What is that, you ask?
It's a concealed type fire sprinkler that has been caulked and painted over...multiple times.
What's the big deal right?
The big deal is that...this sprinkler will never work. Period.
The caulk is like glue, and won't allow the concealer plate to drop away (to expose the sprinkler). The paint just assures that the cover can't ever drop off. Just like a painted window can't be opened.
Except this will aid in death and destruction.
The worst part, for me as an inspector, is that this sprinkler head is in the main entrance to a building that we were trying to get the inspection for. I mean....THE VERY FIRST SPRINKLER HEAD I SAW!!!!
Turns out we lost the bid, because we weren't the lowest bidder. Hmmmmm.
Your get what you pay for....lowest bidder. The funny part is that you have the lowest bidder doing an inspection on a building that was built with the lowest bidders. I'm not sure if that is irony or not. I'll have to think about that one.
While taking a pre-bid tour of this building, I noticed quite a lot of deficiencies; some non-critical, some critical.
I also noticed A LOT of issues that won't come up on an inspection because the issues are "outside the scope of an NFPA 25 inspection". I put that in quotes because that is what sub-par companies love to say. They will completely look past critical design issues, or sprinkler coverage issues, because it isn't outlined good enough in the inspection code.
Seriously.
It makes me sick.
I said it isn't outlined "good enough". Yes...because design and coverage issues actually are covered in NFPA 25....but it is very easy to skate around. Especially if you are an unknowing client.
And most (I can't say "all"....but almost "all") inspection contractors take complete advantage of their clients not knowing what they arebsupposedbyo be getting when they pay for an inspection.
One of the design issues that I noticed, while doing my walk through, could very easily render the buildings entire fire sprinkler and standpipe system useless....like it wasn't even there. Except it is there. And the firefighters might not get any water out of the hose valves that they hook up to in the stairway. Oh, and the building will keep burning because the sprinklers wouldn't work either. That's a "Level 10 Pucker Factor". Just ask any firefighter that worked the night of the One Meridian Plaza fire in Philadelphia (Feb. 21, 1991).
I also had the opportunity to review some previous inspection reports for this building. And no, nothing that I saw was addressed.
Go.....figure.
Low.....bid.
But, because I want to make sure that this future client of ours has a properly operating system, I'll be setting up a meeting with the building manager, to go over some issues that really need to be taken care of.
321FireProtection.com
