Month: March 2020

How to Offer a Better Five-Year Obstruction Investigation

and Differentiate Yourself in a Crowded Marketplace

With the increased emphasis on the 5-year obstruction investigation, one might be left to wonder when it became a requirement.  Well, the requirement has been lurking in NFPA 25, the Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, for over 20 years but became clearly defined in the 2002 edition. Most insurance companies now require 5-year internal pipe inspections as a condition of their coverage. Some have denied claims for damage done by system-related issues if a building owner can’t prove that the system has been maintained correctly and internally inspected every 5 years.

Continue reading How to Offer a Better Five-Year Obstruction Investigation →

Beyond the Basic Auxiliary Drain

Two Upgrades that Save Thousands

A broken auxiliary drain, sometimes referred to as a drum drip, is at best an inconvenience to building tenants. At the worst, it costs facility owners thousands (or in some cases, hundreds of thousands) of dollars. One international furniture retailer reported that shutting down due to a broken auxiliary drain cost them $50,000 per hour in lost business, plus the cost of system maintenance and fines paid to the fire department for responding to a false system trip.

Continue reading Beyond the Basic Auxiliary Drain →