One of the home and business owner’s primary concerns is safeguarding the environment from fire outbreaks and resulting damages. This is because the fire incidents spread quickly while damaging the property and equipment and costing human lives. You can easily limit the damages imposed on your building in case of a fire incident with the help of the services rendered by the Best Sprinkler Installation Company in Alberta.
Fire protection systems
You are providing an avenue for the business owners to reduce the impairment performed at the facility, critical documents, and work kit. Additionally, these defense systems help safeguard the occupants for the installation and equipment by offering timely responses and detecting the fire.
The FPS or fire protection systems are designed for noticing a fire and safeguarding the machinery and humans inside a building in these situations. Therefore, they mainly serve as the first reaction line during fire hazards.
There are different fire protection systems, with their main function to secure lives and property from fire hazards. Additionally, the fire protection systems are even functioning to offer the tenants much time to evacuate and allow the firefighters an opportunity to recover the building from complete deterioration.
The passive and the active systems are the two main categories of the FPS. The Passive fire protection systems are the part of the structure of the building designed to limit the fire reach, and it might comprise compartmentalized fire doors, whole walls, and rest. These structures would absorb rather than conduct heat and stay tensile in higher temperatures, thereby reducing the potential fire damage.
Alternatively, active fire protection systems are built for fighting fires. Instances of active fire protection systems include fire sprinklers and alarms. Fire alarms would help in terms of notifying the occupants of the building of a fire incident that starts evacuation on emergency retorts. Fire sprinklers get activated by smoke or predetermined higher temperatures. The system sprinkles water to stop and reduce the spread of fire after it gets triggered.
Several residential buildings have installed sprinkler systems, while some industrial structures combine passive and active fire protection systems. Our post today aims to show how professionals use tools and other measures to prevent fire hazards.
Types of sprinklers
You should also consider the building’s structure, the residential and retail status, and the potential fire hazards when purchasing or getting the best sprinkler installation in Alberta. The following are the top four main types of sprinklers that are made available:
1. Wet pipe sprinklers
These are considered the main common variant of sprinklers due to their affordability. They get operated off the heat sensors signaling the nearest sprinkler head and releasing water stored in the pipes. These sprinkler heads get activated through the heat signals only where it indicates the one lying closer to the point of the fire, which gets triggered due to the prevention of flood in cases of false alarms. The wet sprinklers would need low maintenance, which is perfect for homes, offices, and schools.
2. Dry pipe sprinklers
These dry pipe sprinklers are also functioning, along with the wet pipe image. The only difference included here is that the dry pipes get filled with nitrogen and loaded with water during a fire outbreak. They are mainly used across areas with an arctic climate that prevents water from getting frozen within the pipe. But dry pipe sprinklers are expensive to install.
3. Pre-action sprinkler system
These sprinkler systems are more highly developed than their former variants as they operate on a two-factor system serving the pipes with water and sensing the predetermined heat level. The last activation stage will occur in the independent activation of the sprinkler heads. The two-band system’s primary aim is to allow manual overrides where the fire alarm becomes false. It is the kind of sprinkler mainly used in data centers, libraries, and museums.
4. Deluge sprinklers
These deluge sprinklers will not come with a heat sensor; instead, they depend heavily on external smoke signaling at activating. It will even have an open sprinkler head that enables the simultaneous water escape after the pipes reach their supplied water. It is the kind of sprinkler system used to fight the larger fires made available in factories that works with flammable liquids.
How Do Fire Sprinklers Work?
Have you ever seen a movie or a TV show where all the fire sprinklers in the building went off altogether? Fire sprinklers are mainly designed for putting out fires while reducing water damage in real life. Continue reading to know more about how these fire sprinklers work and why you need to install them on your property.
Pressurized Water
It involves a network of piping for water supply to every fire sprinkler head in the building. In this manner, it is the best time to install fire sprinklers, especially during remodeling or construction. The pipes are mainly installed out of sight, especially behind the walls and the ceilings.
The fire sprinklers respond instantly to fires since they have a constant supply of pressurized water through this piping network. Every sprinkler head gets installed along with the piping placed strategically to protect the rooms and hallways in commercial buildings. The sprinkler heads closest to the flames get activated in the fire event.
