Watermist Nozzle Testing
With watermist systems becoming increasingly popular for the protection of property, assets, and people against the risks of fire, regular third-party testing of watermist nozzles is vital to ensure your system will continue to do its job in the event of a fire.
In addition to offering UKAS accredited BS EN 14972-17:2025 testing for residential and domestic watermist systems, our testing laboratory has the capability to undertake watermist nozzle testing for industrial, commercial, domestic, and residential systems.
Testing requirements
- BS 8489-1:2016 requires industrial and commercial nozzles to be tested every 3 years.
- BS 8458:2015 does not consider any requirements for regular nozzle testing of domestic and residential systems. The FPA recommends testing every 3 years in line with the industrial and commercial standard BS 8489-1:2016.
- BS 14972-1:2020 requires nozzles of all system types to be tested every 5 years.
Some manufacturers may require their nozzles to be tested more frequently.
Test method
Once the nozzles are received at our test laboratory, they undergo the following tests:
Visual inspection
- Appearance inspection of nozzles
- Dimension inspection of nozzles
- Thread inspection
- Packaging and marking inspection
- Serial number inspection
Function testing
- Pressure and leakage inspection
- Function test (operation of nozzle upon thermal activation)
Operation temperature testing
- Nozzle placed into a water bath, heated at a rate of 0.5°C/min until nozzle activates
Flow testing
- Flowrate inspection of nozzles
- Pressure and K factor inspection
- Spray pattern/angle inspection for any irregularities from the intended spray pattern
Download our fire research and testing brochure.