That will just create problems for you.

No. We don't do a full flow trip test of your dry system every third year, even though it's required. A pipe could break. Or the end of the line could get clogged with sediment that's in the pipe. 

No we don't flow your standpipe on the roof every fifth year even though it's required. We don't want to chance finding a roof leak. 

No. We don't back flush your FDC, even though it's required. It might be corroded inside, and it could start to leak. 

No. We don't schedule full trip tests on your pre-action or deluge systems for when you have a scheduled equipment shutdown, even though it's required. Some of your pipe could start to leak. 

No. We don't flow hydrants with the fire pump running. We don't want to disturb the underground pipe too much. 

Wait. What???

Have you heard this before? Maybe you haven't. Maybe you have. Maybe you have no idea what you are paying for on an annual basis. 

Some contractors use these phrases (or something like it) to justify why they are NOT going to perform the required tests. 

Ask your insurance company if that's ok. Ask them if that seems legit. Just be ready to have an underwriter come knocking on your door looking for all of the paperwork showing that you have had all compliant tests and inspection and maintenance performed. 

True. There is A LOT that can go wrong while testing fire sprinkler components.

But it's better to have it fail during a test....while there are qualified personnel on site to mitigate the situation RATHER THAN have something go wrong at the worst time....when it is needed during a fire emergency. 

Make sure you are getting what you are paying for. 

Make sure that your current contractor is guiding you correctly and letting you know all of the inspections and tests that are required. They are the experts. They are the ones you are hiring because they know what needs to get done. 

Here's the catch. The onus is on you. The building owner....the owners representative/property manager....the chief engineer....the operations manager....the facilities manager....pick your title. It doesn't matter which one. Because when the slop hits the fan....the insurance company and their team of lawyers are going to be pointing fingers and asking lots and lots of questions. 

And that's just the start.....

Don't have the paperwork? Didn't have the schedule of inspections completed as laid out in NFPA 25? Didn't know you had to have all of these things done?

Good luck getting your claim paid for. 

Property management companies...here come the lawsuits from your tenants. 

Etc. etc. etc. 

Not sure if you have everything in order?

Give us a call at 484-321-FIRE

or visit our website and fill out the contact form. We will help you out. 

Some of the tests aren't cheap. But it's much cheaper than not doing them. That I can assure you. 

321FireProtection.com

Down to a 1/4 tank

Probably about the time that you look at your fuel gauge and think "time to fill up".

Or maybe you think "I have at least another 100 miles left in this tank. I'll wait. " And then you forget, only to look down 90 miles later and think "WTF!"

The embarrassment and hassle of running out of fuel is probably enough to keep your tank full.

What if running out of fuel meant that you could be held liable for someone's death or the destruction of property? A little drastic maybe. But not really. 

Have a diesel fire pump? You are required to keep the tank no less than 2/3 full at all times. That 2/3 of a tank must be able to keep your fire pump running for a continuos eight hours. 

Run out of fuel....you're going to be knee deep is some nasty, smelly stuff. Even if nothing catastrophic happens. Run out of fuel and you can expect a few hefty invoices for the emergency service repairs. Such as : For your sprinkler contractor to come out and see if there is any damage to the pump itself or the pipe network. Then to perform another test on the pump when everything is up and running; your diesel mechanic to come and get the engine working again. He may need to do extensive work, especially if any sediment from the bottom of the fuel tank made it into the fuel lines, filter, injectors, etc. ; the emergency fuel delivery from your fuel company....to name a few. 

Bottom line...keep your fuel tank no less than 2/3 full. It's that simple. 

321FireProtection.com

What's in a name?

One of the toughest things to obtain when starting a fire protection company, is insurance. 

There is a ton of liability that comes with the territory of owning a fire protection company. For example: is the newly installed sprinkler system going to operate in a fire; is the fire extinguisher that was just inspected going to operate if needed; are the workers that are doing the installations/service/inspections actually qualified to be working on life saftey systems; how much damage is possible if an improper pipe joint is made; and so on......

So what's in a name? What's in the name of your current/future contractor? It's actually pretty important. 

Do the words:

"fire"

"fire protection"

"life safety"

"fire sprinkler"

"fire extinguisher"

"fire alarm"

"sprinkler"

or similar words, phrases, or terms appear anywhere in their company name?

