Restaurant Sprinkler Inspections in Banning

One kitchen, two inspection schedules

Most restaurants have two fire systems overhead. The sprinklers protect the whole building. The hood system protects the cooking line. They run on separate clocks, and a missed date on either one can turn into a violation during the city's yearly inspection.

• Sprinklers under NFPA 25: quarterly and annual inspections, plus a 5-year internal pipe assessment with gauges replaced or tested.
• Sprinklers under California Title 19: a 5-year service and certification by a State Fire Marshal licensed contractor.
• Hood suppression under NFPA 96 and NFPA 17A: service every 6 months, with the metal-alloy fusible links replaced at least that often too.

This page covers the sprinklers. For the hood, see our fire kitchen service in Banning.

Restaurant sprinkler testing in Banning

Looking for restaurant sprinkler testing? It's part of the same visit. An inspection is a look at the system, while a test runs water and sets off alarms to prove the parts actually work, and NFPA 25 asks for both on a fixed schedule.

On a typical visit, the technician will:

1. Check every sprinkler head in the kitchen, dining room and storage areas for grease buildup, paint, damage, or stock stacked too close underneath.
2. Confirm control valves are open and secured.
3. Read the system gauges.
4. Flow water through the test connection and confirm the alarm goes off.
5. Note how old the heads are, since heads in service for 50 years must be replaced or sample-tested.

Afterward the system is tagged. If something fails, we'll tell you what it needs, and the fix itself is covered on our restaurant sprinkler repair page for Banning.

What happens when the fire inspector comes by

Banning's Office of the Fire Marshal, at 99 E. Ramsey Street, handles commercial fire prevention, plan review and inspections under a contract between the city and the Riverside County Fire Department. Its Annual Inspection Program covers every existing business in Banning each year under California Fire Code Section 103.3. Restaurants included.

The person at your door may be a Fire Prevention inspector or an engine company crew wearing Riverside County Fire uniforms, and either can write a violation. Most violations must be corrected within 10 to 15 days. That's not much time. Booking sprinkler service ahead of time beats scrambling for a technician inside that window.

Opening a restaurant in an existing building?

Check the square footage first. Banning's amendments to California Fire Code Section 903.2 require an existing building over 3,600 square feet to be retrofitted with sprinklers when its use or occupancy changes, which can apply when a store or office becomes a restaurant. Confirm with the Office of the Fire Marshal before you commit. If a retrofit is needed, see fire sprinkler installation in Banning.

Who is licensed to do the work

In California, this work needs a State Fire Marshal license. Our California work is performed by Hedrick Fire Protection, which holds C-16 (fire protection) and C-10 (electrical) contractor licenses and is licensed by the State Fire Marshal under Title 19 for extinguisher service and for inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based systems, including the 5-year certification. Hedrick is also licensed to install and service commercial kitchen hood suppression systems.

Most calls we get from Banning are about fire extinguishers. Kitchens with a hood system also need a Class K extinguisher, and Class K units are hydrostatically tested every 5 years; see fire extinguisher annual certification in Banning.

To book a restaurant sprinkler inspection, call (951) 384-0323 or email socal@1profire.com