How To Handle a Fire Sprinkler Mishap

2/19/2022 (Permalink)

Follow these tips if you experience problems with your Fire Sprinklers in your Sandy, UT property.

A fire sprinkler system is a vital part of your fire safety protection plan. If the sprinklers leak or malfunction, though, they can cause flooding and water damage to your commercial building in Sandy, UT. If this happens, there are a few steps you need to take immediately to handle the problem.

Turn off Water Supply To Halt Flooding

The first thing you do is turn off the source of the water. This will stop the flow from gushing through the pipes and out of the fire sprinklers. Your system may be connected to the water main, but it is likely that the water supply to the sprinklers comes from an alternative source:

• Suction tank
• Pressure tank
• Penstock or another natural reservoir
• Recycled water

It's important to understand how your system works and how the water gets to the sprinklers so that you know how to turn it off when necessary. The sooner you can stop the flow of water, the less damage it's likely to cause in the long run.

Call Water Restoration Company

Once the crisis has been stalled, contact your local certified water damage specialists. They can arrive within hours of notification to assess the damage to your building and formulate a plan for restoring it to its former state. By the end of the first visit, you should have a clear idea of how long the cleanup is likely to take and approximately how much it will cost.

Notify Your Insurance Provider

Since flooding from the sprinklers probably meets the criterion of a sudden, accidental event, chances are that your property insurance will cover the cost of repairs to your building. Make a call to start the claims process. An adjuster will survey the damage to substantiate your claim, and your agent can explain how much of the associated costs your policies will cover. Even if your provider doesn't cover the expense of repairing any damage to the sprinkler itself, it may pay the mitigation bill.

Prepare for the Mitigation Process

The technicians in charge of the repairs will likely walk you through the specifics of what needs to be done before they get started. At a minimum, you can expect that they will need to dry out the area and disinfect it. Damaged items such as furniture or electronics Any ruined materials will need to be discarded and replaced. Finally, the affected space will need to be restored so that it looks like it did before.

Prevent Future Accidents

Most fire system malfunctions can be avoided with routine maintenance. As with other pipes, you also need to guard against frozen sprinkler lines so that they don't leak. Tampering can also cause a fire sprinkler to go off and douse the area around it. Under normal circumstances and with proper care, however, accident occurrences should be sparse if not nonexistent.

A sprinkler system is a good way to protect your building from total annihilation during a fire but it can cause flooding if something goes wrong. Knowing how to handle sprinkler accidents can lower your risk of extensive damage.