Temperature Sensitivity
It is vital to keep in mind that the fire sprinklers go off due to the increased air temperature that indicates fire. If one of the employees is burning lunch in the microwave, you need not worry about the smoke activating the sprinkler system.
It is rare for fire sprinklers to go off accidentally, so you should never allow fear of water damage to prevent you from adding complete fire protection to your commercial property. The fire sprinkler will release less water during accidental discharge compared to the plumbing leakages.
The emergency responder can turn the water off once the mechanism in the fire sprinkler head gets triggered. Each sprinkler head had a smaller plug to hold back the pressurized water within the pipes. But, when the air temperatures rise above 165 degrees Fahrenheit, the plug gets released.
The entire mechanism working behind the fire sprinkler head will depend heavily on the kind of sprinkler system you are installing. For instance, a few sprinkler heads have liquid-filled glass vials that shatter with higher air temperatures. The fire sprinkler company will help you determine the proper system for your building.
Quick Response
Pressurized water gets released through the sprinkler head as soon as the fire sprinkler detects a temperature rise, indicating a fire outbreak. The automatic sprinkler system can often suppress or even out the flames before the first responders arrive on the scene. It even gives the occupants enough time to evacuate the building as the quick response of the fire sprinkler system can reduce property loss. Fire sprinklers are even reducing the smoke and heat that fire produces.
Remember that the fire sprinkler system should just be a single part of the comprehensive fire protection system and should be combined with other measures like fire extinguishers.
Factors involved in choosing a fire contractor
You are mainly preparing for the worst scenario in terms of preventing fire damages, which is part of the property owner’s responsibility. You must be contacted by an experienced company that can help you safeguard your assets from fire-related damages if you are a commercial building owner.
The following enlisted are a couple of top qualities that you should look for in a professional fire protection contractor:
Licensed
You should ensure that the best sprinkler installation in Alberta services you choose knows whatever they are doing. It means that the state has found them qualified enough to offer fire protection services whenever the fire protection company is licensed.
Continue looking if you are interviewing a fire protection company that is reluctant to share its licensing information. You must ensure that the products or systems you paid for are working adequately if a fire outbreak occurs. You will have peace of mind when working with a licensed fire protection contractor.
Insured
You need to ensure that they are safeguarding their workers through the proper insurance with any kind of a contractor. You will become liable for injuries of any kind on the sustained jobs, which would mean that you will become responsible for paying for the medical expenses. Ensure that the fire protection company is adequately insuring their employees to avoid legal headaches.
Knowledge of fire safety regulations
You need to hire a company that is aware of any new revisions for fire safety regulations to keep your building compliant with the fire code. Before hiring a fire protection contractor, ask about their knowledge of standards set by the NFPA or the National Fire Protection Association. You should hire a contractor who can maintain the building compliant with the insurance’s fire safety standards.
References
You should ensure that these references are relevant to the type of work you need to do whenever you search for a reliable safety contractor. For instance, if you are searching for a fire alarm contractor, you need a company with relevant experience. It is not common for fire protection companies to specialize in a specific range of services. Hence, it is important to ensure that these contractors are highly experienced to offer your needed services.
When the contractors share references with you, ensure that they remain relevant to the needs and are updated. When the companies fall under new management, the quality of the services will suffer. The references from recent customers will help you form an accurate picture of how a business operates.
Full range of services
It is often best to work with a single company if you need an entire range of services. It is highly convenient to have all the safety requirements covered under a single contractor instead of trying to coordinate several third parties. Keeping business simple by depending on the service provider across a massive range of services and fire safety products is vital.
Closing thoughts
Following the proper fire maintenance plans are key to helping you stay compliant with the fire safety equipment standards. There are several things to consider in your business, and getting the best sprinkler installation in Alberta is the one you need.
There are numerous things to cover whenever it comes to regulations. Each business should conduct its fire risk assessment by law and take the required steps, which is why it is vital to stay up to the standards of being prepared. The inspectors are also fond of picking on the issues like blocked escape routes, locked fire exit doors, and inadequate fire equipment maintenance.
The preventative and planned maintenance will ensure that these issues get picked up and resolved to keep you prepared and compliant.