Description of Project
In late 2024, an existing client invited Elite Fire Protection to participate in a tender for the installation of roof-level fire protection in their warehouse, as required by their insurance provider. Elite Fire was awarded the contract, with installation commencing in February 2025 and currently underway. From the outset, the project was identified as a fast-track job due to the client’s plans to begin receiving raw materials by the end of March, followed by the commissioning of their packaging warehouse.
Elite Fire Protection is responsible for the supply, fabrication, and installation of a comprehensive fire protection system for the facility.
| Project | Fire Protection Systems |
| Size | Approx. 8150m2 |
| Year of completion | 2025 |
| Scope | Supply, fabrication & installation |
| Discipline | Fire Protection |
Project Scope
Fire Protection System of Existing Warehouse:
- Warehouse roof sprinkler protection
Process Outline
Warehouse Roof Sprinkler Protection
Due to the height of the warehouse roof, being 25 meters, it is a 17.5mm/min design density at roof level. The installation is a grid system – A sprinkler system in which parallel cross mains are connected by multiple branch lines, causing an operating sprinkler to receive water from both ends of its branch line while other branch lines help transfer water between cross mains.
There is a total of 1062 of the 20mm brass conventional sprinkler heads with 141oC operating temperature. The sprinkler installation was based according to the Fire Consultants design requirements. The colours of the bulb identify the temperature rating of the sprinkler, and in this case, the bulbs are blue in colour. The thermal sensitivity of a sprinkler measures how quickly the thermal element operates and the most common way of measuring thermal sensitivity is the response time index (RTI). They are then categorized into fast or standard response based on their RTI.
The system contains a 200mm wet sprinkler control valve. Control valves control the flow of water in an automatic fire sprinkler system and in this case the sprinkler control valve is suitable for a wet system.
Connection to Fire System
The client already has an established fire protection infrastructure in place, which includes a water pump, storage tanks, and a sprinkler ring main that supplies the existing plant. To optimise resources and ensure integration with the current system, the new warehouse sprinkler protection will be connected to and supplied from this existing ring main. This approach not only ensures system compatibility but also helps reduce installation time and cost by leveraging the existing water supply infrastructure.
Challenges:
- Two key challenges were identified during the planning and execution of the installation. The first was the significant height of the warehouse roof, which required careful consideration in terms of access, working at height safety protocols, and the selection of appropriate equipment such as boom lifts.
- The second challenge involved working in the operational half of the warehouse, which was already stocked with materials and in use. This required the team to coordinate closely with the client to schedule installation phases that would minimise disruption to their operations. Navigating around existing stock not only limited working space but also posed potential delays, requiring a flexible and adaptive approach to maintain progress while ensuring safety and maintaining the integrity of both the inventory and the sprinkler system being installed.