If the answer is "no"....then run away as fast as you can....pick up the phone and call 321 Fire Protection Co. Or better yet, since you're online right now....go to our website and contact us. Now. Stop what you're doing and make the change. 

Why? Because there is a HUGE chance that the contractor without any of those key words in their name.....aren't properly insured. There is also a good chance that they don't have qualified personnel  working on your systems. 

It sends chills down my spine when I see these company names and inspection tags when I walk into a building. 

I just did a design analysis of a newly installed system by a company that fit into this description. The new sprinkler system has an inadequate design. There isn't enough water pressure to get to the highest sprinkler head in the new building, let alone enough water pressure that is actually required to operate four heads (which is required for this example)...but when you change data and cheat on the hydraulic calculations.....who's going to know any better.....I'm not even joking.

The company name has no mention of "fire protection". It is merely known as "something or other" consulting, llc. 

Seems criminal right?

It is. And it gets snuck into system design all of the time.  Because nobody checks on these low life's. 

321 Fire Protection Co

321 Consulting

321 Enterprises 

321 Group

321 & Company

321 & Sons

321 Services

I could easily apply for general liability insurance for all of those company names, and probably pay less than $500/year for it...except for the name that I chose; which has the term FIRE PROTECTION.  There's a slight <sarcasm>......ten fold increase (give or take a fold) in premium, just to make sure we have the correct coverage. 

When things go wrong....and you have a big issue....and you can't get the satisfaction that you require from these supposed fire protection contractors....and you decide to file a lawsuit against them...that's when things get really messy. I've seen it happen. They get sued for something big that they screwed up....they close their doors, and open up the next day under a different name. 

It's disgusting. 

There's a lot in a name. 

321FireProtection.com

Time....is of the essence

No kidding. You snooze you lose.

Time is of the essence.

What's this about?

Don't wait until it's too late to address outstanding issues with your fire protection or life safety systems. I know that seems like common sense. I know, I know, I know.
But......

I received a phone call this morning from a (soon to be) client (they are still under contract with a company that they are not happy with - that's another blog post in the future).  When he got into work this morning, there was a proposal in his email from his current sprinkler company.  It seems that they want to "change" the anti-freeze in a pretty large system that protects an attached wooden shed.

Great.  We run across this all of the time; anti-freeze systems with subpar or non-compliant antifreeze.  It definitely needs to be changed from time to time, depending on a few variables.
He understands that too.  So what's the big deal?

Well...it's December 28.  The system was inspected in the beginning of April. April 6th to be specific. 266 days between the inspection, and a proposal being "dropped" into an inbox.

Furthermore.....the inspection report (that my soon to be client didn't look past the first page when he received it months ago) states that the anti-freeze only tested to +20ºF (that points to more issues than just bad anti-freeze...I wonder if they are going to address those other issues? hmmmm...probably not.)

So what's my point, right?

Time is of the essence.  Don't wait to read the inspection report. Don't wait for the sprinkler contractor to send a proposal to do work.  Don't wait for them to tell you that the deficiencies that are in the report, actually need to be fixed.  Don't wait.....and if you don't understand something in your report....don't wait to ask....

This seems to me, on the surface, that the sprinkler contractor either forgot about the anti-freeze issue at this facility, and just happened upon their list of "proposals to send out"....

-or-

It's almost the end of the year, and they are scraping things together that they can get customers to jump on ("anti-freeze that only tests to +20ºF....of course the customer is going to want that changed before the temperature really drops!!!!! They won't be able to say no!"....I've heard these things (and much worse) come out of the mouths of people writing these proposals.  They want to put a little more money in their revenue column before the end of the year.  Honestly, I would not be surprised one bit, if they had an entire list of clients that they sent similar proposals to...money - in - the bank!

And they are right.  Yes. It needs to be changed...and like...NOW.  The outdoor shed has a lot of raw product in there, that a frozen/broken pipe will certainly damage.

This is just one example as to how waiting.....can cost a lot of money...or make a contractor a lot of money - depending on how you look at it.  Now my (future) client can't really go and get pricing from two other vendors, as he is required to do if he wants to use someone other than the contractor that they have a service contract with. Oops.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Many other things get kicked to the side...much worse things.  Things get put off and put off some more and put off some more again...until (whatever) NEEDS to be fixed NOW!  That's when it's gonna hurt you in the wallet.

