Featured Articles

AFSA Announces Next Gen Initiative With SkillsUSA One of the greatest challenges our industry faces today is the sustainability of our workforce. As more and more of our experienced employees are retiring, contractors and suppliers across all regions are struggling to find quality young tradesmen, drafters, project managers, estimators, salesmen and …

I am not sure whether every state practices this, but in California there is a system whereby friends and family members can place a memorial on a highway indicating where someone had died in a traffic collision. Often the memorial is a wooden cross and some plastic flowers. Sometimes it …

Catching Up With Apprentice Competition Alumni The American Fire Sprinkler Association’s (AFSA) National Apprentice Competition began in 1994 at the 13th Annual AFSA Convention & Exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That year, for the first time ever, seven apprentice finalists representing member companies from across the country competed to become …

It’s Not as Easy as You Think So you think you can determine the exact commodity classification for a specific packaged arrangement of materials using your knowledge of the commodity classification definitions provided by NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems? Well, think again. No, you can’t.  It’s …

Understanding Free Flowing Group A Plastics The most important step in developing a design concept for protecting storage occupancies is to determine the overall storage commodity classification. This is not always an easy task, because of the varying extent of products that are stored and the method in which they …

Understanding the Modifiers There comes a time when many ask, “What does NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, mean by that?” This is especially prevalent with some of the modifiers that affect the commodity classification, the single most important aspect of the design. This came to my …

NFPA 13, 2016 Edition Added Tables Now that the 2016 edition of NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, has been published and shipped, sprinkler contractors, layout technicians, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs) are reviewing the newly added Tables 9.3.5.12.2 (a) through (f ) with respect to the …

Did you ever sign a document without reading the small print? Personally, I have always thought that the small print was designed to keep attorneys well funded, because the only time small print is important is when it is violated. The primary concern about your insurance policy or contract small …

The Outlook for 2016 In 2010 I authored an article for Sprinkler Age regarding international opportunities for American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) contractors. As you recall, at the beginning of 2010 we were in the midst of the economic crisis that is referred to as the “Great Recession.” I wrote …

Weighing the Differences For most sprinkler projects the building structure is of sufficient design and capacity to allow hanging of sprinkler components directly to the structure. Structural engineers take into account loads imposed on the structure by the sprinkler system and calculate them into the building design. Safety factors are …