A Few Tips For Having A Fire Suppression System Installed In Your Restaurant

If you are having your first restaurant built, you are probably looking for a fire suppression system for the kitchen. This is going to be a large expense and you want to be sure to get what you need to do the job correctly. Every kitchen will have different requirements for the system and will also have different installations. Here are a few tips to ensure everything goes well so you can get your restaurant open on time.

Check with the Health Department and Fire Marshall

To get the proper permits you need to open, you need to submit plans to both the Health Department and the Fire Marshall. As they look over your plans, they will let you know how large of a unit you will need. They will also tell you what kind of suppression systems are required and if you need more than one due to the placement of your cooking devices. For example, if you have deep fryers on one wall and then a stove on a different wall, you may need two hoods. If they are close enough, you may be able to use one suppression unit to work with them both.

Have the Hood Made Separately

Check around with steel manufacturers in the area to get quotes on creating the exhaust hoods you need. You can buy the whole setup from one place, but it is often more financially beneficial to buy the hoods and then buy the suppression unit separately. You can, and should, have both representatives talk with each other about the entire system to make sure they will work well together.

Prepare for Testing

In most cases, the company that installs the system will do some type of testing on it before leaving. However, to be approved to open, the Fire Marshall or Health Department will also have to inspect the system. Make sure you set up an appointment for this or let the inspecting agency know that the testing will need to be done so they can bring the flare to do it. Once you have been approved, you can open the doors and start serving customers. You do not want to have to wait and have something fixed and then re-inspected to be able to open as this may keep you from making money and may mean you need to throw away some food products that have spoiled.

When the Fire Marshall or Health Department comes to test the system, be prepared. If you are having a system checked that goes over deep fryers, do not have them filled with oil yet. If something goes wrong and the system does go off, you will have foam sprayed into the fryers, making the oil in them useless. You will also need to clean up the area. Do not have the gas turned on for any appliances either. The system may cause the gas to be shut off if it does go off. This will require another trip from the gas department to check for safety issues and turn the system back on.

Visit a site like http://www.eastcoastfire.net to learn more about fire suppression system options.