Company owner Nick DeLuca (left) is on a project site with a few of his valued team members.

The crew conducts a fire pump test at an apartment building.

It all started when Nick DeLuca responded to a “help wanted” ad in the newspaper. From there, it grew into a career, a business and a passion for keeping people safe.

In 1981, Nick was looking for a new job and found an opening at a sprinkler installation company. He’d worked several years in the fire extinguisher business, but developed an allergy to the fire suppressant powder, which cut that career short. In the space of two years in the sprinkler industry, he was running a crew of 20 employees. It didn’t take long for Nick to realize that, if he could manage the crews and do the work for an employer, he could do the same for himself. In 1983, Armor Automatic Sprinkler Corp. opened its doors.

“I realized I could do this for myself,” Nick says. “I liked the work, I found it very gratifying, and I wanted to run my own company the way I felt it should be run, with an emphasis on honesty and respect. Our job is more than just a job, we’re protecting peoples’ lives and property, and we take that very seriously.”

Nick and his team of 15 employees—operating out of Monroe Township, N.J.—provide a complete range of fire suppression systems for their clients. They are devoted to educating the public about the value and efficacy of those systems in saving both lives and property, as well as consulting with clients about which fire suppression system best fits their needs.

For example, a single-family home or basic office is probably best served with a standard water-based sprinkler system. On the other hand, a building housing hazardous materials or rare and fragile items, such as artwork or old books, is more likely to be a suitable candidate for a dry sprinkler system (one which sprays nitrogen or other inert gas) or a pre-action system (which doesn’t hold water in its pipes like a regular sprinkler system, but rather restrains it at the source with a pre-action valve, minimizing any risk of leaks). For a building like a huge warehouse, the best possible choice might be an ESFR (early suppression, fast response) system, which is a high-output water system designed to snuff fires over a large area.

“We design, install and maintain the full line of fire protection systems,” Nick says. “We do wet/dry systems, in-rack systems, fire pumps, the whole gamut. We inspect and maintain everything we install. We’ve done it all, seen it all and we’re still here.”

A Record of Service

A track record of 34 years serving the Tri-State area doesn’t come easily, and Nick has put in the work to make his business a success over the decades. Ultimately, to him, it comes down to products and service. Those outside the industry may not give much thought to sprinkler heads and delivery systems; but it’s a constantly evolving technology and keeping pace with it requires a commitment from the professionals who install and service the systems.

“We always stay ahead of the curve with new technology and new devices,” Nick says. “We have to keep current with the new sprinkler heads that come out. We stay on top of everything. We have three designers that lay out systems for us, using the latest developments to provide the best, most modern suppression options. To be successful, you have to stay on top of where the industry is going. We take pride that we lay out everything, customized to each client, and specify the right system for the application and the client’s needs.”

Part of what helps Nick keep pace in the changing industry is his active involvement in several professional organizations, including the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET).

Years of experience have taught Nick that the best products in the world don’t mean much without a tradition of service to go with them. He credits much of his success to his devotion to the customer experience at Armor Automatic Sprinkler.

“What sets us apart is loyalty to our customers,” Nick says. “We stay committed. We’re in business, we’re serious. We’ve never had a problem with scheduling and always get done way ahead of schedule.”

Bringing in jobs ahead of schedule is a point of pride with Nick, but it doesn’t always come easily. Every job is different, with its own particular challenges, and major jobs can monopolize a company’s time and energy. Recently, for example, Armor Automatic Sprinkler completed installation on a sprinkler system for a 200-unit apartment building with an attached parking deck, which required miles and miles of PVC pipe. Another contract completed this year was a sprinkler system for a 150,000-square-foot facility for Gray Bull Van Lines. Despite these large commercial contracts, Nick says about 80 percent of his business is still residential, both single-family and multifamily.

“We do commercial and residential units all over the state,” Nick says. “We do apartments, townhouses, condos, a few high-rises and mid-rises as well. We’ve also started doing more mini-mansions here in New Jersey—houses averaging about 20,000 square feet. Those are always challenging because of the drainage, the different elevations, pitches and roof-lines and placing the pipe in the best way to accommodate all that, while still making sure to avoid the chance of freeze-ups in the winter.”

Safe and Effective

An important part of the work Nick and his team do is educating the public about the value of a sprinkler system as well as dispelling some common myths. For example, Nick notes that modern sprinkler heads have a less than 1 in 3 million chance of activating accidentally; that property damage due to fire and fire suppression averages about 85 percent less in homes with a full sprinkler system; that triggering one sprinkler head doesn’t trigger the entire system; and, most importantly, that there have never been multiple deaths in a building with a full, operational sprinkler system (excluding incidences of explosion, flash fire or multiple firefighters working to put out a blaze).

“These systems work, when properly maintained,” Nick says. “They definitely do their job. I maintain an entire page on my website devoted to talking about the benefits of a full sprinkler system. Properly maintained systems work, and they work 100 percent of the time. The combination of automatic sprinklers and early warning systems in all buildings and residences could reduce injuries, loss of life and property damage by at least 50 percent.”

“Lots of times the contractors building a new structure would rather spend the money on something else. They want to spend it on landscaping or aesthetics. The fact is, including fire sprinklers in new residential construction equals about 1 percent of the cost of the building. Putting sprinklers into a multistory commercial building is around $2 per square foot,” he notes.

After more than three decades of running a business, some people might be thinking about winding down their careers, selling their businesses or passing their business off to others. Nick isn’t one of them. He loves his work and he’s proud of what he’s built.

“I can’t think of the word ‘retirement,’ ” Nick says. “It’s not in my vocabulary. This is what I like to do and what I love to do. I’m just proud I’ve been able to endure whatever came along and stay true to my values the whole time. I’ve done good work and treated my customers with respect. Whatever it takes to get the job done, that’s what I do.”