Fire Sprinklers

fire sprinklers

Sprinklers are the ultimate solution for fire safety and fire protection in buildings. They are constantly on guard and will attack a fire automatically even if the occupants are infirm, asleep or not even there.

They can also often be used to advantage for other purposes, such as:

reduction of other passive fire safety measures;
reducing the need for, or in some instances allowing removal of self closing fire doors;
increasing travel distances;
allowing buildings to be used for purposes other than which they were designed for;
allowing buildings to be built or converted to other uses which planning restrictions would otherwise prevent, etc.

Every fire brigade in the UK supports the installation of sprinklers in most circumstances, including domestic and residential property.

We have been successful in changing the requirements made by fire authorities which not only achieved the desired effect, but also reduced costs and made the property much safer.

We also offer a Domestic/Residential sprinkler design checking service, mainly for the benefit of local authority building control departments. We can check the design of systems to ensure they comply with BS EN12845, BS 9251, NFPA (National Fire Protection Association - USA) or FM (Factory Mutual) standards, whichever is appropriate. This service is intended to give an unbiased opinion if doubt exists about a system at design stage. We can also provide a physical check of an installed system, whether partially or fully completed. See Sprinkler Verification Service

Insurance companies are beginning to look much more closely at industrial fire risks, and insurance premiums are set to rise. In some cases, clients could find it impossible to obtain insurance cover. Fire sprinklers, along with good fire safety management can help.

The myths:

They cause water damage.

Sprinklers use only a fraction of water compared with a fire hose. Sprinklers operate very early in the development of a fire, and consequently only require a relatively small quantity of water to extinguish it.

In over half of activations, fires are controlled by 4 sprinkler heads or less, and in many instances only 1 head operates.

The pipes burst through frost.

Sprinklers can be provided with various forms of frost protection, just like hot water heating systems.

They might accidentally go off.

Sprinklers are very reliable, the chances of a sprinkler going off without mechanical assistance are 1 in 16 million (fork lift truck drivers soon learn to avoid them!).

When they go off, all heads will operate and everything will get wet.

This one is largely thanks to Bruce Willis films. When he gets into a tight corner, he shoots a sprinkler head and they all go off, allowing him to make his escape.

In actual fact, each head is activated by heat, so only the heads involved in the area of the fire are activated.

Sprinklers are the most efficient and effective safety device know to man, they have over a 99% success rate in service world wide.