Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
Wow! What an amazing experience AFSA43 was. The weather in Denver was perfect, which I might note was my job to ensure. I just looked up and thought, “Here comes the sun.” We enjoyed record-setting attendance and events the entire week, starting with the Opening Party on the resort’s back lawn. The food and the activities were awesome, and we estimate around 600 people enjoyed the live band, rock climbing, and axe throwing. Thankfully, no one threw one at me! With more than 50 well-attended seminars, a full-house General Session, and a filled exhibit hall, it is fair to say that AFSA43 was a huge success. We’re already planning next year’s convention, October 14-19, 2025, at the Gaylord National Resort in Washington, DC. Save the date!
For those of you unable to join us in Denver, I’d like to take a moment to share a few of my remarks from the General Session as sort of a State of the Association update. First, as many of you know, we struggled with our lab a bit, which caused us to relocate a few scheduled classes to other sites. Additionally, we could not use the lab’s full-flow functions during a few other sessions because our sub-floor water storage tank was not holding water. It would seep through the concrete because the original installation contractor didn’t understand that the pool was actually supposed to be waterproof. I know this because they stated this in an email response when we sent them a bill for the work done after the fact to make it waterproof, which it is now. All is well now, so we hope many of you will send your candidates to Dallas for the best hands-on ITM and fire pump testing experience.
We also introduced the rewrite of AFSA’s Applied Sprinkler Technology, a training series for new designers and layout technicians. This training is being updated by a great industry professional team with Veronica Westfall, AFSA’s technical development specialist. It will be delivered in the form of convenient online lessons to be used in conjunction with on-the-job employer-led training, and a reference manual will be available for those who complete the online training. Trust me when I tell you this will become the gold standard for training water-based fire protection systems layout technicians. We were able to show snippets of the material completed to date in the AFSA43 booth, and the responses were all encouraging and positive.
With the help of a very generous gift from CAFSA, we are moving forward with the Spanish translation of our Sprinkler Fitter Apprenticeship books. This is a literal game-changer for many of our members. The books will be available in 2025. While AFSA does not have publishing rights, we are also working toward having these books in electronic versions. We are also entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with a partner in Lima, Peru, to expand the use of our training materials in the Latin American and domestic Spanish-speaking markets.
Overall, we had a great convention at an awesome location, and if you were there, thank you! I have been in this role for four years, and each convention reinforces the feeling that this industry is more of a family than anything else. Seeing and catching up with friends, acquaintances, and colleagues is always great. It’s truly heartwarming to see people enjoying each other’s company at the networking meals. If you couldn’t attend, we missed having you and hope to see you next year! Remind your apprentices to apply for the 2025 competition. They will have great experiences and win some great prizes, including cash.
Next on the horizon, other than AFSA44 planning includes expanding our technical training, especially in the inspection and testing arena. I believe that our industry can and should train inspection and testing separately from or in addition to pipe fitting and installation skills. There has been a major emphasis on ITM and recurring revenue streams for fire and life safety companies, and we need to lead the way in developing technicians to meet demand. In early 2025, AFSA will offer a program for inspection and testing of fire alarm systems based on NFPA 72, Chapter 14 requirements. Our lab already offers some hands-on opportunities, and we will add some components. Many of our members do more than water-based systems work in new construction and ITM. We will develop similar programs for inspecting and testing all building fire and life safety systems, including kitchen hoods, fire doors, dampers, e-lights, and fire extinguishers. Our goal is not to compete with other associations that offer these services but rather to become the one-stop shop our members expect of AFSA.
AFSA recently submitted a formal apprenticeship program for U.S. Dept. of Labor (DOL) approval. The program, as submitted, is a two-year training program with similar formatting to our apprenticeship program in that it provides a curriculum for contractors who will be required to register their program with the DOL. This is because apprentices, fitters, or inspectors do not work for AFSA, and their employer conducts their training. That said, as we do now, we will offer classroom and lab training for our 20-month ITM Inspector Development program and administrative assistance for members who prefer to have AFSA track progress with you. Once we have DOL approval, we will approach NICET to discuss new classification for certification, called Fire and Life Safety Inspector, with multiple levels. This would allow inspectors to be granted credit for 100% of their hours worked as opposed to having to split credit between water-based work and fire alarm work throughout the year. As always, these projects are in response to input from members. Thank you for your membership and your commitment to fire protection. Remember, we’d love to hear about your success stories!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Bob Caputo, CFPS, is president of AFSA. He has been an important part of the fire sprinkler industry for over 41 years and is a long-time member of AFSA and promoter of merit shop contracting. He has chaired and served on many NFPA committees. Caputo has written and presented seminars throughout the world on fire protection and life-safety systems and is a regular speaker at AFSA and NFPA conventions. He has developed AFSA education and training materials, and chaired two chapters of AFSA—Arizona and Southern California. Caputo is the recipient of numerous awards, including Fire Protection Contractor magazine’s “Industry person of the Year,” San Diego County Fire Chief’s Association’s “Fire Prevention Officer of the Year,” and AFSA’s highest honor, the Henry S. Parmelee Award.
