Suppression pretest
A semiannual coordination visit with your Texas Department of Insurance–licensed extinguisher company. Nozzle map check, K-class kit confirmation, electric-shutoff interlock cross-check. We do the ventilation side; the licensed extinguisher company does the suppression side.
What this protocol is for
Wet-chemical fire-suppression systems in Houston commercial kitchens are installed, serviced, and tested by a TDI-licensed extinguisher company. Updraft is not such a company; we cannot legally touch your nozzles, your fire-system piping, or your UL-300 wet-chemical agent tank. What we can do — and what nobody else seems to want to do — is sit between you and the extinguisher company on the day of their visit and make sure that the ventilation side of the system is talking correctly to the suppression side.
What we cross-check
Three things. Nozzle coverage map. Every cooking appliance under the hood needs nozzle coverage per the suppression system's UL listing. We cross-check the listed coverage diagram against what is actually under the hood that day. If the line cook moved the four-burner and put a fryer in its place, the nozzle map is now wrong. We catch this. K-class kit confirmation. Every kitchen in Texas is required to carry a Class K portable fire extinguisher within thirty feet of the cookline. We confirm it is there, that the gauge reads green, and that the date is within the annual service interval. Electric and gas shutoff interlock. When the suppression system trips, the gas valve closes and the electrical disconnect opens. We test the interlock with a manual trip simulation while the licensed extinguisher company has the system in service mode.
Where we add value
Most kitchens have an extinguisher company that does excellent work on the suppression side and a hood-cleaning company that does excellent work on the ventilation side, and the two crews never see each other. The interlock between the two sides — gas shutoff, electric disconnect, hood-fan-on-trip behavior — is no one's clear responsibility, and it is also the part of the system that fails most quietly. By coordinating on the same day and running the cross-check, we close the seam between the two crews.
What we do not do
We do not test or service the suppression system itself. We do not certify the wet-chemical agent. We do not refill the K-class extinguisher. We do not write the suppression-system service report; that report is the licensed extinguisher company's. We are at the visit as the ventilation-side advisor and as the documentation cross-reference.
What it costs
$140 per visit, semiannual cycle, two visits a year. The visit is two hours of crew time on site and ninety minutes of paperwork after. We coordinate scheduling with whichever extinguisher company you already use; we do not have a preferred vendor.
Recommended extinguisher companies in Houston
We do not have a referral relationship with any extinguisher company in the Houston market and we will not earn a commission on any recommendation. That said, the names we hear most often from operators we trust are Koorsen Fire & Security for multi-location operators, several smaller TDI-licensed shops listed on the TDI license search for single-location independents. The choice is yours; we will work with whoever you choose.