Really. Time IS of the essence.....

321FireProtection.com

Simple & cheap (sometimes free) things to make your place safe.

Whenever I walk into a building, I immediately start to look at the hazards (fire or life safety) that are around.  Not so I can pick them out and tell people that they aren't safe....it's just my nature.  Then I log them in my head...maybe to use as a little case history.  I'll probably mention it to someone who cares as well (which isn't as easy s it seems...to find someone who cares - that will be another bog post in the future).

Here's the deal....these things that I see are usually very easy things to fix.  It may be as simple as moving the four propane tanks for the gas grill from in front of the exit door at an apartment building (two birds with one stone there....fire hazard and blocked exit).  That doesn't cost any money to fix.  Zilch.  Zero. Nadda.  Nothing.

But people don't make their place safe.  And its not because they don't care (deep down they care...I know they do), rather, it's because they don't think like that.  They don't see a blocked exit as an issue.  They don't see loose, multiple propane tanks stored in an exit way as an issue. "Nobody uses that exit anyway!" Yup...I've been told that before.

What are some other cheap/free fixes?

- Clean up all of the things that are plugged into one outlet.  Do you really need 12 things plugged into three power strips, plugged into one outlet? (If you have one power strip plugged into another power strip - it's time for an intervention)
- Clean up around your heater(s).  Cardboard boxes full of plastics, paper, clothes, etc are great fuel for a fire.  The heater is a great source of heat for a fire. The air around us is a great oxygen source for the fire.  Get the fuel (boxes and other junk) away from the heater.
- Clean up....in general.  It's a common theme.  Clean up.  Housekeeping is what the technical term would be.  A messy place is just a fire waiting to happen.

For more information, please visit our website at:

http://www.321fireprotection.com/contact-1.html

Fire doesn't care about you

Fire affects everyone, in all walks of life.  It doesn't care if you are rich or poor...black or white....man or woman....old or young.....it will destroy everything in it's path until it has nothing left to destroy. Then it will go away. For a little while anyway.

Fire affects everyone...that is not hyperbole.  That is an absolute fact. Think about it.  You know someone along the way who has been affected by fire.  Whether they had a minor fire at their house (maybe they had a lawn mower burn up, or their shed burn down), or a fire where they work; or they had a major fire at their house and were displaced.  Think about it.  You know someone.  Hey, maybe that someone is you?

The National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA) has done some studies on this.  The numbers are pretty staggering.

On average....you will have FIVE fires in your home in a lifetime. Three of which that will be cooking related.  Hmmmmm....now it's starting to make sense.  Maybe you have been affected by fire, but never thought of it that way, because nothing REALLY happened.  Yet.

NFPA also has some data that suggests that ONE in FOUR households will have a REPORTED fire.  Thats where you have to call the fire department.  Thats when you are thinking "my house is going to burn down!!!"....Have you ever had to call the fire department? It was probably unsettling....

Last bit of data here......ONE in ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY (1:140) reported fires will involve a fatality.  Chew on that for a little.

1:140

Meh...less than 1% right?  But do you go and play the lottery in hopes that you beat the odds of 1:175,000,000?  Do you wear your seatbelt every time you get in your car, even though the odds of getting killed in an accident are 1:37,000 (about 0.003% chance).

Fire affects everyone. Equally.

Welcome to the 321 Fire Protection Co's Blog

Thanks for checking out our blog.

We will be bringing you daily blog posts on all things related to fire protection, fire prevention, fire sprinkler saves, devastating fires, and all things life safety related...in a nutshell.

We would love your feedback on what you think of our blog.  The more feedback we receive, the better we can make it for you.

We look forward to providing information to everyone, in hopes that you will keep these sort of things in the back of your mind.  We keep it right in the front of ours....all day, everyday....it's what we do.  It's our passion. If we can get others to start thinking about fire prevention, fire protection, and other life safety things...we really think that it will help everyone be a little more safe in this ever changing world of life safety.

You might say that we are fire & life safety nerds....that sounds about right.

Thanks.  Enjoy.