Fire sprinklers · Fire protection
Check your sprinkler layout against the architectural drawings and the standard you design to, before it goes to site. Groundbook finds heads that clash with cabinet doors, bulkheads, beams, and ceiling changes, and links each finding to both sheets.
Inside Groundbook
Add the sprinkler layouts, risers, and details, plus the architectural plans, reflected ceiling plans, kitchen and joinery elevations, sections, and structure they have to fit. Drag and drop the PDFs, email them in, or import them from Autodesk Construction Cloud, Bluebeam Studio, SharePoint, and other platforms.
Upload the standard you design to, such as AS 2118.1 or NFPA 13, from a copy you are licensed to use, where your license allows it. Save it once and reuse it on every project. Then write what matters in plain English, for example “check every sprinkler head against the overhead cabinet doors on the kitchen elevations.”
Results are typically ready in 20 minutes to 24 hours, depending on the set. Each finding shows both sources highlighted. Filter by discipline, assign findings to your team, comment, and export a PDF report or marked-up drawings.
What a sprinkler drawing review compares
Each check runs from the sprinkler drawings to the drawings and standard they have to agree with. This is what Groundbook checks, and what your reviewer confirms.
| What is compared | Against | What the reviewer confirms |
|---|---|---|
| Heads against joinery and cabinets | Kitchen, laundry, and wardrobe elevations; joinery details; cabinet door swings and rangehoods. | No head sits where an overhead cabinet door, rangehood, or shelf would hit it or block its spray. |
| Heads against ceilings and bulkheads | Reflected ceiling plans, bulkhead and soffit details, ceiling heights. | Heads follow the current ceiling layout, including bulkheads and drops added after the sprinkler layout was drawn. |
| Heads against structure and services | Beams, band beams, and transfer slabs; ductwork, light fittings, and other services in the ceiling void. | The obstruction and clearance rules in the standard you use are checked against the real ceiling condition. The fire engineer decides compliance. |
| Coverage and spacing | The standard you uploaded, room layouts, and the hazard class noted on the drawings. | Rooms, head spacing, and distances to walls that appear to break the rules in that standard, flagged for the designer to confirm. |
| Pipes through fire-rated construction | Fire-rated walls and floors, service shafts, penetration and firestopping details. | Every pipe that crosses a rated wall or floor has a penetration detail that matches it. |
| Changes since the layout was drawn | The current architectural issue against the issue the sprinkler layout was drawn from. | Walls, doors, ceilings, and joinery that moved since the layout was drawn. Which issue governs stays the reviewer’s decision. |
A finding, with its sources
This hotel finding connected a door on the plan with its schedule row and the separation requirement that governed it. A sprinkler finding works the same way: the head on the sprinkler layout and the cabinet on the joinery elevation, both highlighted. Open the image to inspect the evidence view.
From published project reviews
These anonymized findings come from published Groundbook reviews of construction drawing sets: fire-protection scope that was never fully listed, an opening shown by only one discipline, and floor levels that disagree between trades. They are potential issues for professional verification, not completed corrections.
Waterfront hotel
Notes and approval conditions required sprinkler, alarm, and waterfront standpipe systems, but the deferred-submittal list identified only a different system.
See sources and verification stepsMixed-use residential
A sump shown in the mechanical/plumbing design was not represented in the corresponding structural slab and footing area.
See sources and verification stepsMixed-use residential
Structural and mechanical plans showed different elevations for the same floor area, creating a cross-discipline coordination question.
See sources and verification stepsApartment towers and large sets
There is no page limit. A 48-level residential tower with more than 500 sheets is one project, and every sheet gets the same checks.
Design rarely lands all at once. Upload each batch of floors when it is designed and review it then. Files you have already uploaded, such as the architectural set or a saved standard, are reused, and the exact price of each batch shows before you pay.
Fire protection contractors checking sprinkler scope against the tender documents can also start from the subcontractor review page.
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Questions, answered
Yes. Upload the sprinkler drawings with the architectural plans, reflected ceiling plans, joinery elevations, and structure. Groundbook reads them together and flags heads that clash with cabinets, bulkheads, beams, and ceiling changes, with both sheets linked. Each finding is a potential issue for your team to verify.
Yes, when the kitchen and joinery elevations are in the set. Groundbook compares each head location with the cabinets, doors, and rangehoods drawn below it. You can also ask for it directly in your review instructions.
It checks against the standard you upload. Standards Australia and NFPA own those standards, so upload a copy you are licensed to use, where your license allows it, and save it for later projects. We reference the section. We never copy or distribute standard text.
Yes. Groundbook reads the National Construction Code, which the Australian Building Codes Board publishes online, and checks against the Australian Standards you upload, such as AS 2118.1 or AS 2118.6. The same works for NZS 4541 in New Zealand, BS EN 12845 in the UK, and NFPA 13 in the US.
Any size. A 48-level residential tower with more than 500 sheets is one project. Results are typically ready in 20 minutes to 24 hours, depending on the size of the set.
Yes. Upload each batch of floors when it is ready. Files you have already uploaded, such as the architectural set or a saved standard, are reused, and the exact price of each batch shows before you pay.
No. Groundbook finds possible clashes and gaps and shows the evidence. The fire engineer, the building certifier, and the authority having jurisdiction keep every design and compliance decision.
Your first project is free if you sign up with a work email. After that there is no subscription: $1 per drawing page and $0.25 per reference page, from $100 per project, with the exact price shown before you pay. If you are not happy with a paid review, we will refund it.
Keep exploring
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Read the checklistHazard classification, coverage, pipe routing, and standpipe coordination, with an editable CSV.
Read the guideDrawings, specifications, checklists, and codes reviewed for multifamily projects.
See multifamily reviewsUpload it with the architectural set and the standard you design to.