18 FEATURES
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Always take the manufacturer’ s requirements or recommendations into consideration before doing any work with the fire equipment, and verify the manufactured product meets the requirements on site.
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Refer to bylaws as each municipality has their own hydrants that are required for use and installation, which you must confirm prior to installation.
the fire installation is either 1) the subject of a rational design prepared by a competent person( wet services) or a competent person( fire engineering)
in accordance with the general principles and requirements contained in SANS 10252-1 and, if relevant, SANS 10287, or 2) in accordance with the requirements of 4.6 where the area in which the building is located is serviced by a fire brigade, contains no sprinkler system, and serves not more than three fire hydrants in a division.
SANS 10400-W, 3.8 refers to a fire installation as“ any water installation which conveys water for the purpose of fire-fighting”.
Risks and liability
• Fire technicians only come in after a hydrant is installed, before then it is the plumbers who can be held liable and at risk
• Insurance claims for fire-related damage can sometimes be repudiated depending on the policy chosen. For example, if a business has cover that states their fire equipment must be installed in a certain way that the plumber does not adhere to and the fire department is unable to use the equipment to extinguish the fire, the insurance company could opt to repudiate the claim.
• Legal action could be faced if the cause of failure of the system is due to the work done by the plumber
• Long-term liability after handover could be faced by plumbers if they chose and installed non-compliant products or do not install the system correctly
Common installation mistakes One of the most common installation mistakes in fire systems, according to Marius Atterbury, FPASA, is incorrect pipe sizing. Think of a fire installation as a system – this system requires big pipes at the start, which lead into smaller pipes that extinguish or control the fire. If one part of the system is incorrect, the whole system is affected. Sean Okhuysen, FFETA, provides this example of an oak tree: as the main pipe( the trunk as the biggest) has pipes that branch off to smaller areas, then the pipe sizes can get smaller; but there is a limit to how small – you cannot have a small branch supporting a massive trunk, just like you cannot have a small pipe supporting a larger network.
SANS 10400-W 4.6: Pipework 4.6.1 In any fire installation a) the nominal diameter of 1) a communication pipe serving such installation shall not be less than 75mm, 2) a service pipe supplying water to a fire hydrant shall not be less than 75mm, and 3) a service pipe supplying water to a hose reel installation shall not be less than 25mm.
NOTE: SANS 10252 has piping sizes, and highlights that when pipes exceed a certain distance then they become larger than what is indicated above.
Okhyusen emphasises another small installation mistake that plumbers can make, which involves installing hose reels without the required union, or installing the CP valve of the hose reel in the wrong direction.
SANS 10400-W 4.5: Fire pump connections 4.5.1 In any fire installation a) any pipe which serves any hydrant or an automatic sprinkler system, shall be provided with a twin pumping connection; and b) any pipe fitted with one or more fire-pump connections, unless such pipe discharges directly into a storage tank, shall be fitted with a pressure gauge reading up to 2 500kPa and a non-return valve so located as to shut off automatically the direct supply of water from the local authority system to such installation whenever and for so long as any such fire pump connection is in use.
NOTE: It is not necessary to provide a pumping connection to any pipe serving only hose reels.
4.5.2 states that any pumping connection must be situated outside the building at ground level in a readily accessible position, mounted on the face of the building in an accessible position, and clearly marked as such.
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Mauricio Krupka Buendia | Pexels www. plumbingafrica. co. za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline April 2026 Volume 32 I Number 02