Sprinkler Age A Publication of the American Fire Sprinkler Association
I have served on NFPA technical committees for over three decades. During that time, I much too often exhibited a lack of common sense in my efforts. To wit, I can be guilty of developing solutions and then searching for the problem. I call this the “what if” approach, and I am not the only guilty party. At times, technical committees make revisions without sufficient consideration for the context in which these changes will function. When we do this, we fail to use common sense or exercise good judgment.
Years ago, I learned an important lesson from Michael Meehan while we represented AFSA on the NFPA 13 installation TC. I do not recall the specific issue, but I was arguing endlessly for a revision that was ½ inch different from what was being proposed. After listening to me drone on, Michael spoke up and said, “I must respectfully disagree with my colleague on this issue.” He explained that when installing pipe, we rarely work to tolerances of ½ inch. To do so is impractical and usually unnecessary. Regarding the proposal at hand, arguing whether 2 or 2½ inches was the correct measurement was a waste of time. In the end, this small difference, one way or the other, would not impact the successful operation of a system. Michael was correct. I was embarrassed, but he changed thereafter how I looked at the requirements we were developing.
Common sense must also be utilized when applying codes and standards. We cannot ignore reasonableness or sensibility when doing our jobs. For example, NFPA 25 advises inspectors to use careful judgment when classifying abnormal conditions. Careful judgment includes consideration of the context in which the condition exists to ensure we exercise reasonableness.
Consider the following example of context. The speed limit on many Arizona interstate highways is 75 mph. If I were driving 78 mph and given a speeding citation, I would be terribly unhappy. Technically, I was breaking the law, but I was in the middle of the desert! In this instance, does driving 3 mph over the speed limit create a material increase in the risk of an accident? It seems to me that such literal enforcement is about generating revenue rather than about safety. At the same time, I understand that any tolerance is significantly less in an elementary school zone. The difference in context is easy to understand, and not understanding would exhibit a complete lack of common sense or good judgment.
Give this some thought the next time when classifying painted, loaded, or corroded sprinklers.
Regarding ITM, I reviewed the 2010, 2017, and 2024 NFPA reports titled U.S. Experience with Sprinklers. The data showed that the lack of maintenance continued to be the number one cause of system failures. However, it was surprising that the percentage of failures due to maintenance has remained rather static despite NFPA 25. In fact, the percentage of failures from the system being shut increased from 53% in the 2010 report to 59% in 2024.
I recognize that these statistics do not tell the whole story, but the reports cause me to wonder if we are focused on the right things in our fire and life safety roles. A question to ask, “Are we using careful judgment and common sense in our work, or are we too intent on creating a checklist of deficiencies while ignoring the context in which they exist. “
In other words, “Are we focused only on doing things the right way rather than doing the right thing?
Something to think about.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Russell B. Leavitt, CFPS, SET, is executive chairman and board member of Telgian Holdings, Inc. Leavitt’s Telgian roots can be traced to the genesis of the company. In 1990, he co-founded Fire Design Group, which merged with Tomes, Van Rickley, and Associates (TVA) in 1991. He subsequently served in numerous executive positions, including TVA Fire and Life Safety President, Managing Member of Fire Materials Group, LLC, and CEO of Telgian. Today, Leavitt serves as the Executive Chairman for Telgian Holdings, Inc., as well as the Chairman of Telgian Fire Safety and Telgian Engineering & Consulting.
Leavitt is active in numerous trade and professional associations and holds several leadership positions. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors as Immediate Past Chair of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), he has served as the Chair of the NFPA 13 Technical Committee for Fire Sprinkler System Discharge Criteria and continues to serve as a Principal Member. He is also a Principal Member of the NFPA Technical Committee for Installation and a Principal Member of NFPA 3 and NFPA 4. Leavitt also represents NFPA 13 on the Technical Committee for NFPA 909 (Code for the Protection of Cultural Resource Properties) and 914 (Code for the Protection of Historic Structures).
Throughout his career, he has authored numerous articles and training guides, including the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA) Beginning Inspector Training Program and the AFSA Online Hydraulics Training Program. In addition, he is a major contributor to several NFPA Handbooks and served as the subject matter expert for numerous NFPA live and online training programs.
Leavitt shares his more than 40 years of experience in the fire protection industry by conducting training presentations for many professional and industry organizations including the Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), NFPA, and AFSA.
In 2013, he received the AFSA Henry S. Parmelee Award for dedication to the professional advancement of the fire sprinkler industry and improvement of fire safety through automatic sprinklers. He is also the recipient of the NFPA Standards Council Special Achievement Award in 2018 for his leadership of the task group which completely reorganized NFPA 13 for the 2019 edition.
Leavitt is a Level IV NICET certified technician and Certified Fire Protection Specialist who holds fire protection contracting licenses in multiple states. He is a graduate of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.