fire alarm

AASBO 2022: Racing Towards Excellence

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Racing to excellence

AASBO 2022

Last week we attended the 69th Annual AASBO Conference and Expo in Tucson, AZ. This year’s theme, Racing to Excellence, was a NASCAR super-fan dream. It was another great year at AASBO 2022! Our booth was decked out with all things racing including: balloons, blow up tires, checkered flags and racing themed photo props! We weren’t the only ones embracing the event’s spirit, there were so many awesome booths this year.

Happily, we saw a few familiar faces in the crowd. We love that you keep coming back and letting us educate you on the importance of fire protection and fire safety in your facilities.

AASBO 2021
AASBO 2022
AASBO 2021
AASBO 2022

Safety in schools is a top priority, and we are excited to keep growing and helping to build a fire safe community in Arizona.

Giveaways

As always, we had some pretty amazing giveaways to entice a pit stop or two to our booth. This year we brought notepads, stickers, back scratchers, koozies, ice packs and rulers!

In addition, our Grand Prize this year consisted of Two Arizona Cardinals Club Level Game Tickets and a few tailgating necessities like snacks, drinks (the fun kind), Cardinals merch and a cooler!

Our Grand Prize Winner, Shaina with The Arizona School for the Deaf and Blind

What is AASBO

The Arizona Association of School Business Officials (AASBO) is a professional organization; providing support and professional development opportunities for individuals in the field of education who provide management and services. AASBO is recognized by the educational community as the primary source of accurate, objective business and operations information, educating its diverse membership and constituency in professional best practices, and promoting the highest standards in school business administration. AASBO is dedicated to improving the skills of its members to ensure that the educational needs of Arizona’s school children are best served.

Why are we members

Many of AASBO’s programs, presentations are made by individuals with expertise in areas of school business and support service operations. The association’s programs feature keynote speakers from various fields and high elective offices, as well as technical sessions in the areas of business operations.

Furthermore, as a vendor interested in doing business with Arizona public schools and a registered member of AASBO, we are in a great position to best serve you and your school. If you are looking for a reliable, customer focused fire protection company to service your facilities for the 2022-23 school year, we are here for you! Let us help you get your fire protection equipment race ready and your school year preparation to the finish line.

Schedule Now!

WE had a great time, See you next year!

AASBO 2022

Why Does My Bid Have a Compliance Engine Fee?

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Why Does My Bid Have a Compliance Engine Fee?

WHAT IS THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE

The Compliance Engine is a simple, internet-based tool for Fire Prevention Bureaus, Water Departments, and Building Departments and depending on where your business is located, it may be a required tool to help keep your business and your city up to date.

The Compliance Engine provides a secure environment for third-party contractors, like A P Fire Protection, who inspect, test, and maintain fire protection systems and backflows to submit their reports via BRYCER’s Web Portal directly to the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) in local municipalities. This facilitates a more efficient review, tracking, and follow-up process with occupants to correct deficiencies and maintain systems and allows AHJs to track and drive inspection and testing code compliance which ultimately reduces false alarm activity, ensures clean drinking water and provides a safer community.

While it may seem like this is just a way to generate revenue for contractors and the local AHJ, the single biggest reason we are starting to see the shift to a compliance engine is to make it safer for the people who occupy these buildings. Utilizing the compliance engine can play a considerable role in reducing the likelihood of a fire event and the damage it could cause if the fire protection systems are not being maintained properly. 

The compliance engine process

THE PROCESS

Property owners will receive timely, proactive notifications of their testing requirements by mail. If we have not already contacted you to get you on the schedule, please call our office. Once testing has been completed, we will provide you with our testing reports and suggested repairs for your systems. We are then required to submit all testing information and noted deficiencies to the AHJ via the compliance engine. If repairs have not been completed for required deficiencies and been reported back to the compliance engine within 30 days, the property owner will then receive an additional notice of deficiency giving them and additional 30 days from receipt of the letter to complete the needed repairs. Property owners do not need to submit any reports to the compliance engine. As the testing company, we do this for you!

Pressure gauge reading on fire hydrant

REPORTING & CORRECTING DEFICIENCIES

In the last few years, AHJs who have put more of an emphasis on the proper inspection, testing and maintenance of fire protection systems have frequently found deficiencies that could impact the performance of fire systems that go un-repaired. We understand as property owners you may not want to pay for the correction of the deficiencies immediately because there is a lack of budgetary funding and there may not seem to be any urgency in doing so, but it is our job to communicate the impact of the deficiency in the event of an emergency can be devastating.

