Annual sprinkler inspections and annubar flow testing, Newcastle to the Hunter
The annubar test runs your sprinkler water supply through a meter, so you know how much water the heads can get.
Every year we inspect sprinkler valve sets and flow test the supply behind them, for commercial and strata buildings in Maitland, Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Raymond Terrace, Tea Gardens and the Hunter Valley.
What the annual inspection covers
A sprinkler system is run from its valve set: the cluster of valves, gauges and pipes where the water supply comes into the building. That is where the yearly visit starts and where the flow test happens.
- The valve set and its gauges, read as we find them
- The main valve, open and where it should be
- The alarm valve, and the alarm the flowing water sets off
- The signs and block plan at the valve set and the booster
- The water supply, flow tested with an annubar and meter
We work to AS 1851-2012, the Australian Standard for routine servicing of fire protection systems, on commercial and strata sites.
Annual sprinkler inspection, including annubar flow testing
- Standard
- AS 1851-2012
- How often
- Annual, plus a five yearly sprinkler system service
- Test gear
- Annubar and flow meter
- Buildings
- Commercial and strata
- Emergencies
- 24/7 emergency services
What annubar flow testing measures
An annubar is a probe that sits right across the inside of a pipe. A row of holes on its front faces into the water, and a hole on its back faces away. Moving water pushes harder on the front holes than on the back one.
A meter reads that difference through two hoses and turns it into a flow, in litres per minute, from a chart for the pipe size. More water moving means a bigger difference. Read the valve set gauges at the same moment and you have pressure and flow together: the two figures the sprinkler system was designed to need from its supply.
- AThe flow meter, hung on the valve set
- BIts red and blue hoses
- CThe annubar fitting in the drain line, where the hoses connect
- DThe blue main valve on the sprinkler riser
How the flow test runs
Read the valve set
Gauge readings and valve positions noted as found, before anything is touched.
Arrange the alarm
Water moving through the valve set is exactly what the sprinkler alarm listens for, so the alarm and its monitoring are sorted with the building first.
Connect the meter
The meter's two hoses go onto the annubar fitting in the drain line.
Open the drain
The drain valve opens and the supply runs through the valve set, past the annubar and away to drain. The sprinkler heads stay shut.
Take the readings
Flow from the meter and pressure from the gauges, read together while the water runs.
Close up and record
Drain shut, valves back to normal, the alarm restored and the readings written up.
Before we arrive
- Access to the valve room or plant room
- The name of the company that monitors your fire alarm
- Somewhere safe for the test water to go, if the drain runs outside
- A heads up to residents or staff that the alarm may sound
Why the flow reading matters
The gauges on a valve set show pressure with the water sitting still. A system can read well that way and still come up short once water starts moving, which is what happens the moment a sprinkler head opens in a fire. The annubar test is the yearly check on that moving figure.
A sprinklered NSW building needs an annual fire safety statement from its owner every year. Where the building has sprinklers, they are one of the measures an accredited practitioner (fire safety) assesses for it, so the inspection is best kept on its yearly cycle rather than left until statement time.
What can pull a flow reading down
- A valve left partly closed
- Debris or a blockage in the pipework
- Less pressure coming in from the water main
- A fire pump set not performing, where the building has one
A low reading is the start of finding out which.
Annual inspection, five yearly service
Annual
Sprinkler inspection and annubar flow test
This page: the valve set checked and the supply flow tested, once a year.
Five yearly
Sprinkler system service
A five yearly sprinkler system service sits on top of the yearly inspections.
Common questions
Will the sprinklers spray water inside during the test?
No. The test water goes through the valve set and out the drain line. The sprinkler heads around the building stay closed.
Will the flow test set off the fire alarm?
It can, because water moving through the valve set is what the alarm detects. Tell us who monitors your system when you book, so the alarm side is arranged before the drain opens.
How often does a sprinkler system need this?
We do sprinkler inspections with annubar flow testing every year, and five yearly sprinkler system services as well. To see what your building needs, check its fire safety schedule: it lists the sprinkler system, if there is one, and the standard it's maintained to.
What happens if the flow comes in low?
We go through the readings with you and what could be behind them. We also do fire pump set maintenance and installs, and commercial fit off alterations, if the fix needs work on the system.
Do you inspect sprinklers in strata buildings?
Yes, strata and commercial buildings are the sites we do our fire protection work on.
A sprinkler has gone off or is leaking. Who do we call?
Ring 0474 659 574, any hour. Tell us which valve set feeds that part of the building and what its gauges read.
Related fire services
We inspect and flow test sprinkler systems in Newcastle, Maitland, Lake Macquarie, Raymond Terrace, Tea Gardens and the Hunter Valley, from our base in Thornton.
- AS 1851-2012, Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment, Standards Australia.
- AS 1851-2012 in NSW, NSW Government Building Commission.
- Fire safety certification and annual fire safety statements, NSW Department of Planning.
- About averaging pitot tube (Annubar) technology, Emerson.