Commercial Fire Protection Service
Commercial Fire Sprinkler Maintenance
Preventive and corrective maintenance keeps your commercial sprinkler system reliable for the life of the building.
Overview
Maintenance is the corrective and preventive work performed on a commercial fire sprinkler system, addressing deficiencies found during inspection or testing, along with periodic tasks such as internal pipe investigation and sprinkler head replacement required by NFPA 25 as a system ages.
Unlike a one-time repair, maintenance is typically planned on a recurring schedule aligned with the building’s broader ITM (inspection, testing, and maintenance) program.
Preventive vs. Corrective Maintenance
Preventive maintenance addresses items on a fixed schedule regardless of whether a problem has been found, such as lubricating valve stems or exercising control valves. Corrective maintenance responds to a specific deficiency identified during inspection or testing, such as a leaking fitting or a gauge reading out of range.
Internal Pipe Investigation
NFPA 25 calls for a periodic internal investigation of sprinkler piping, generally at a five-year interval or after specific trigger events, to check for corrosion, scale, biological growth, or other obstructions that could restrict water flow inside the pipe.
Sprinkler Head Replacement
Sprinkler heads have a finite service life. NFPA 25 requires sample testing of sprinklers at defined age intervals, and heads that fail sample testing, or that are of certain older or recalled types, must be replaced. A qualified contractor can confirm the applicable schedule for the specific heads installed in your building.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggers a maintenance visit?
Most maintenance is triggered by a deficiency found during a scheduled inspection or test, though some tasks, like the five-year internal pipe investigation, occur on their own fixed schedule regardless of findings.
Can maintenance be scheduled proactively?
Yes. Many facility managers bundle preventive maintenance tasks with their scheduled inspection and testing visits to minimize the number of separate contractor visits and reduce the chance of an unplanned system impairment.
What is a system impairment?
An impairment is any condition that takes all or part of a sprinkler system out of service, such as a closed control valve during repair work. NFPA 25 requires a formal impairment program, which can include notifying the AHJ and posting a temporary fire watch. See our Repair page for more detail.
Schedule Commercial Fire Sprinkler Maintenance
Keep your system in reliable, code-compliant condition with a scheduled maintenance program.