Keeping your tenants safe is your primary responsibility as a landlord. A fire in an apartment building can be devastating. Lives are on the line, along with the risk of property damage, lawsuits, and loss of business income while repairs are performed. There’s also your brand reputation to consider. Who wants to live in a home that burned due to shoddy fire sprinkler maintenance? Attracting new renters depends on your reputation.
To keep your tenants safe, prevent property and water damage, lower your insurance and maintenance costs, and keep your system well-maintained and properly inspected, you need to know how to take care of residential sprinkler systems. Here’s what you need to know about fire sprinkler maintenance.
Tip 1: Know Your Apartment Fire Sprinkler Requirements
Only four states have a mandate or partial mandate requiring apartment fire sprinkler systems, but 20 additional states allow local jurisdictions to decide. Wisconsin is one of the 26 states where fire sprinkler mandates were defeated.
The lack of mandates doesn’t mean there are no laws governing installed fire sprinkler systems. Check your state, county, and local codes to ensure you comply with laws and regulations. The National Fire Protection Association NFPA 25 sets the guidelines for fire system comprehensive inspections, testing, and maintenance (ITM). For example, Wisconsin law (pg.7) requires that you follow NFPA guidelines for systems inspection, testing, and maintenance.
Whether sprinklers are required by law or not, they are a good investment.
Tip 2: Learn About Apartment Fire Sprinkler Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance
In addition to annual inspections and scheduled maintenance, your building’s fire sprinkler system should be tested any time it is altered, repaired, reconditioned, or replaced.
Residential fire sprinkler system maintenance includes sample testing, internal pipe inspection, ice detection, regular inspections, and other tasks to keep the system optimized and ready.
Fire sprinkler maintenance is typically broken into weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual tasks. Here are the basics.
Weekly Tasks:
- Inspect the control valve. Control valves regulate the flow of water through the entire sprinkler system for the building, running from the main water source to interior sprinkler heads in each apartment.
- Inspect system gauges. All home fire sprinkler systems have pressure gauges at several locations to check air or water pressure (depending on the type of system). Keeping fire sprinkler gauges in good working order allows you to spot serious problems stemming from a lack of pressurized water or closed valves.
Monthly Tasks:
- Inspect wet pipe system gauges. Wet pipe systems have two water pressure gauges on each side of the valve – one on the “supply side” of the valve to verify water pressure between the water supply and the valve and the other on the “system side” to ensure steady water flow between the valve, piping system, and fire sprinkler heads. In an apartment building with many units, gauges are typically located at the system’s main drain and pressure-reducing valves.
- Inspect alarm valves. Sprinkler alarm valves are designed to open and allow water flow when the system is activated by fire.
Quarterly Tasks:
- Inspect alarm devices. Each apartment, stairwell, and hallway should have smoke or heat detectors with visual and audible components, like blinking lights and an alarm bell.
- Inspect hydraulic nameplate. The hydraulic data plate contains system requirements and information about water flow. Verify that it’s in place and readable.
- Conduct a main drain test. A main drain test is a tool used to evaluate the condition of the water supply to a multiple or single-home fire sprinkler system compared to previous results. A variation of 10% or more could indicate flow obstruction.
- Conduct waterflow alarm test. The water flow detector, or flow switch, is a device that sends an alarm to the fire department when sprinklers are activated.
Annual Tasks:
- Inspect pipe hangers and braces. Fittings that attach pipes to the outside of buildings can incur physical damage or deteriorate over time. It’s important for fire sprinkler maintenance to keep them in good repair.
- Inspect sprinkler pipe and fittings. Check for damage to pipes and pipe fittings exposed to the elements.
- Inspect sprinkler heads. Look for obstruction or damage to sprinkler heads.
- Clean and lubricate control valves. No valve maintenance activity is more important than lubrication. Using the proper grease makes valves work better and last longer.
- Test backflow preventers. Backflow is when water flows from a building’s plumbing system in the wrong direction – back into the water main. In a wet pipe system, water stagnates in the pipes for a long time without being used and can become a breeding ground for bacteria. Without backflow protection, the contaminated water could flow back into the city water supply and spread contamination, which could come out anywhere, including sinks, showers, or ice makers. Backflow testing and routine maintenance are imperative to ensure working backflow preventers are in place.
- Test antifreeze. If you’re using wet pipes and antifreeze systems in a cold climate, make sure your antifreeze solution is approved under the current guidelines and local laws. Antifreeze should be tested annually before winter sets in to verify that the right solution concentration is in the pipes. Frozen water pipes are a tremendous (and costly) headache.
- External ice inspections. During the winter, conduct routine inspections for ice in areas where sprinkler lines are exposed to cold temperatures.
Five-Year Tasks:
- Internal pipe investigation. An internal pipe investigation aims to verify that the fire sprinkler system pipes supplying the water to your apartment building’s sprinkler heads have no corrosion or foreign material capable of obstructing sprinkler operation. If foreign matter is found, the whole system should be flushed.
Tip 3: Teach Your Employees About the Fire Sprinkler System
Train on-site employees and equip them with the right fire sprinkler tools; they should be able to handle most of the inspection and maintenance tasks. They’ll also know how to shut off a valve for fire sprinkler repair or deal with a leak. Basic sprinkler system knowledge can help employees spot and prevent potential problems and give your property managers and tenants peace of mind.
Complete fire sprinkler system training should include:
- Normal system operating conditions (baseline)
- Basic understanding of how a residential fire sprinkler system works
- Able to identify types of sprinkler heads (pendant, upright, sidewall, or recessed sprinkler heads)
- Familiarity with fire sprinkler head covers (often used in apartment buildings for aesthetic reasons)
- Location of control valves and control areas
- Location of alarm devices
- Map of sprinkler zones (if applicable)
- Inspection, testing, and maintenance requirements
- Location and access to maintenance records
Check your local fire codes to find out if the person in charge of ITM (inspection, testing, and maintenance) is required to be licensed.
Other Components of Fire Prevention
You can take a few other precautions to keep your tenants and property safe. For example:
- A fire extinguisher should be in each apartment and in hallways, stairwells, and community areas.
- Smoke and fire damper installation in the ductwork help keep smoke and fire from spreading through the air distribution system.
- Install fire doors rated to provide a barrier stopping the spread of fire from one area to the next while allowing people to escape.
- Install surge protectors on major appliances and outlets.
- Hire certified electricians for electrical installation projects and wiring.
- Service HVAC systems and dryer vents regularly to avoid the buildup of combustible materials in the air delivery and venting systems.
- Educate tenants about how to avoid fires and advise purchasing renter’s insurance in the event the worst happens. Good communication with tenants is key.
Apartment building owners have made significant strides in fire safety. Apartment fire incidents have been on a downward trend for decades, and these numbers represent a 43% decrease since 1980. According to NFPA, there were an estimated 1.35 million fires in the United States in 2021. Only six percent of these fires occurred in apartments, causing $1,725 million in property loss. These fire sprinkler maintenance tips will help you keep that downward trend going – and keep your property, tenants, and company reputation out of the fire.
