Library fire sprinkler system installed without water pipes

[mtlogcabin]

http://www.bozemandailychronicle.co...cle_d17d0b99-1695-5eb2-b257-bbb02c60aa81.html

A contract employee who installed a sprinkler system in the Montana State University Billings library is accused of selling pipe materials instead of installing them.

Dustin James Jensen, 33, was charged with theft by embezzlement, a felony, and appeared in Yellowstone County Justice Court on Wednesday.

Justice of the Peace Pedro R. Hernandez set bond at $30,000.


Jensen, who was the foreman on the sprinkler system job, is accused of taking pipe that should have been installed at the library and unloading or selling it to recycling companies. He was fired from the Helena automatic sprinkler company, IT&M, after missing sections of pipe were discovered.

IT&M won a bid to upgrade the MSUB library's fire and sprinkler system in 2016 for $70,553, court documents state. Jensen led the work with the help of an apprentice, who denied any involvement.

On Aug. 15, the job was deemed complete after tests by the state fire marshal's office, an alarm company and the Billings Fire Department. Days later, an MSUB employee informed IT&M that pipes feeding the sprinkler heads appeared to be missing in the library's ceiling.

They found that while sprinklers were installed in the ceilings on the first floor, no pipes were there to feed water. The main source water pipe was capped at the first floor. This left the library without a working fire suppression system.

 

[fatboy]

WOW!

"the job was deemed complete after tests by the state fire marshal's office, an alarm company and the Billings Fire Department."

Suppose there might be some heads rolling after the dust settles?

 

[cda]

And contractors wonder/ whine when I tell them to pull all the cieling tile down,

When they did not call for a pipe inspection before covering up

 

[IJHumberson]

How in the world did it get to the final stages without being discovered?? Apparently there were no inspections at the rough-in/hydrostatic test phase??

 

[conarb]

Contra Costa County built a new Juvenile Hall right up the street from me about 35 years ago, the installation division of Tyco glued the sprinkler heads to the drywall in the entire building, no pipe at all, it wasn't found until the end when the county got in a dispute with the General Contractor over a series of overtime/over cost/quality problems and terminated and replaced him, as I recall the county hired litigation experts to establish damages for settlement with the first general contractor when the new contractor took over and the experts discovered it.

 

[fatboy]

Amazing that that a system could get that far down the road, not caught.

 

[FM William Burns]

This is why anyone doing fire sprinkler inspections on new systems should ALWAYS do a rough-in and hydrostatic testing witnessing inspection before any final acceptance/commissioning inspection.

 

[tmurray]

This is why anyone doing fire sprinkler inspections on new systems should ALWAYS do a rough-in and hydrostatic testing witnessing inspection before any final acceptance/commissioning inspection.

That's what I was wondering. How the heck do you do a hydrostatic test when the second storey is not served? Usually that would be the most hydrologically remote, but I guess it might not be...

We even check hanger spacing, but we are the exception here.

 

[Paul Sweet]

I wonder if this job was done at night while the library was closed down. If so, they would have had to put the ceilings back up in the morning. I can imagine a lazy project inspector seeing the heads and not popping tiles, but not any fire marshals I have worked with.

 

[SCBO1]

If it had a drop-ceiling the above ceiling inspection prior to tile drop should have been done. You would be looking for grid support wire, light fixture supports, open junction boxes, duct connections etc., before you give tile drop approval.

I usually get the Q. "Can we drop the perimeter tile?"

You gotta do the hydro test!

 

[cda]

Maybe a sprinkler retro fit only?

No other work

 

[FM William Burns]

We typically will not permit tiles to be laid in until we are finished with a rough-in, especially with flex head installs. Back in Florida inspector school in 1986 we heard of a prison up in northern Florida where heads were just put in ceilings and it has always been in the back of my mind especially with "fast trackers"

 

[CityKin]

I just had my first job in which they used these flex heads. I don't like that the sprinkler system is dependent upon the ceiling grid. Seems likely to fail.

 

[cda]

Make sure you wiggle each support, to assure they are tightened to the grid.

And check to assure not to much bend in the flex.

Installer should have a bend checker

 

[tmurray]

I just had my first job in which they used these flex heads. I don't like that the sprinkler system is dependent upon the ceiling grid. Seems likely to fail.

If the grid fails the sprinkler systems has likely not been able to do it's job of suppressing the fire before FF arrive. I can see your concern though.

 

[cda]

I just had my first job in which they used these flex heads. I don't like that the sprinkler system is dependent upon the ceiling grid. Seems likely to fail.

Hopefully they calculated it correctly. The flex are more hydraulically demanding.