If you plan on taking a NICET or State Licensing exam based on NFPA 25, the most important skill is the ability to navigate and find the answers to questions in the standard. The actual requirements for water-based I&T vary from state to state and sometimes cities within the state. I find that people that are very knowledgeable with their local standards will sometimes answer from memory rather than look the answer up in NFPA 25. Your knowledge can sometimes work against you if your local requirements are different than NFPA 25.
The scope of NFPA 25 applies to all water-based systems regardless of age. The other premise is that these systems were designed, approved and met the current standard at the time they were installed. Any mandatory requirement added to NFPA 25 must be investigated as to the impact it will have on existing systems. This is why there are requirements that are important but may not be specified in NFPA 25. The actual requirement is determined by the local jurisdiction. For this quiz, we will use NFPA 25, 2014 as the reference. Answer each question as true or false as to what you think the NFPA 25 requirements are.
True or False – NFPA 25 2014 States that:
1. _________ Vane-type and pressure switch–type waterflow alarm devices shall be tested annually.
2. _________ Activation of the waterflow alarm device shall occur within 90 seconds of waterflow at the alarm-initiating device when flow occurs that is equal to or greater than that from a single sprinkler of the smallest orifice size installed in the system.
3. _________ Glycerine can be mixed per NFPA 25 in antifreeze systems to obtain a freeze point of -25 degrees Fahrenheit.
4. _________ A hydrostatic test must be conducted if more than 20 sprinkler heads are replaced.
5. _________ A permanently marked metal or rigid plastic information sign shall be placed at the system control riser supplying an antifreeze loop, dry system, or preaction system.
6. _________ The water delivery time when conducting a full flow trip test on a dry pipe system shall not exceed 60 seconds.
7. _________ Dry pipe and preaction valves with external resets only require to be internal inspection every three years.
Check your answers below…
1. False 5.3.3.2* Vane-type and pressure switch–type waterflow alarm devices shall be tested semiannually.
2. False NFPA 25 does not specify an activation time for waterflow alarm devices. NFPA 72 specifies this time for new installations only. Most jurisdictions require a 90 or 60 second activation time.
3. False Glycerine can only be 50% of the volume of the solution giving it a freeze point of -19 degrees F per table TABLE A.5.3.4.2.1(1).
After a series of fires where the presence of antifreeze in the system negatively contributed to the fire, the NFPA sprinkler committees responsible for NFPA 13 and NFPA 25 prepared a series of Tentative Interim Amendments (TIAs) to the standards to reflect the most up-to-date information on antifreeze. This included a series of TIAs that were approved by the NFPA Standards Council following the printing of the 2011 edition of NFPA 25. These TIAs were written to the past edition of the standard (2011 edition), but the content provided in them was also picked up by the NFPA 25 technical committee in the 2014 revision cycle.
4. True – Table 5.5.1 Summary of Component Replacement Action Requirements
5. True – 4.1.9.1 A permanently marked metal or rigid plastic information sign shall be placed at the system control riser supplying an antifreeze loop, dry system, preaction system, or auxiliary system control valve.
6. False – A.13.4.4.2.2.2(5) Testers at the inspector’s test note the time at which water flows steadily from the test connection. This time is noted for comparison purposes to previous tests and is not meant to be a specific pass/fail criterion.
7. False – 13.4.4.1.5 The interior of the dry pipe valve shall be inspected annually when the trip test is conducted.