Annual flow tests, weekly and monthly churn checks, and full commissioning acceptance, with every flow point, alarm contact, and transfer-switch transition recorded under one site visit. You get a documentation packet sized for the AHJ and your insurance carrier, not a sticker on the controller door.
An annual test is a full functional sweep of the pump, the controller, the sensing network, and every device that has to behave correctly when a sprinkler head pops. We work through each of the following on every visit, with NFPA 20 and NFPA 25 reference language documented as we go.
Before any water moves, we verify the basics: city supply pressure must hold at or above 20 psi for the full duration of the test, and every gauge, transducer, and test device on site must be inside its annual calibration window per NFPA 20 and NFPA 25, sec. 14.2.6.1.2.1. If a transducer is past calibration, the data isn't defensible, so we either swap to a calibrated unit or call the test before it starts.
For commissioning and every third year, the test is run open-atmosphere through approved discharge devices: hose headers, playpipes, or test loops sized to actually load the pump. A flow meter is permitted in years one and two of the cycle, but it cannot replace the open-atmosphere test in commissioning or in year three. Flow meters also cannot be used for fire pump acceptance testing.
At every flow point (minimum, rated, peak) we record suction pressure, discharge pressure, motor speed, voltage, and current. The pump must run at all three points without overheating any component per NFPA 20 14.2.6.2. Where the supply cannot deliver 150% of rated flow, the pump runs at the greater of 100% rated or the maximum allowable system discharge, and that limit is documented in the test packet so the AHJ sees exactly why the high point landed where it did.
Every annual test ships with a written packet built for the AHJ and your insurer: full flow-point data tables, gauge and transducer calibration records, alarm and transfer-switch results, a deficiency list with NFPA 20 and NFPA 25 citations, and before/after photos of any condition we flag or correct. Nothing handwritten on a clipboard, nothing missing when the inspector pulls the file.
What an annual test catches, on roughly every other site we walk into:
Visual and churn checks run weekly or monthly under NFPA 20 and NFPA 25 (cadence depends on driver type and risk class), plus a full annual flow test. Commissioning adds a one-time acceptance test before the system is placed in service. Skipping the weekly and monthly inspections is one of the more common ways an annual test surfaces a long-running deficiency.
Churn is no-flow: the pump runs against a closed discharge to verify it builds rated pressure, the casing relief valve opens, and the packing glands drip correctly. A flow test puts water through approved discharge devices at rated and peak load to verify the pump actually delivers its rated curve under real load. Both have to pass; one does not substitute for the other under NFPA 20 and NFPA 25.
Only in years one and two of the cycle. Open-atmosphere testing through approved discharge devices is required during commissioning and again in every third year per NFPA 20 and NFPA 25. Flow meters are also not permitted for fire pump acceptance testing. That has to run open atmosphere with the AHJ and factory representatives present.
That's exactly why annual testing exists. Call us. We'll roll as fast as we can.
