by Joan Leedy, Technical Director, Dyne Fire Protection Labs
NFPA 25, Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems, 2023 Edition, recommends testing sprinklers at a defined frequency depending on the type of head.
Furthermore, the standard reads as follows:
5.3.1.1 Where required by Section 5.3, sample sprinklers shall be submitted to an approved testing laboratory for field service testing.
How do you determine what would be an approved testing laboratory to assure the proper testing of your field sprinklers? The standard provides the following supplemental information in the appendix.
A.5.3.1.1 ISO/IEC 17025, General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories, is an example of a standard that provides general requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories.
The reason to send your sprinklers to an ISO/IEC 17025 laboratory is to ensure the laboratory provides accurate test results. Dyne Fire Protection Labs is accredited by American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) who performs an annual audit of our quality system to verify that we are meeting the rigorous requirements of ISO/IEC 17025. The following list includes just a few examples of how Dyne meets the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025.
1. Written work instructions for all laboratory functions including:
a. Logging in and tagging samples
b. Entering the samples in our database
c. Testing each sample
d. Approving the test results
e. Sending the report
2. Internal audits by our Dyne Quality Management team.
3. Maintaining an independent, unbiased laboratory providing impartial results.
4. Focusing on our customers and continual improvement leading to many of our benefits such as:
a. Free standard sprinkler test kits
b. Mailing labels with free shipping
c. 5-day turnaround
d. Photos documenting all sprinklers tested.
For more information on ISO/IEC 17025, visit our website or iso.org.
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