Fire Protection Glossary

AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) – organization, office or individual responsible for approving equipment, materials, installations and procedures.

ANSI (American National Standards Institute) – organization that oversees the development of consensus standards for products, services, processes, systems and personnel in the United States.

Antifreeze Sprinkler System – wet pipe fire sprinkler system that holds a small amount of antifreeze in the pipes to keep the water from freezing. When the sprinkler system activates, some of the antifreeze is discharged along with the water.

Automatic Sprinkler System – fire suppression system that operates automatically in response to the heat from flames. When activated, the fire sprinkler system douses the area in its effect radius with water.

Dry Pipe Fire Sprinkler System – automatic fire sprinkler system that stores water in a central tank as opposed to in the pipes. Slightly increases sprinkler response time, and useful in areas where water stored in pipes can freeze.

Fire Pump – pump that supplies water to the fire sprinkler system.

FM 200 Fire Suppression System – clean agent fire suppression system with no effect on the ozone layer. Used as a replacement for Halon 1301.

Fire Sprinkler Components

Stop valve – stops the flow of water from coming into the fire sprinkler system from the municipal water supply when the fire sprinkler system is not activated.

Alarm valve – opens the stop valve when the fire sprinkler system activates, controlling the flow of water into the fire sprinkler system.

Alarm test valve – allows you to test your fire sprinkler system at shut off conditions..

Pressure switch – enables the fire sprinkler system to alert the fire department that your fire sprinkler system is going off; monitors your fire alarm system by watching for a fall in water pressure after the alarm valve.

Flow switch – monitors the flow of water through different sections of pipe within the automatic fire sprinkler system. If the flow switches sense enough water flowing, they trigger the alarm.

Pressure gauge – measures the pressure within the fire sprinkler system. No real surprises there!