Heads
Understanding Fire Sprinkler Heads and How They Work
Fire sprinkler heads work in a very fundamental way. But if the head is bumped or misused, it could prove to be a BIG problem. The last thing you want is for the system to not activate in the event of a fire. But also if the head is damaged, activates and there is no fire, it can be very costly in terms of water damage and clean up. In essence, they are quite a simple part of the system and yet there is a great deal of potential for problems.
With sprinkler heads, the situation is complicated by the fact that there can potentially be hundreds of them in a large commercial building, and so checking that they are working properly is a fairly large job that is best left to the experts.
By law, if you have a sprinkler system then you have to have the heads (and any available spares) checked at least once a year by a licensed inspector.
Although this might feel like an extra expense that you could happily live without, the fact is that any system that involves water and fire is a system that you should be making 100% certain is working correctly! If the heads are on a very old system then there is certainly a high potential for there to be problems, and even on a new system you only need a small misalignment of the heads to cause problems.
Depending on the age and type of system that your building has, you will need different maintenance procedures.
There are two main types of sprinkler heads:
1/ Open Sprinkler Heads – These are used in deluge based systems where all the sprinklers are set to activate when a fire is detected. These tend to be found more commonly in older systems, and do not have a heat sensitive element.
2/ Automatic Sprinkler Heads – These have a heat element that triggers the sprinkler when a certain temperature is reached. The advantage of these is that they can usually operate independently, so a problem with one will not tend to cause a problem in another.
Get in touch with us today and we will be happy to discuss your options when it comes to fire safety, fire sprinkler heads and the fire protection sprinkler system design that is right for you!