Sprinkler systems - Maintenance

February 21, 2022
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Unkategorisiert

Essential in modern buildings with a high fire load and rapid fire spread risk: sprinkler systems! Particularly for inaccessible areas, these can reduce the risk to a minimum through effective fire protection. In short: automatic extinguishing systems protect material assets and production facilities, which can ensure the continued existence of a company.

While sprinkler systems are looked after by the fire safety officer, maintenance must be carried out by specialist companies and inspections by aggregated inspection bodies. If maintenance or servicing is neglected, this can generally have legal consequences.

In accordance with VdS Guideline 2092 or CEA 4001, the operator is responsible for the maintenance and servicing of the sprinkler system.

The following maintenance is provided:

According to the VdS guideline: Sprinkler systems must be subjected to a daily visual inspection. The interval between Sundays and public holidays must not be greater than 3 days. In the case of independently monitored systems, the daily visual inspection can be dispensed with, but these must also be visually inspected at least once a week. 1 visual inspection per week.

The automatic drain valve should be replaced every 3 years and the safety valve, a safety-related* component, every 5 years.

According to VdS guideline CEA 4001, the sprinkler pump or the direct connection of a system must be tested regularly under full load conditions.

For sprinkler systems that are also equipped with foam concentrates, the foam concentrate quality must be checked at intervals of no more than 12 months. The test result must be documented accordingly. Flushing of the pipe network is generally necessary if previous inspections (12.5 or 25-year inspection) have detected deposits and incrustations in the pipework, as well as after major conversion work or extensions to the pipe network.

The following checks are required for systems with automatic pump start:

Checking the fuel and engine oil level in diesel engines
Triggering the automatic start by reducing the water pressure at the start device
Measurement and recording of the start pressure as soon as the pump starts up
Checking the oil pressure of diesel pumps and the water flow through open cooling circuits.

Immediately after starting the pump, diesel engines must be checked as follows:

The engine must run for the duration specified by the manufacturer, but for at least 20 minutes. The engine is then switched off and restarted immediately using the manual emergency start device.
The water level in the primary circuit of closed-circuit cooling systems must be checked.

The following must be checked and recorded:

All values of water and air pressure gauges on alarm valves, main lines and compressed air water tanks
All water levels in elevated reservoirs, rivers, canals, lakes and water tanks and including the filling tank of the pumps and the compressed air water tank
Correction of all main shut-off valves

Lead-acid and acid accumulators:

The electrolyte level and the density of the cells must be checked

Alarm transmission to the fire department and the central control center must be checked accordingly:

Integrity of the connection
Integrity of the connection between the alarm switch and the transmission device

Checking the trace heating and local heating

For heaters that prevent the sprinkler systems from being introduced, the correct functionality must also be checked. The required maintenance work includes ¼, ½, annual, 3 and 15 yearly checks.

Who can carry out the maintenance?

Companies must meet standards in accordance with ÖNORM EN 12845 in conjunction with TrvB 127 and the competence criteria of ÖNORM F 3072.

To make sure you don’t miss any more appointments in future, download the MyBuilding24 app. There you can record all your devices requiring maintenance and manage the associated appointments. With a complete list of maintenance work available at all times, you are always on the safe side.