Common problems we find in existing fire pump rooms

A fire pump room looks finished long after it has stopped being reliable. Three sets, a header, a controller with lights on — and no evidence any of it will start on a pressure drop with the fire officer watching. This is what our engineers check when they take over an existing pump room for an AMC, an audit or a renewal, and the kinds of problem they find.

What we check

1. Auto-start on pressure drop. We open a hydrant and watch: the jockey should hold, the electric main should start on the first drop, the diesel on a further drop or on failure of the main. If the controllers are in manual, or the pressure switches are set so that nothing starts, the system is manual — which in an emergency means off.
2. The diesel set under load. Run for the duration the standard requires, with a discharge: batteries, fuel, cooling water or radiator, exhaust, and the engine controller's alarms. A diesel that starts and is switched off in thirty seconds has not been tested.
3. Suction and priming. Whether the suction is flooded from the tank; if not, whether the priming tank or line exists, is full and works. A pump that cannot prime cannot pump.
4. Pressure and flow against the curve. Gauge readings at the pump against the nameplate curve, and pressure at the remote hydrant with the pump running.
5. The tank connection and level. Whether the tank holds the approved capacity and the suction is connected as drawn; whether the level is monitored; whether the domestic draw-off is above the fire reserve.
6. Valves, header and the brigade inlet. Every valve in the position it should be in, tagged and locked where required; the header pressure-tested; the fire-brigade inlet reachable.
7. The room itself. Access, lighting, ventilation and exhaust for the diesel, drainage, and whether the room has become a store.
8. Records. The test logbook, the last inspection report, the AMC visit reports, the pump curves. The absence of a record is treated as the absence of the test, by us and by the inspector.

What we commonly find

• Controllers left in manual or bypassed after a nuisance start.
• Diesel standby never run under load; batteries flat; fuel degraded.
• Priming line dry or disconnected; a pump that cannot draw from the tank.
• Pressure switches set so that the jockey does all the work and the main never starts.
• Tank capacity reduced by a later domestic connection, or a tank that was never filled to the approved level.
• No logbook, so the renewal inspection starts from zero.
• The room used as storage; the diesel exhaust disconnected; the door locked with the key elsewhere.

What follows

A condition report with the readings, the defects in order of consequence, and what it takes to restore the room to what the NOC was granted against. The pump-room page describes the arrangement a room should have; the layout mistakes that make rooms hard to maintain are a separate piece. Under an AMC the tests above are run on a schedule and logged, which is what the renewal depends on.