The importance of sprinkler monitoring

Fire Sprinklers are an essential part of any building’s fire response system, providing valuable time and protection for all inside a building when a fire starts.

They also help to protect your irreplaceable belongings, ensuring the fire is kept low, out or away from anything that you would not want to lose.

For these critically important reasons, it is absolutely essential that the owner of fire sprinklers continuously monitors their status – it can be easy to forget that fire sprinklers are there until the moment they are required, and if they fail to activate, it’s already much too late to do anything about it.

Read on to find out more about the BS9251 Sprinkler System, and how the 2021 version has made amends over the 2014 model to ensure sprinklers are monitored and effective when needed most.

Sprinkler monitoring

Monitoring sprinklers under BS9251:2014

The critical issue with monitoring under the 2014 model was to do with the isolation valves. Isolation valves are an integral part of the system, and once installed, should be left firmly in the unlocked position.

This is because locked isolation valves cut off the flow of water, in order to allow maintenance or repair works to be completed without any water present in the pipes. The big problem is that if the valves are left in this position, the fire sprinklers will fail when they are truly required.

With the 2014 guidance, once the system had been commissioned or activated, there was no way to check the status of the isolation valves – making it a lengthy process to have them checked by a professional, and meaning it could easily go unnoticed before it was too late.

Sprinkler guidance

Updated sprinkler monitoring guidance

The first port of call for the updated guidance released in 2021 was the inclusion of mandatory electronic monitoring of fire sprinkler systems, introducing a three-step approach to comprehensively ensure that the systems are ready to spring into action if the moment arises:

  1. Isolation Valves
  2. Tank level switches
  3. Booster sets

With this triple-pronged approach, there is now a fully operational, dedicated sprinkler monitoring system, that will raise the alarm in a wide range of circumstances – including when the sprinkler system has been isolated, when there is not enough water in the tank, and when there is a loss of power on the booster set.

This gives the owners of the property peace of mind that their associates and their assets will be protected in the event of a fire.

South coast fire sprinklers

Bespoke, modern fire sprinkler systems from South Coast Fire Sprinklers

At South Coast Fire Sprinklers, we are experts in the field of delivering modern, efficient and most importantly, effective fire sprinkling systems to clients across the South.

If you would like to find out more about our services, you can browse the rest of our website, or talk to a member of our friendly team today – on 01202 731111.

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