Commercial Building Project: Fire Suppression System
What do you need to know to design and install a commercial fire suppression system? As a business owner or manager, it’s your responsibility to keep your employees and office safe. One of the best ways to ensure workplace safety involves fire protection systems. They’re important in certain cases based on the National Fire Protection Association’s standards in the US. Furthermore, it’s best if you don’t confuse the term “fire suppression system” with “fire sprinkler system.”
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Both fire suppression and fire sprinkler systems are different branches of one tree and achieve the same final goal. Fire suppression systems are different from fire sprinkler systems. To help you better understand the difference between the two, we will take a comprehensive look at what commercial building fire suppression systems refer to and how they’re important.
What’s a Fire Suppression System?
Similar to a fire sprinkler system, a fire suppression system is a safety tool in the event of a fire inside a commercial or residential building. It’s a collective term (i.e., fire suppression) for various methods utilized in suppressing and controlling the fire in any given space. For instance, a popular DIY fire suppression approach to prevent or control the spread of fire involves throwing buckets filled with water at the fire source.
Other forms of fire suppression systems include the use of water, chemical compounds, foam, and so on. You will find a range of fire suppression strategies for commercial buildings that apply to your office or real estate structure. However, the goal is the same, i.e., to offer peace of mind to tenants and occupants of a commercial building.
How Does a Fire Suppression System Work?
The main characteristic of a fire suppression system primarily manufactured for use in commercial buildings will be early fire detection. A system like that will detect fire ASAP, and in the presence of smoke/flames, it will instantly ring the alarm. The alarm will be a call to occupants and tenants to take cover or get safety.
The alarm will initiate the appropriate fire suppression strategy, such as releasing chemical compounds, water, or foam to prevent the fire from spreading. You will usually hear qualified professionals referring to a fire suppression system as an “active” fire protection method due to its early detection capabilities and active components.
Fire Suppression System vs. Fire Sprinkler System: What to Know?
Both types of fire protections are vital for a commercial structure, especially with occupants, tenants, or expensive assets. However, the working mechanism of a fire suppression system is relatively different from a commercial fire sprinkler system. Both systems feature early detection and active countermeasures to keep the fire from spreading.
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In the case of active fire suppression systems, using water isn’t the only method to prevent fire spread and contain it. Unlike a fire sprinkler system, a fire suppression system inside a commercial building usually includes different foaming agents and chemical compounds.
Commercial Fire Suppression System: Conclusion
If you want to get a fire suppression system designed and installed for your commercial building, you can contact F2M Fire Drafting Designs Inc. We can work with your commercial real estate developer, study the whole architecture, and come up with a fire suppression system that would work best for it.
At F2M Fire & Drafting Designs Inc, the qualified professionals have worked with a diverse range of clients in New York. We can take care of your fire protection needs and suppression system design or installation. Don’t hesitate and give us a call at (718) 928-3009 to schedule an appointment with our experts.
