Fire sprinkler signs: which ones are required and where they go

Fire sprinkler signs are easy to overlook until an inspection report lists one as missing. A sprinkler system has a small set of them: a sign on the door of the room where the sprinkler valves are, a sign on each valve, a sign on the fire department connection outside, and a placard on the riser — the vertical pipe where the system's main valves and gauges are — that records how the system was designed. Each one identifies a part of the system. Here is what each sign is for and what it should say.

The sign on the sprinkler room door

One of the signs we find missing most often is the one on the door of the room where the sprinkler valves are. In New Jersey, the fire code requires rooms that contain the controls for sprinkler risers and valves to be identified for the fire department, and the sign has to be durable, permanently installed and easy to see. The code does not set the wording; the sign has to be one the authority having jurisdiction approves.

Sprinkler valves can sit in a mechanical room or an electrical room. The sign is how the fire department knows which door the valves are behind.

The sign on each sprinkler valve

The sign on the valve says which part of the building that valve serves. Where more than one valve has to be shut to turn off the water to an area, each sign names the others.

Risers that control a dry, antifreeze or pre-action sprinkler system also have an information sign, showing the area the system protects and where its drains are.

The valve itself is checked at every inspection, for the reasons set out in why a closed sprinkler control valve matters.

The sign on the fire department connection

The fire department connection is the hose connection outside the building that lets the fire department add water to the sprinkler system. In New Jersey, the fire code calls for a metal sign with raised letters at least an inch tall on every fire department connection. It reads AUTOMATIC SPRINKLERS, STANDPIPES or TEST CONNECTION, whichever applies. If the connection does not serve the whole building, a sign shows which parts it does serve.

The connection should also be easy to reach. The code calls for it to be kept clear of fences, bushes, trees and walls, with a clear space around it 36 inches wide, 36 inches deep and 78 inches high.

On a wet sprinkler system, the fire department connection is inspected quarterly, and checking that its sign is in place is part of that inspection.

The hydraulic placard on the riser

A sprinkler system designed by calculating the water flow and pressure it has to deliver has a placard fixed to the riser that records what it was designed to do. NFPA 25, the code for inspecting, testing and maintaining sprinkler systems and other water-based fire protection, calls it the hydraulic design information sign. It lists:

• The part of the building the design calculation was done for.
• How much water the sprinklers are designed to put down over that area, and the flow and pressure required at the base of the riser.
• What the space was designed for: the type of use or what is stored there, and the maximum storage height.
• The water allowed for hoses, on top of what the sprinklers use.
• The company that installed the system.

If the placard is missing, NFPA 25 calls for it to be replaced. Because it records your own system's numbers, a replacement starts with the original design calculations. Those may be on file with the owner, the installing contractor or the authority having jurisdiction.

If an inspection report lists a missing sign, or you are not sure which ones your system should have, send us the address and we'll confirm what applies. The valves, gauges, alarms and the fire department connection are part of what we check during wet and dry sprinkler inspection and testing, and every system in the building can sit on one inspection calendar.