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We’ve written before about how you shouldn’t hang anything from your sprinkler heads or pipes. This can damage them in visible and subtle ways, and make fire coverage more difficult. There’s another element to be aware of. This involves leaving room around the sprinkler heads.

18 Inches of Space

Leave 18 inches of space for sprinklers to be able to work effectively. This doesn’t just mean 18 inches of space around each sprinkler head. Instead, picture 18 inches of height. Imagine a horizontal plane 18 inches below your sprinklers. There should be nothing above this plane. This ensure that your sprinklers have proper space to work.

This includes shelving and items in storage. Anything within 18 inches of height to the sprinkler will obstruct them. Obstructions give fires uncovered areas where they can spread and find more fuel. If a sprinkler covers 80% of an area, but an obstruction stops if from covering 20% of an area, that’s more than enough room for a fire to rage out of control.

Spacing from Walls

The only area where anything of this height should be stored is directly against a perimeter wall. This ensures maximum fire coverage for your sprinklers.

In addition, make sure sprinklers are at least 4 inches from a wall or any obstructions that are against a wall.

CES can advise you on fire alert and fire coverage for your buildings, as well as perform building reports for you. We can also perform maintenance, implement new systems, train you in your system, and connect you to monitoring.

These are simple rules, but they mean that it’s just as simple a thing for people to ignore them. It’s important that you allow your sprinklers the room to entirely cover an area. It can make the difference between a fire that’s dealt with quickly, and one that risks lives and causes irreparable damage. It can also have liability impacts in your insurance coverage.