Featured Articles

  • Bob Caputo, CFPS. President of the American Fire Sprinkler Association.

    President’s Report

    For a very long time, I owned a 1983 Jeep CJ7 Renegade, which is now in the possession of my daughte…

  • John Denhardt, P.E., FSFPE is the vice president of engineering & technical services at AFSA. Denhardt provides a "flashpoint" for March/April of 2023 and discusses NFPA reviews.

    Flashpoint

    I am sitting in California in early February as I write this column. The AFSA Board of Directors is …

  • Thirty Years of Excellence

    CATCHING UP WITH PAST NATIONAL APPRENTICE COMPETITION COMPETITORS Thirty years ago, the American Fir…

  • AFSA's Technical Challenges

    Technical Challenges March/April 2023

    CAN YOU MEET THE CHALLENGE? Each issue, AFSA’s Engineering & Technical Services Department staff…

  • Kevin Hall, M.Eng, P.E., ET, CWBSP, PMSFPE, writes "Higher Standards" to expand on NFPA standards.

    Higher Standards

    Review of NFPA 20 First Draft Report For the installation of water-based fire protection systems, th…

President’s Report

Bob Caputo, CFPS. President of the American Fire Sprinkler Association.

For a very long time, I owned a 1983 Jeep CJ7 Renegade, which is now in the possession of my daughter and son-in-law, who enjoy weekends in the desert. I bought that vehicle in early 1990 from a Marine who was deploying, and it’s since been driven by multiple friends, …

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Flashpoint

John Denhardt, P.E., FSFPE is the vice president of engineering & technical services at AFSA. Denhardt provides a "flashpoint" for March/April of 2023 and discusses NFPA reviews.

I am sitting in California in early February as I write this column. The AFSA Board of Directors is meeting, and I have the opportunity to present the status of work in progress and answer questions regarding the Engineering & Technical Services Department. To prepare for this discussion, my department …

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Thirty Years of Excellence

CATCHING UP WITH PAST NATIONAL APPRENTICE COMPETITION COMPETITORS Thirty years ago, the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) launched the National Apprentice Competition in 1994 at the 13th Annual AFSA Convention & Exhibition in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. That inaugural year, the competition was well represented, with seven apprentice finalists from member …

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Technical Challenges March/April 2023

AFSA's Technical Challenges

CAN YOU MEET THE CHALLENGE? Each issue, AFSA’s Engineering & Technical Services Department staff present technical challenges. Besides testing yourself and your co-workers, these exercises are excellent preparation for professional certification tests and may count as CEUs. Check with your certification organization. To participate, read through and work the problems. …

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Higher Standards

Kevin Hall, M.Eng, P.E., ET, CWBSP, PMSFPE, writes "Higher Standards" to expand on NFPA standards.

Review of NFPA 20 First Draft Report For the installation of water-based fire protection systems, the NFPA standard development process aligns every three years. During this time, NFPA 13, NFPA 13R, NFPA 13D, NFPA 14, NFPA 20, and NFPA 24 are all under the microscope, with the technical committees reviewing …

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NEW MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES ADDED

The American Fire Sprinkler Association has two new categories for membership: A&E Design Firms, and Facility Managers.

Welcoming A&E Design Firms and Facility Managers The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) Board of Directors has approved two new categories for membership: A&E Design Firms and Facility Managers while redefining the Designer category to be for independent designers with more than two people. “AFSA offers education and technical support …

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One-Stop CEU Shop

AFSA offers the best webinars in the industry to receive CEUs, CPDs, and CAL FIRE-Approved credits.

Live and On-Demand Webinars Offer CEUs, CPDs, and Cal Fire-Approved Courses The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is pleased to offer live and on-demand webinars on technical and managerial topics related to the fire sprinkler industry. These programs offer Continuing Education Units (CEUs), Continuing Professional Development points (CPDs), and/or CAL …

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Developing Designers

Students attending AFSA's Design School

New Program Offers Scholarships One challenge facing the fire sprinkler industry is the need for designers. The American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) is pleased to announce a scholarship program for designers employed by AFSA Category 1-3 contractor members to help meet that demand. For 2023, a limited number of scholarships …

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Fun in the Florida Sun!

Signia by Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek will host AFSA42 in 2023

AFSA42 OFFERS CEUS AND CONNECTIONS IN ORLANDO When many think of Orlando, Disney World and Universal Studios usually come to mind. While memories of Mickey Mouse or heart-racing roller coasters might be floating around in your mind, we hope to rewrite that top-of-mind recall this year at AFSA42: Convention, Exhibition, …

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Chair’s Message

Jack Medovich, Chair of the Board, AFSA, the fire sprinkler industry

I am hoping by the time you read this, that you all had a great Q1 and are off and running into the 2023 calendar year! Based on the previous edition of Sprinkler Age, the economic experts (which I’m not one of) stated that 2023 should be another solid year …

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