Latest News & Updates

As the colder months approach, building owners and facilities managers across the UK must turn their attention to an often-overlooked aspect of building safety: preparing their fire sprinkler systems for winter.

Whether it be children running excitedly from house to house, setting up a variety of festive decorations, or playing pin the nose on the witch, Halloween is an incredibly popular time of year for kids and adults alike.

Current policy recognises the benefits of sprinklers as part of safe building design and evacuation procedures. The implementation of fire sprinklers is only set to increase over coming years, and their use as a protective measure is already mandatory for:

• Newly-built residential towers exceeding 30m in height
• Open spaces in retail or self-storage facilities larger than 2000 square meters
• Single-story industrial spaces (e.g.

We have a wide range of PMN type pressure switches available covering various thread sizes, diaphragm and piston seal materials.

The PMN switches can be adjusted to perform between 0.1 – 300 bar.

Different buildings in the UK have varying fire safety regulations. While high-quality fire sprinkler systems are absolutely vital for domestic and commercial buildings across the UK, they aren’t explicitly legal requirements.

The materials used in fire protection systems play a crucial role in ensuring these life-saving systems operate effectively when needed.

For such pivotal and important fire safety systems to remain fully operational, all minor, intricate components – like monitors, flow switches and pressure control valves – need to be in good working order, made from suitable, durable and resilient materials that withstand all types of potential degradation.

It’s been a busy few months for us here at Applications Engineering. Not only have we seen our very own sprinkler systems in full effect, saving hundreds of lives in Southampton, but we have been busy behind the scenes as well, with our new building well on the way to being constructed.

We have safely navigated our way through the long hot summer and as we enter September a new season is upon us. Evenings will be getting longer, the temperatures will drop and we will be seeking extra warmth from our clothes and our homes.

Pressure transducers are known by a number of different names including pressure transmitter and pressure switches – and it may be the case that you aren’t really aware of any of them.

Applications Engineering are thrilled to announce that we are now an official distributor for all Sika flow sensors and flow switches after a very healthy relationship based on the supply of flow switches for our fire sprinkler valve sets.

TL;DR: A vacuum switch monitors pressure below atmospheric pressure and changes an electrical contact at a defined setpoint. That signal can confirm that sufficient vacuum is available, trigger an alarm or control connected equipment.

Fire sprinkler systems play a critical role throughout winter as we rely more on heating systems than at any other time of the year. However, this can put them under extra stress and pressure as the risk of freezing increases and plummeting temperatures are a reason for concern.