13.2 Closeout: Material and Test Certificates & As-Builts

13.2 Closeout: Material and Test Certificates & As-Builts

Quick Answer: Closeout is the package that proves what was installed and how it was tested. As-builts must match the field, including moved heads, added under-duct sprinklers, and actual SINs. The Contractor’s Material and Test Certificate for Aboveground Piping is required. Include the underground certificate when the shop installed the lead-in. Confirm hydraulic nameplate data and the spare-head cabinet. Hand the owner manuals so NFPA 25 inspection, testing, and maintenance can start after turnover — Level I does not perform those inspections.

Task 1.7.3 (assemble documents for closeout packages) shares the same 1–10% Project Correspondences band. The Level I content outline points that task at NFPA 13 (general reference 1) and, by footnote 10, at NFPA 25 (2020) for awareness. NFPA 25 is study-only on the NICET Level I general-references list. It is not one of the four books available on screen in the exam room (NFPA 13, 13D, 13R, and 291 — all 2022). You are not being tested as an NFPA 25 inspector. You are being tested on whether the closeout file gives the owner a usable starting point for inspection, testing, and maintenance after the system is turned over.

As-built drawings that match the installed system

Approved working plans (NFPA 13 2022 Chapter 28) are the shop’s proposal. As-builts (record drawings) are the shop’s statement of fact: this is where the pipe and heads actually went. If a head moved 4 ft to clear a late soffit, the as-built shows the new coordinates, the adjusted arm-over, and any neighbor heads that shifted. If the inspector required sprinklers under a duct that was not on Revision B, the as-built shows those heads — it does not hide them on the theory that “everyone saw them at the final.” If the box of listed pendents ran out and the field installed a listed substitute with a different sprinkler identification number (SIN), the as-built and the spare-cabinet list show the SIN that is in the ceiling, not the SIN that was on the original submittal.

SINs, K-factors, orientations, and temperature ratings are how the next technician orders a replacement. Linework that still labels the original head is a defective closeout even if the hydraulic remote area did not change. Cloud the changes, revise the title block, and transmit the as-built set for record (and for AHJ approval if the specification still requires a stamp on record drawings).

Worked example — as-built still shows the head that moved 4 ft

Branch-line 3, head 12, was plotted 7 ft 6 in. from a partition. During finishes, a gypsum soffit landed on that spot. The fitter moved the head 4 ft along the line and added a short arm-over. Field photos confirm the new location. The closeout set still shows head 12 on the original grid with no cloud, no coordinate change, and no note. Reject the closeout. The drafter must update the plan, any section that cuts that bay, and the stocklist if the arm-over added fittings. Do not “fix it” with a paper note that will be thrown away. Next year’s NFPA 25 inspector will open the record drawing, not the fitter’s memory. Correspondence from Section 13.1 that authorized the move belongs in the same package so the 4-ft shift is explained, not just redrawn.

Contractor’s Material and Test Certificate for Aboveground Piping

NFPA 13 (2022) Chapter 29 covers systems acceptance. Open that chapter for the current Contractor’s Material and Test Certificate for Aboveground Piping figure. Do not hunt a “Figure 25.1” number from an older edition and assume it still applies. The certificate is the signed record that aboveground piping was flushed as required, hydrostatically tested, and left in a serviceable condition, with the listed devices operating. A hydrostatic pump rental receipt is not the certificate. A transmittal that says “tested” is not the certificate. The inspector watching the gauge is not the certificate until names are on the form.

Acceptance test numbers to confirm in 29.2.1 while you study (2022 text):

• 29.2.1.1: Unless a listed exception applies, piping and attached appurtenances that will see system working pressure are hydrostatically tested at 200 psi (14 bar) and shall maintain that pressure without loss for 2 hours.
• 29.2.1.2: Loss is a drop in gauge pressure or visual leakage.
• 29.2.1.3: Where portions of the system normally see working pressure greater than 150 psi (10 bar), the test pressure is 50 psi (3.4 bar) above that working pressure, using the same two-hour hold described in 29.2.1.1.

Cold-weather pneumatic allowances and fire-pump special cases live in the same 29.2 family. Read them in the book. Do not invent a substitute test so the job can close on Friday.

The certificate is filled out and signed by the contractor’s representative and witnessed or signed by an owner’s representative. Copies go to the approving authority, the owner, and the contractor. Level I may fill dates, test pressure, duration, and witness names, but does not sign for the company unless the supervisor has given that authority.

