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Uniformat D4010

Sprinkler system, dry pipe

Also called dry system, dry valve, dry sprinkler

Service life

32.5 yearsmedian of the stated lives · sources say 20–50 years
0510152025303540455055602050

Years in service. The band runs from the shortest to the longest life the sources state, so it shows how much they disagree, not how long 80% of units last. The line is the median of the stated lives.

Basis

How sources are chosen and recorded: sourcing policy.

Municipal lives for fire protection (D40)

16 municipalities in British Columbia and Ontario state a life for fire protection as a whole, in 10 distinct tables: 15–50 years, median 20. These come from capital asset policies: accounting lives, used for amortization. They describe the system rather than this component, and none is a measured life.

Median 20 yearsParksville: Fire Suppression, 20 yearsTelkwa: Electrical/Plumbing/Fire, 20 yearsAmherstburg: Fire Safety - Control Panel, Smoke Detectors, 20 yearsAmherstburg: Plumbing - Sprinkler System, 20 yearsGrey Highlands: Fire Alarms, 20 yearsThe Blue Mountains: Fire Alarms, 20 yearsMeaford: Fire Protection - Sprinkler System, 25 yearsMeaford: Fire Protection - Alarm Panel, 25 yearsThe Blue Mountains: Sprinkler System, 25 yearsGrey Highlands: Sprinkler System, 40 yearsParksville: Sprinkler System, 50 yearsFort St. James, Revelstoke and 2 more: Electrical/Plumbing/Fire, 15–20 yearsOkanagan-Similkameen: Electrical/Plumbing/Fire, 15–20 yearsSalmo: Electrical/Plumbing/Fire, 15–20 yearsBancroft, Centre Hastings and 2 more: Sprinkler/Fire System, 20–25 yearsParksville: Fire Protection, 20–50 years0102030405060

Years. Each dot is one stated life and each bar a stated range; equal values stack. The dashed line is the median. Policies that copy the same table count once.

All 16 stated lives
MunicipalityAs writtenYearsKindSource
Fort St. James, Revelstoke, Rossland, Tumbler Ridge · same tableElectrical/Plumbing/Fire15–20accountingp5, p9, p7, p5 · 2010
Okanagan-SimilkameenElectrical/Plumbing/Fire15–20accountingp11 · 2023
SalmoElectrical/Plumbing/Fire15–20accountingp6 · 2016
ParksvilleFire Suppression20accountingp9 · 2023
TelkwaElectrical/Plumbing/Fire20accountingp8
AmherstburgFire Safety - Control Panel, Smoke Detectors20accountingp8 · 2026
AmherstburgPlumbing - Sprinkler System20accountingp8 · 2026
Grey HighlandsFire Alarms20accountingp11 · 2026
The Blue MountainsFire Alarms20accountingp11 · 2019
Bancroft, Centre Hastings, Hastings Highlands, Wollaston · same tableSprinkler/Fire System20–25accountingp5, p4, p6, p5
ParksvilleFire Protection20–50accountingp9 · 2023
MeafordFire Protection - Sprinkler System25accountingp17 · 2020
MeafordFire Protection - Alarm Panel25accountingp17 · 2020
The Blue MountainsSprinkler System25accountingp11 · 2019
Grey HighlandsSprinkler System40accountingp11 · 2026
ParksvilleSprinkler System50accountingp9 · 2023

Each row was matched to its page automatically: the label and the number appear in the text of the cited page. An editor has not yet compared every row with the table, so follow the page link before relying on one. About the policies · All approved rows as JSON

Preventive maintenance

29 tasks in 5 work orders. Intervals that fall due together are one visit: the every 10 years visit also covers the monthly, annual, every 2 years and every 5 years tasks.

  1. 1Monthly
  2. 2Monthly
  3. 3Monthly
  4. 4Monthly
  5. 5Monthly
  6. 6Monthly
  7. 7Monthly
  8. 8Monthly
  9. 9Monthly
  10. 10Monthly
  11. 11Monthly
  12. 12Annual

Months from the schedule start. Download the tasks as CSV for a CMMS, or ask the MCP tool get_pm_schedule for dated visits.

Monthly · 1 task

Source: UFC 3-601-02 Fire Protection Systems Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance (7 October 2021, with Change 1, 18 April 2025), Table 2-11 Dry Pipe Automatic Sprinkler System ITM Tasks

TaskPage
Check control valve position (unsupervised valves)p51

Annual · 16 tasks

Source: UFC 3-601-02 Fire Protection Systems Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance (7 October 2021, with Change 1, 18 April 2025), Table 2-11 Dry Pipe Automatic Sprinkler System ITM Tasks

TaskPage
Check dry valve enclosure heating before freezing weatherp51
Test low temperature alarm before freezing weatherp51
Check control valve position (supervised valves)p51
Operate alarm test valve to test water flow alarmp51
Check alarm test valve alignment and tamper switchp51
Visually inspect dry valve exterior, gauges and trimp51
Check valve pressure and hydraulic nameplate legiblep51
Check quick-opening devices are in normal positionp51
Conduct main drain test and compare with past resultsp51
Check fire department connection access and conditionp52
Check FDC for obstructions if caps are missingp52
Check system check valve is not leakingp52
Check FDC gaskets are presentp52
Lubricate FDC swivels if stiffp52
Check ball drip drain works before cold seasonp52
Drain low points before cold seasonp52

Every 2 years · 9 tasks

Source: UFC 3-601-02 Fire Protection Systems Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance (7 October 2021, with Change 1, 18 April 2025), Table 2-11 Dry Pipe Automatic Sprinkler System ITM Tasks

TaskPage
Operate control valves through full travelp52
Lubricate control valves and stemsp52
Check valve supervisory switches detect valve movementp52
Trip test dry pipe valvep52
Inspect dry valve internally and clean seat before resetp52
Check priming water level before and after trip testp52
Test quick-opening devicesp52
Test low and high air pressure alarmsp52
Inspect automatic air pressure maintenance devicep52

Every 5 years · 1 task

Source: UFC 3-601-02 Fire Protection Systems Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance (7 October 2021, with Change 1, 18 April 2025), Table 2-11 Dry Pipe Automatic Sprinkler System ITM Tasks

TaskPage
Inspect and clean strainers internallyp52

Every 10 years · 2 tasks

Source: UFC 3-601-02 Fire Protection Systems Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance (7 October 2021, with Change 1, 18 April 2025), Table 2-11 Dry Pipe Automatic Sprinkler System ITM Tasks

TaskPage
Calibrate or replace gaugesp52
Replace dry barrel sprinklersp52

Frequencies are ISO 8601 durations in the data (P3M = every 3 months).

Open questions

Know the answer? Send it with a source to [email protected].

Cite this

Citation

unfinished.one (2026). Sprinkler system, dry pipe, v0.3.0. https://unfinished.one/c/sprinkler-dry/v/0.3.0

BibTeX

@misc{unfinished_sprinkler_dry_0_3_0,
  title = {Sprinkler system, dry pipe},
  author = {{unfinished.one}},
  year = {2026},
  version = {0.3.0},
  url = {https://unfinished.one/c/sprinkler-dry/v/0.3.0},
  note = {CC BY 4.0}
}

Licence CC BY 4.0 · How to cite · JSON · Versions: 0.3.0, 0.2.0, 0.1.0