Most repairs start with a list
A restaurant sprinkler repair usually starts with paper. It might be the deficiency list from your last inspection. It might be a notice from the county fire inspector with a date at the bottom. Or a delivery cart clipped a head in the back hallway and now there's water on the floor. Each one has a fix.
Send us what you have, whether that's a report, a notice or a photo of the dripping head, and we'll go through which items are repairs, which ones you can handle yourself and which ones to ask the inspector about.
What wears out in a restaurant system
Kitchens are rough on sprinklers. Grease, heat, steam and cleaning crews all reach the heads over time.
- Grease-loaded heads. A head coated in grease may open late or not at all. NFPA 25 calls for replacing loaded heads. Wiping them down isn't an accepted repair.
- Painted heads. A head painted during a remodel gets replaced too, unless the paint came from the manufacturer.
- Damaged, corroded or leaking heads. These come out and get replaced.
- Old heads. Once heads have been in service 50 years, NFPA 25 requires replacing them or sending samples out for testing.
- Gauges. These are replaced or tested as part of the 5-year work under NFPA 25.
- Leaks at fittings and pipe. A small weep above a ceiling tile often shows up first as a stain.
A replacement head has to match the one it replaces in temperature rating, response type, orifice and coverage, so we check what's installed before we swap anything in a cooking or dish area. One more common write-up is boxes stacked too close to the heads in dry storage. You can fix that one yourself. Move the boxes.
The ceiling sprinklers and the hood are separate repairs
The wet chemical system over your cooking line is its own system, with its own standards (NFPA 96 and NFPA 17A) and its own service every six months. A sprinkler repair doesn't touch it. If your inspection list mixes hood items with sprinkler items, we can sort them out with you. Hood work is covered on our kitchen fire suppression service page for Paramount.
Who writes the notice in Paramount
Fire protection in Paramount comes from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Business fire inspections are handled by the department's Fire Prevention Division, and Paramount falls under its East Regional Office at 19030 Pioneer Blvd in Cerritos, (562) 860-8014. The city adopts the Los Angeles County Fire Code by reference as its fire code, and its adoption of the 2025 California Building Standards Code brings in the 2025 California Fire Code as well.
Got a notice with a short deadline? Paramount callers have come to us with notices due the next day. Call us right away. Read us the date on the notice. If the date can't be met, talk to the East Regional Office about it before it passes.
Who does the work
Our California work is done by Hedrick Fire Protection. Hedrick 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 and for portable extinguisher service. Hedrick is also licensed to install and service commercial kitchen hood suppression systems. So the sprinklers and the hood can go to one contractor.
Restaurant sprinkler repair questions
Will my inspection report say what needs repair?
It should list each deficiency the technician found. Send it with your call. We'll go through the items with you.
Can I clean grease off a sprinkler head?
No. Under NFPA 25, a head loaded with grease gets replaced, because the coating can delay it or stop it from opening.
Is a repair the same as the 5-year certification?
No. A repair fixes a specific problem. The 5-year service is a scheduled Title 19 inspection and certification by a State Fire Marshal licensed contractor, and if yours is due or nobody knows when it was last done, ask about both on the same call.
Do you also work on the hood suppression system?
Yes. It's a separate system on a six-month schedule, covered on our kitchen fire service page.
Related services
For scheduled testing, see restaurant sprinkler inspections in Paramount and annual and 5-year fire sprinkler service. Kitchens with a hood system also need a Class K extinguisher, which we cover under fire extinguisher service in Paramount. Everything we do in the city is on our Paramount fire protection page. Outside the city, see restaurant sprinkler repair across Los Angeles County or restaurant sprinkler repair in Orange County.
To book a restaurant sprinkler repair in Paramount, call (213) 568-0188 or email socal@1profire.com. Tell us what the notice says.