Warehouse and distribution sprinkler systems
New racking, a change of stock, an insurer asking questions, or a unit that has outgrown the system it was built with.
- ISO 9001 and LPCB approved, the certification insurers look for
- BS EN 12845 · LPC Rules
- Free survey, fixed price in writing, no travel charge
What is different about warehouses and distribution
A warehouse sprinkler system is designed around what you store and how high you stack it, not around the floor area. That is why the same shed can be compliant one year and under-designed the next without a single pipe being touched: the racking went up, or the stock changed, and the hazard classification moved underneath it.
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Hazard classification is the whole design
Ordinary Hazard 1 to 4, or High Hazard for storage. It sets the density the system has to deliver and the water supply behind it. Raising storage height or changing what you store can move you up a class, and the system does not move with you.
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In-rack sprinklers change the job
Above a certain storage height, roof-level protection alone will not do it and sprinklers go inside the racking. That changes the pipework, the water demand and what happens every time the racking layout is altered.
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Clearance below the heads
The commonest fault we find, and the cheapest to fix. Stock stacked into the clearance zone stops the spray pattern developing, and a system that cannot wet the floor is not doing what it was designed to do whatever the certificate says.
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The insurer is usually stricter than the law
For warehousing, the binding constraint is almost always the policy rather than Approved Document B. That is worth knowing before a renewal rather than during one.
What we do for these buildings
- BS EN 12845 and BS 9251 Design and installation New systems, extensions and upgrades, designed, installed and commissioned. Fire sprinkler system design and installation
- BS EN 12845 Sprinkler servicing The full BS EN 12845 routine, from the weekly gauge and alarm check to the annual service. Fire sprinkler servicing and maintenance
- BS EN 12845 Sprinkler tanks The water supply behind the system, inspected, cleaned and replaced when it is past it. Sprinkler tank service, maintenance and replacement
- BS EN 12845 Fire pumps Electric and diesel sets proved under flow, not just started and signed off. Fire pump servicing, testing and maintenance
Warehouses and distribution: questions
We have raised our racking. Does the system still cover it?
Possibly not, and this is the single commonest reason a warehouse system stops being compliant without anybody touching it. Storage height feeds directly into the hazard classification, and a system designed for a lower stack can be left under-designed by a racking change alone. It is a survey question rather than a paperwork one: we measure what is there now against what the system was designed to deliver.
Do we need sprinklers inside the racking?
It depends on the storage height, what is stored and the roof height above it. Past a certain point, roof-level protection cannot get water down into the stack fast enough and in-rack sprinklers become the practical answer. It is a design decision made from the actual racking layout, which is why we want to see it rather than a floor plan.
Our unit is being re-let to a different tenant. What changes?
Potentially the hazard classification, which is the thing that matters. A unit that held furniture and now holds aerosols or plastics is a different fire risk with the same pipework in the roof. A change of use is the right moment to check the design, because it is the moment an insurer will.
How disruptive is servicing a live distribution centre?
Less than most people expect if it is planned. The weekly and monthly checks are non-intrusive. The work that needs isolation is the annual, and on a building with zone valves that can be taken a section at a time, out of hours, so the floor keeps running. We agree the isolation plan before the visit rather than on the day.
Worth reading first
- Sprinklers Sprinklers in warehouses: why racking changes everything A warehouse sprinkler system is designed against a specific storage height, storage arrangement and commodity class. Raising the racking, changing what is stored or adding racking under a roof-only design can leave the system unable to control a fire it was never designed for.
- Compliance What your insurer actually wants from a sprinkler system Insurers price a sprinkler system as risk mitigation only if they can trust it. LPCB approval of the contractor and an unbroken maintenance record are the two things that make it count.
- Sprinklers Sprinkler servicing intervals under BS EN 12845 BS EN 12845 sets a weekly check the site can do itself, a quarterly flow switch and alarm test, and an annual service that includes the pump run under flow.
The published documents behind this page
Every interval and threshold on this page comes from one of these. Links go to the publisher, not to a copy of the document.
- BS EN 12845Fixed firefighting systems. Automatic sprinkler systems. Design, installation and maintenance
The standard commercial and industrial sprinkler systems are designed, installed and maintained to. It sets the weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual routines.
BSI
- LPC RulesLPC Rules for Automatic Sprinkler Installations, incorporating BS EN 12845
The insurer-facing ruleset that sits alongside BS EN 12845. Part 1 is the standard itself; the technical bulletins in Part 2 are what an insurer means by property protection.
Fire Protection Association
British Standards are copyright documents and most are bought rather than read free. We hold the ones we work to. If you need to know what one of them says about your building, ask us rather than buying it.
Approved, and audited on a schedule.
Two certifications, and the first one is the reason we could apply for the second. ISO 9001 is a precondition for LPCB approval, so this is a sequence rather than a collection.
ISO 9001:2015
Certified by BRE Global, accredited by UKAS
An audited quality management system. It means the way a job is planned, recorded and signed off is itself inspected by somebody independent, on a schedule.
LPCB approved
Loss Prevention Certification Board
The approval UK insurers look for on sprinkler work. A system installed by an LPCB approved contractor counts as genuine risk mitigation on your policy; one installed by anybody else may not.
Working to BS EN 12845, BS 9251 and BS 9990. If your insurer or fire risk assessor wants the certificates themselves, ring us and we will send them over.
Tell us the building. We will tell you what it is due.
No survey fee to find out where you stand. Describe the site and we will tell you which intervals apply and what the visit involves.