Kitchen Fire Systems

Who Regulates Kitchen Fire Systems Installation?

At Fire Equipment Services, we take great pride in our Kitchen Fire Systems.  We design and install Kitchen Fire Systems in accordance with very specific rules and regulations. These rules and regulations come from three sources.  These sources are NFPA (National Fire Prevention Association), UL (Underwriters Laboratories) and Manufacturer’s Specifications via the manuals.

The Organizations and Their Standards for Kitchen Fire Systems

NFPA is The National Fire Protection Association. NFPA creates and maintains private, copyrighted standards and codes.  Local governments use these standards and codes to establish compliance guidelines.  UL is is the largest and best known independent, not-for-profit testing laboratory in the world.  The standards for the design and installation of Kitchen Fire Systems are:

• NFPA 17A (Standard for Wet Chemical Extinguishing Systems)
• NFPA 96 (Standard for Ventilation Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking Operations)
• UL300 (UL 300 is a fire testing standard administered by Underwriters Laboratories (UL) )

Maintaining a Kitchen Fire System

Local authorities operating under the NFPA adopt guidelines for maintaining a Kitchen Fire System.  Maintaining a Kitchen Fire System shall be done every 6 months according to NFPA regulations. Also, after performing the 6 month maintenance/service the contractor:

• Shall document the service via a written service report
• Shall attach a certification tag to the kitchen Fire System

The 6 month, (Semi-Annual) Service/Maintenance, is a process to qualify that the system will function as intended in the event of a Fire

This service includes the following functions:

• Operation of the Mechanical Control Device, Manual Pull Station, Fusible Link Detection, Mechanical Gas Valve, and Bell or Fire Alarm System
• Replacement of the dated fusible links
• The clearing of the discharge piping and nozzles
• The Movement or Replacement of cooking appliances has not taken place
• Confirmation that the discharge nozzles align with their assigned cooking appliances

What Happens if Something Wrong is Discovered During the Semi Annual Service?

Discrepancies may require rescheduling to perform repairs. In this event, the contractor will forward the service report to the Local Fire Authority within 30 days from date of service.  The discrepancies include:

• Movement or replacement of cooking appliances (we are often asked if Movement or Replacement of cooking appliances at anytime between schedule services requires a permit from the local Fire Authority.  Generally speaking the answer is YES.  To be certain please contact us or your local Fire Authority)
• New cooking equipment
• Failure of the exhaust or supply air fans
• Non-operation of any mechanical part
• Non-notification of the Fire Alarm system

Join Our Family

Please give us a call at (772) 461-6845 so we can show you the benefits of joining our family of customers.  We are experts in our field.  We provide on going training and certifications for our technicians.  Many of our customers come to us from our competitors that simply can’t provide the expertise and precision that we deliver each and every day.  And remember, even if you have equipment installed by another company, we can inspect, test and correct any issues that we find.