Terin Hopkins, NFSA Manager of Public Fire Protection

After more than a year and a half of work, the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA) has successfully achieved a significant change within the NFPA standards-development system: NFPA 13E, Recommended Practice for Fire Department Operations in Properties Protected by Sprinkler and Standpipe Systems, will be renumbered as NFPA 1713. 

The NFPA Standards Council approved NFSA’s request to renumber the document and reassign responsibility to the Technical Committee on Fundamentals of Fire Control Utilizing Fire Dynamics (FCO-AAA). The change places the document where it more logically belongs, within NFPA’s 1700-series of documents, addressing emergency response, strategy, tactics, and responder safety.  

More Than Just a Number Change 

NFPA 13E has a long history, first being issued in 1966. Its purpose has always been fundamentally different from the installation standards that surround it numerically. NFPA 13 Standard for the Installations of Sprinklers, addresses sprinkler system installation, while NFPA 13E is an operational fire service document. In fact, NFPA staff acknowledged this distinction when evaluating NFSA’s request and agreed that placement within the emergency response document series was appropriate.  

That distinction is important. 

The scope of NFPA 13E provides basic procedures and information for fire department operations in properties protected by interior automatic sprinkler systems, exterior sprinkler systems, and standpipe systems. Its purpose is to assist fire departments in developing training programs and planning effective operations that properly support and utilize these systems.  

In other words, the document isn’t about how to design a sprinkler or standpipe system; it is about how firefighters use those systems once the alarm comes in. 

The recommended practice addresses critical operational subjects including pre-incident planning, supplying fire department connections, sprinkler system operations, manual and automatic standpipe operations, fire pumps, system impairments, system reliability, buildings under construction, and inspection, testing, and maintenance considerations.  

These issues directly affect firefighter operations and safety. Understanding whether a standpipe is manual or automatic, knowing how a fire pump affects available pressure, properly supplying an FDC, understanding pressure-reducing valves, and knowing when or when not to shut down an operating sprinkler system can significantly influence the outcome of an incident. 

Putting the Document in the Right Home 

The renumbering also corrects a longstanding organizational disconnect. 

Responsibility for NFPA 13E was transferred to the Technical Committee on Fire Service Training in 1979. In 2015, however, NFPA established the Technical Committee on Fundamentals of Fire Control Within a Structure Utilizing Fire Dynamics to develop NFPA 1700, Guide for Structural Fire Fighting. NFPA staff concluded during its review that this committee includes subject-matter expertise specifically related to fire service response in protected properties and could therefore be a better fit for NFPA 13E’s operational content.  

Moving the newly numbered NFPA 1713 into this family creates a much clearer connection between fixed fire protection systems and modern fireground strategy and tactics. It also creates an opportunity to adjust committee membership, so the document continues to benefit from the appropriate combination of fire service operational experience and sprinkler and standpipe system expertise. 

A Significant NFSA Accomplishment 

What makes this achievement particularly noteworthy is that the initiative originated outside NFPA. NFSA identified that the document’s number and committee assignment no longer adequately reflected its purpose and formally brought the issue before the Standards Council. The original NFSA request specifically argued that renumbering the document as NFPA 1713 would provide numerical consistency with NFPA’s emergency response and responder safety standards.  

After more than 18 months of effort, that idea has become reality. 

This is more than changing 13E to 1713. It places an important fire service resource where firefighters are more likely to recognize it for what it is: an operational document focused on safely and effectively using sprinkler and standpipe systems during emergency incidents. 

This accomplishment represents NFSA’s continued commitment not only to the installation and reliability of water-based fire protection systems, but also to ensuring that the fire service understands how to use those systems to their greatest advantage. 

Terin Hopkins has 40 years of experience in public safety, fire protection, and life safety policy. He currently serves as the Manager of Public Fire Protection for the National Fire Sprinkler Association (NFSA), where he leads technical support and advocacy efforts nationwide, working closely with fire departments, code and standard, and policymakers to improve fire protection infrastructure and compliance. He represents NFSA on NFPA and UL technical committees, including NFPA 14 Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems.