There was no fire, but the sprinkler would reduce water… Only 20’suits’ against SH

Input 2020.12.24 17:00

There is an increasing number of legal disputes over the leak of the copper pipe sprinkler (a device that sprinkles water in the event of a fire).

According to the Seoul Housing and Urban Corporation (SH Corporation) on the 24th, leaks occurred in 42 complexes (53%) out of a total of 80 complexes that SH Corporation constructed sprinkler piping with copper pipes. Twenty complexes (25%) led to lawsuits. Raemian Fore, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Godeok-Lien Park, Gangdong-gu, Magok M Valley, Gangseo-gu, Seocho Foresta, Seocho-gu, and Songpa Parkdale, Songpa-gu are in litigation with SH Corporation. As the pipes were corroded and holes were created, the wallpaper around the sprinkler became wet and in extreme cases, water dripping to the floor occurred.

According to the fire safety standards for sprinkler facilities, sprinkler piping in apartment houses should be constructed with copper or steel pipes, stainless steel pipes, and cast iron pipes made of copper. The construction of the copper tube itself is not a problem. Copper tubes are well known for their excellent corrosion resistance.

First of all, the’wrong meeting’ between the wet sprinkler and Dongguan is cited. Copper pipe piping and wet sprinkler have been installed together for a while since 2010. When fire extinguishing water stagnates in the pipe for a long time, it is said that corrosion is likely to occur due to chemical reactions with the air inside the copper pipe. Researchers also discovered this while trying to determine the cause.

Suh Sang-hee, a lead researcher at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), said in a related study, “When the sprinkler system is operated, the high-pressure fire extinguishing water is filled in the copper pipe. The resulting air causes the phenomenon of oxygen-concentrated rechargeable batteries in the copper pipe, accelerating the local corrosion called pitting.”

In the past, steel pipes were mainly used as sprinkler piping. Steel pipe is cheaper than copper pipe. Since the 2000s, copper pipes have been widely used for plumbing in apartments. In addition, in the past, there were many dry sprinklers, a structure that extinguishes the fire after drawing water to individual household sprinkler headers in case of fire. From around 2010, a wet sprinkler was introduced that reacts immediately after a fire, because water is always full up to the pipe connected to the head. Copper pipe piping and wet sprinkler were installed together at SH at this time.

Another reason is that the copper pipe sprinkler has a thin pipe thickness. In the case of private construction companies, CPVC pipes, which are more expensive than copper pipes, are mainly used, and even if copper pipes are used, the thick’L type’ is mainly used. On the other hand, the copper tube sprinkler designed mainly by SH Corporation is the’M type’ and has the thinnest thickness. Some argue that there was a problem in the management or construction process.

On the other hand, SH Corporation recently formed a’Defect Litigation Technical Support Group’ within the construction under the judgment that defect litigation continues to increase and there is a growing possibility that defect litigation will continue to be filed in the future. An SH official said, “Currently, we are not constructing with a copper tube sprinkler.”