Now, with the utilization of compliance engines and having to submit the inspection reports along with the list of deficiencies, there is a priority to have these deficiencies corrected immediately in order to properly maintain fire protection systems and prevent major property loss. While the upfront cost may seem sizeable, the long-term savings is priceless.

RESULTS WE ARE SEEING FROM COMPLIANCE ENGINES

Having a compliance engine to keep track of code compliance aids the Fire Marshal and Fire Prevention Bureaus by providing accurate data of which buildings have fire protection systems, when they were last tested, and if there are any open deficiencies that could hinder the successful deployment of their fire protection teams in the event of an incident.

As a service provider offering quarterly, semi-annual, and annual inspections and testing to our customers, we are seeing more and more local municipalities we serve adopting the compliance engine in an effort to track and drive responsible inspection and testing code compliance. Thanks to the database the compliance engines are building, we know that over 50% of all fire protection systems go untested and maintained annually, and together we are working to change that.

While this is generating more revenue for us, it is also giving us an opportunity to interact with our customers more than usual, ultimately building a much stronger relationship with you, and that is our ultimate goal.

SYSTEMS TRACKED THROUGH THE COMPLIANCE ENGINE IN OUR AREA:

CITIES & MUNICIPALITIES CURRENTLY UTILIZING COMPLIANCE ENGINES

Arizona Municipalities Requiring Compliance Engine Reporting

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What Does A P Fire Protection Do?

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We do it all!!

A P Fire Protection is dedicated and passionate about protecting your property and employees. We test, inspect, install and repair all related devices including but not limited to fire alarm systems, fire sprinkler suppression systems, fire extinguishers and backflows. In an ideal situation, you make one call to fix all of your fire protection needs. Not calling three separate companies, or even two, just one call and A P Fire Protection will do it all! We are committed to excellence while aggressively growing and maintaining the relationships we have fostered with our customers over the years.

1. Fire Sprinkler Suppression Systems

Fire Sprinkler Suppression System

The main job of the sprinkler suppression system is to slow the spread of a fire, allowing ample time for emergency responders to arrive. They are designed to react automatically in the event of a fire which allows for safe egress of anyone around. For the most part, inspections of your sprinkler system should happen annually. However, depending on the type of system you have, the frequency of your inspections could increase. For that reason, it is important to know exactly what type of system you have and what your local AHJ (Authority Having Jurisdiction) requires. If you are unaware then an A P Fire Protection employee would gladly walk your property and provide you with a free estimate.

Schedule a free walkthrough

2. Fire Alarm Systems

Fire Alarms are so important because they provide prompt warning when a fire breaks out. If the building is occupied then the notifying devices will sound off, telling occupants to leave immediately. If there is nobody in the building and the alarm activates then the monitoring company will notify the appropriate people in a timely manner, including emergency responders. If a system or its connected devices are not properly maintained then it can result in unwanted, ‘annoying’ beeping coming from the panel. This can result in a negative response from the occupants and even diminish the effectiveness of the alarm when it is actually triggered. Any beeping from your panel means your fire alarm systems needs attention – do not put this off! The ability to detect a fire early is the difference between losing everything and keeping the damage to a minimum!

Watch to learn more about Panels
watch to learn more about initiating devices
Watch to learn more about notifying devices

3. Kitchen Hood Suppression System

Often times a kitchen is the heartbeat of a restaurant, but where there are high heats and grease there are also big risks for fire. A fire needs three things to flourish – heat, oxygen and fuel. The purpose of the suppression system is to starve the fire of its oxygen by smothering the flames with a wet chemical. As soon as the nozzles inside the kitchen hood exhaust detects a fire the gas line/electrical power automatically shuts off which deprives the fire of its fuel source as well. Kitchen Hoods need to be serviced semi-annually because if the grease build up gets too extensive then it will effect the performance of the fusible links, which need to pop in order to release the agent.

4. Fire Extinguishers

Although often times overlooked or forgotten in the corner of a room, fire extinguishers are a necessity when it comes to work place safety. They can be the difference between a small, localized fire and an incident that now requires the fire department. Similar to a sprinkler system, fire extinguishers are meant to assist employees in controlling the spread of a fire for a safe escape while emergency responders are deployed. Equally important to knowing how to use a fire extinguisher, is knowing which one to use for certain fires. There are multiple different classes of fires that all require specific extinguishers. Quick overview:

Class A – Ordinary Combustibles (wood and paper)
Class B – Flammable Liquids (gas, grease, oil and alcohol)
Class C – Electrical Equipment (computers, servers, motors and appliances)
Class D – Flammable Metals

If you don’t know how to properly use a fire extinguisher, schedule a training session with A P Fire Protection! Our team is ready to provide you with the highest quality training and services.

Fire Extinguisher Training

5. Backflows