Restaurant fire sprinkler repair · Los Angeles County · County Fire, LAFD and city fire areas
Start with the deficiency list
Most restaurant sprinkler repairs begin with paperwork. It's usually a deficiency list from your last inspection or a correction notice from a fire inspector who looked up at the kitchen ceiling and didn't like what was there. Send it to us. We'll read each item, explain what the fix involves and quote it before anyone opens a valve. No paperwork? Describe the drip, the stain or the bent head when you call.
What kitchens do to sprinkler heads
Heat, grease vapor and degreaser spray all rise toward the ceiling. So do mop handles.
- Loaded or painted heads. Grease or paint on a head can delay its opening or stop it entirely. Cleaning isn't the fix.
- Wrong temperature rating. Heads over fryers, ovens and dish machines must suit the heat around them, and a remodel or a quick swap can leave the wrong rating in place for years before anyone notices.
- Leaks and corrosion. The first sign is often a stained ceiling tile. Leaks don't heal.
- Bent heads and missing escutcheons from carts, ladders and stacked boxes.
- Obstructions. New shelving or equipment set too close to a head blocks its spray. Sometimes the repair is moving the shelf.
Replacement heads are listed parts that match the original's temperature rating and response type. After the repair we refill the system, check for leaks and return it to service.
Plan the shutdown around your service hours
Most repairs mean draining part of the system, and while it's drained, the kitchen and dining room under that piping have no sprinkler protection. Some fire agencies want notice before a system goes out of service. Some require a fire watch. Ask yours before the work date, and tell your alarm monitoring company too. Give us your prep and service hours. We'll plan the drain-down around them.
Who checks the repair, and who may do it
Los Angeles County has 88 incorporated cities, and they don't share one fire department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department covers the unincorporated county and 59 contract cities here, and its Fire Prevention Division runs annual business inspections in that area. Inside the City of Los Angeles, the LAFD's Fire Development Services section handles plan review, permits and new construction inspections. Burbank runs its own fire prevention bureau. So do some other cities. If a repair changes the system, confirm the current fire code edition with your agency first.
Who may do the work? In California, our work is performed by Hedrick Fire Protection, which holds C-16 fire protection and C-10 electrical contractor licenses and is licensed by the California State Fire Marshal under Title 19 for inspection, testing and maintenance of water-based fire protection systems.
After the repair
A repair clears one deficiency. The system still needs quarterly and annual inspections under NFPA 25, plus the five-year service and certification that California Title 19 requires from a State Fire Marshal licensed contractor. Heads in service 50 years must be replaced or sample-tested. Our restaurant sprinkler inspections and fire sprinkler service keep you on that schedule. The hood suppression system over your cook line has its own inspection cycle under fire kitchen service, and the Class K extinguisher next to it falls under fire extinguisher service. Everything else we do is on the Los Angeles County service page.
For a restaurant job in the county, read how we handled bilingual, fast-turnaround extinguisher service for a La Puente restaurant with an inspection coming up.
City pages: restaurant sprinkler repair in Burbank, Glendale and Downey.
Restaurant sprinkler repair questions
Can a greasy sprinkler head be cleaned?
Usually not. A loaded head should be replaced with a matching listed head, because buildup can change when and how it opens.
Can we swap in a spare head from the storage cabinet?
Only if it matches. The replacement has to be a listed head with the same temperature rating and response type as the one it replaces.
Who do I tell before the system is shut down?
Your fire agency and your alarm monitoring company. Ask the agency whether it wants a fire watch.
Will I get a price before work starts?
Yes. Send the report or describe the problem, and we quote the repair before any work begins.
Call us at (213) 568-0188 or email socal@1profire.com
Our services include
Book a restaurant sprinkler repair
- Send your deficiency list or correction notice
- Tell us your city so we know which fire agency applies
- Share your kitchen hours for shutdown planning