Worked example — missing aboveground certificate

The as-builts are complete. The spare cabinet is stocked. The hydraulic nameplate is on the riser. Underground work was by the site utility contractor, and their underground certificate is in the folder. The sprinkler shop’s aboveground certificate is blank because “the inspector watched the hydro.” The closeout package is incomplete. Watching is not a signature. Complete the aboveground certificate, obtain the required signatures, and transmit copies. Do not substitute the underground form; it certifies different pipe. Do not staple the pump receipt and call the domain finished.

Underground certificate when the shop installed the lead-in

If the sprinkler contractor installed the private fire service main or the lead-in from the underground to the riser flange, the closeout package includes the Contractor’s Material and Test Certificate for Underground Piping (the NFPA 24 form that NFPA 13 also uses for buried pipe). That form records flushing, the hydrostatic test, and leakage results. NFPA 13 (2022) extracts the underground hydrostatic rule in 6.10.2.2 from NFPA 24: test at 200 psi or 50 psi above working pressure, whichever is greater, for 2 hours, with the standard’s stated tolerance for buried gasketed pipe. That pass/fail language is not identical to the aboveground “without loss” line in 29.2.1.1. Look up 6.10.2.2.1 and 6.10.2.2.2 rather than copying the aboveground criterion onto buried pipe.

If a different contractor installed the underground, collect their certificate before you claim a complete water supply in the sprinkler closeout. If your shop never touched the lead-in, do not sign an underground certificate for work you did not perform.

Hydraulic nameplate data

Hydraulically designed systems get a permanently marked weatherproof metal or rigid plastic sign, secured with corrosion-resistant wire, chain, or other approved means (29.4.1). 29.4.2 places those signs at every system riser, floor control assembly, alarm valve, dry pipe valve, preaction valve, or deluge valve supplying the corresponding hydraulically designed area, unless the AHJ approves another location. 29.4.3 requires the sign to include:

1. Location of the design area or areas
2. Size (area) of or number of sprinklers in the design area
3. Discharge densities over the design area or areas
4. Required flow and residual pressure demand at the base of the riser or fire pump where applicable
5. Occupancy classification or commodity classification and maximum permitted storage height and configuration
6. Hose stream allowance included in addition to the sprinkler demand
7. Name of the installing contractor

NFPA 13 (2022) Exhibit 29.3 shows a typical hydraulic nameplate. Closeout copies the same data into the package so that if the sign is painted over in year five, the file still has the numbers. Combination hydraulic and general information signs are permitted (29.6.3); the file should still contain the 29.4.3 facts. A density remembered from the bid form is not nameplate data.

Spare-head cabinet confirmation

NFPA 13 (2022) 16.2.7 requires a stock of spare sprinklers on the premises so operated or damaged heads can be replaced. Spares correspond to the types and temperature ratings in the property (16.2.7.2). Quantities in 16.2.7.5:

The stock includes all types and ratings installed. Six ordinary-temperature pendents do not cover a building that also has high-temperature uprights and concealed residential heads. 16.2.7.7 requires a list of the sprinklers installed in the property posted in the cabinet. Use annex Figure A.16.2.7.7.1 as the example of identifying data (SIN and related listing facts), not a memory sketch. Wrenches for those sprinkler types belong in the cabinet. Dry sprinklers of mixed lengths have a special allowance in 16.2.7.4 if a means of returning the system to service is furnished — look that paragraph up; do not skip the whole cabinet because one dry pendent is an odd length. Cabinet temperature limits are tied to Table 7.2.4.1; confirm the table rather than guessing a storage temperature.

Closeout confirmation is a photo or checklist: cabinet location, count by type, list posted, wrenches present. The verbal “skip the spare heads” comment from Section 13.1 still does not replace this unless that exception is written and acknowledged.

Owner’s manuals and the NFPA 25 handoff

Turnover is when inspection, testing, and maintenance under NFPA 25 (2020) become the owner’s program. Level I layout technicians do not perform NFPA 25 inspections as part of this exam domain. They assemble the documents the owner (or the owner’s ITM contractor) will need: as-builts, certificates, nameplate data, spare-cabinet list, valve charts, manufacturer’s instructions, warranties, and the correspondence file that explains AHJ exceptions such as the Room 104 deflector note. A short handoff letter can list those items and state that ITM begins after the owner accepts the system. That is awareness, not a license to write an NFPA 25 report.

If any of those pieces is missing, the closeout package is not ready. Fix the file. Then transmit it like any other package: numbered transmittal, purpose for record, copies to owner and AHJ as the specification requires.