. Sprinklers should be part of your essential building maintenance and given the same attention as systems that can cause occupant complaints. If tended to on a regular basis, it is easy to keep up care and maintenance, and the onus is on the building owner or occupier to do so.
The responsibilities of the system user
The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 took the responsibility for fire safety out of the hands of fire and rescue services and placed the onus solely on the building owner or occupier. Now, every commercial or industrial property must have an individual who is responsible for fire safety, and it is their responsibility to make their premises compliant. Failing to do so can result in fines, prosecution, and even jail time.
However, all building stakeholders must work in sync on a building’s fire safety strategy for it to be effective. You may not have a facilities management company that looks after sprinkler maintenance, or your building manager may not have worked in an environment where this kind of fire suppression system has been in place, so it is imperative that you find an accredited contractor that can support you.
How to create a compliant sprinkler service and maintenance regime
Best practice for sprinkler maintenance starts with weekly or monthly checks in-house, with experts employed on a quarterly, six-monthly, or annual basis to ensure that systems are in good health. Think of your building like a car – you can assess the condition of your tyres before a long trip, or top up the screen wash, but you leave your annual MOT and service to the experts.
The big difference here is that no one talks about the requirements for your sprinkler maintenance. There are no set reminders or government mandates to follow, so you can feel left in the dark without clear guidance. It is the responsibility of the building owner or occupier to appoint a third-party accredited contractor that adheres to the standards outlined by the Fire Protection Association.
Once the service contract is in place, you must work together to build a compliant sprinkler care and maintenance regime, including regular hazard reviews, combining internal building understanding and external expert knowledge. For instance, a trusted fire safety partner will check the age of your sprinkler heads, advising testing after 25 years of installation to ensure that they can operate and distribute water as they should, and assess the water storage tanks, which should be drained and inspected every ten years to check their condition. This kind of expert knowledge is where third-party accredited contractors are essential.
Legislative requirements and choosing the right contractor
Legislative requirements have remained reasonably consistent over the years. In our experience, it is a mixed picture for businesses, some are up to date and fully in line with current legislation, however some have found it more challenging to stay on top of fire safety.
The main hurdle is making people more aware of what a compliant sprinkler system maintenance contract looks like, which is where documents like the FPA’s guide to Sprinkler System Service and Maintenance comes into play, giving those responsible the knowledge and the tools to become compliant.
As for choosing a contractor, it is important to choose one that services to recognised standards and carries one of the industry-approved third-party certifications: LPS1048, FIRAS, or IFC. The certification generally covers the design, installation, testing, and commissioning of systems, but you need to ensure service and maintenance is incorporated in their scope of work to ensure your system stays up to standard. Do your research when choosing a fire safety contractor, to ensure that you meet legislative requirements:
- Look for contractors with third-party accreditations (LPS1048, FIRAS or IFC).
- Select a scheme that is regularly audited.
- Ensure you can receive ongoing service and maintenance, with a supplier that offers 24/7 rapid callouts to fix urgent issues.
- Beware of substantially lower costs – there is no guarantee that the cheapest option meets recognised compliance standards if they are not accredited.
How does a change in building use affect your fire safety?
One size does not fit all, and each building’s sprinkler system is different dependent upon its occupation and the use and size of the space. Throughout the pandemic and as we adjust to life after, the way we use our buildings
is constantly changing. Hybrid working has changed the way in which we interact and use spaces, yet we are finding that many businesses neglect to update fire safety when they do so.
Sprinklers are not like a fire extinguisher that is easily noticed, and something which you come into contact with on a regular basis. When you put up a partition wall or change the use of a room from an office space to storage of goods, your sprinkler system may not seem an immediate concern. However, as people make changes to building use, the effectiveness of the sprinkler system is immediately affected. For instance, a partition wall may seem an easy solution to divide a space, but unknowingly it may affect the sprinkler system coverage creating huge fire safety ramifications.
For this reason, it is vital to carry out a regular Review of Hazard to assess the changing use of spaces and any building alterations that may affect fire suppression systems in place. This is recognised within the sprinkler standards as a critical routine to ensure compliance, with immediate remedial action a requirement if the review identifies any system deficiencies.
Identification of deficiencies
Some of the most common sprinkler problems contractors see revolve around changes to building use. Changes such as the type of product being stored and the height and storage arrangement, have a big impact on how effective your sprinklers are. This is especially prevalent with the boom in e-commerce and amid supply chain disruptions, as companies tend to store more stock inhouse.
The main purpose of a regular Review of Hazard is to identify deficiencies like these in your fire sprinkler system. These reviews highlight where manufacturing or office areas have been converted into warehousing, or where structural changes to the building such as partition walls or mezzanines have been added, affecting sprinkler system operation. Regular hazard reviews are an essential method to uncover blind spots. These can be done internally on a quarterly basis with checklists provided by your contractor, who will themselves also carry out a review on an annual basis and will step in when alterations to fire safety infrastructure are required.
What does a Review of Hazard look like?
Every 13 weeks, the following items require checking to verify that the sprinkler system installed remains appropriate for both the hazard and use of building. Any competent person responsible for the site sprinkler system can identify these hazards independently and complete and submit the completed self-check report form to the servicing contractor for review:
- Any structural alterations made, e.g., walls, partitions, ceilings, and walkways installed or modified?
- Have any parts of the premises been demolished, renovated, or extended?
- Any use changes, including function, type of products stored, or how they are stored?
- Storage proximity to sprinkler heads?
- Any issues with, or modifications to, the sprinkler system?
- Is the building temperature within operational limits?
On an annual basis, the servicing contractor will also complete a Review of Hazard to ensure that the content of the returned self-check forms has correctly reflected the system criteria.
What can happen if regular service and maintenance is not carried out?
If the sprinkler system is not subject to a compliant service and maintenance regime as required by the standards, there is a serious risk that the system may not operate as intended in a fire situation. Weekly and monthly checks by the system user combined with provision of a service and maintenance contract with an accredited contractor are all critical in ensuring the continued reliability of this vital element of fire safety.
Key takeaways
Fire safety is a vital part of protecting your employees’ wellbeing and business interests. You must ensure that your sprinkler systems are fit for purpose and ready to operate, so that if disaster strikes, your fire suppression measures are up to task.
- Work with a third-party accredited contractor that adheres to the standards.
- Build ongoing sprinkler servicing and maintenance into your fire safety strategy.
- Carry out regular Reviews of Hazard to assess structural and business use changes.
Fire & Risk Management is the UK’s market leading fire safety journal, published 10 times a year, and is available exclusively to FPA members in digital and print format depending on your requirements. You can find out more about our membership scheme here.
Adrian Kay is Head of Technical Compliance and Quality at Johnson Controls UK&I.