Joint Commission Modifies Their Spare Sprinkler Head Requirements…Again

Dear readers,

Last December, I shared a change that The Joint Commission made regarding how many spare sprinkler heads you need to keep in stock at your facility. Back then, they announced that they wanted their accredited organizations to have six (6) spare sprinkler heads of every type, orientation, and temperature rating that you have in your facility. This was a departure from NFPA’s (and CMS’) requirement of having six (6) spare heads if you have up to 300 total heads in the facility, 12 spare heads if you have up to 1,000 total heads, and 24 spare heads if you have over 1,000 total heads in the facility.

Well, just last week (Friday), I learned that Joint Commission has rescinded that change and in a private email communication with a client, a Joint Commission representative said the language in the revised Element of Performance was confusing based on the feedback from the field, so they went back to their original requirement of just six (6) spare heads if you have up to 300 total heads in your facility, etc. The accreditor also issued a Prepublication Requirements bulletin on June 18, 2021 announcing this change to LS.02.01.35, EP 7.

If you were one of the organizations that provided feedback to the accreditor back in December regarding the unnecessary expense in making such a move, good for you. Sometimes, the act of protest works!