Fire Hose Cabinet

In strict fire code language the two terms refer to different things. A fire hose cabinet is the internal enclosure that houses a standpipe hose station — the valve, hose and nozzle used by occupants or firefighters inside the building. A fire hydrant is a water outlet, usually outdoors at street level, that supplies water to fire apparatus and is not typically housed in a cabinet. In common usage — especially in Asian and Middle Eastern markets — the two terms are used interchangeably because the Chinese GB 16280 standard calls the internal cabinet 消火栓箱 which translates directly as "fire hydrant cabinet." When a specification calls for a "fire hydrant cabinet" for an indoor corridor installation, it almost always means the internal hose cabinet covered on this page, not an outdoor street hydrant.

A standard Class II occupant-use fire hose cabinet contains an angle valve connected to the building standpipe riser, a 1.5-inch fabric or lined hose (25 or 30 m length) on a rack or reel, a discharge nozzle, and often a portable fire extinguisher (5, 10 or 20 lb ABC or CO₂) mounted to one side. Signage and operating instructions are printed on the door. A Class I firefighter-use cabinet contains only the 2.5-inch valve and signage because the fire department brings their own hose. A Class III combined station contains all of the above. For a detailed inventory with photos and component part numbers, see our complete contents guide.

The CA-FIRE SG24 range is offered in four standard widths — 800 mm, 1600 mm, 1800 mm and 2000 mm — all with 700 mm height and 240 mm depth. The 800 mm size is suitable for Class II occupant-use stations in smaller buildings; 1600 and 1800 mm are the most common for Class I and combined Class III stations in commercial towers; 2000 mm is used for larger combined stations and industrial sites that need additional equipment space inside the cabinet. The stainless steel variant adds a 2000 mm size; the recessed variant drops the 800 mm size because small recessed cabinets do not justify the framing cost. For a full dimensions breakdown including rough opening sizes for recessed installations, see our fire hose cabinet dimensions guide.

Use the decision tree higher up this page. The shortest version: if your environment is corrosive (marine, food, pharma, chemical) you need stainless steel; if your corridor is subject to ADA accessible-route rules you need recessed flush-mount; for everything else, the standard tempered glass variant is the default choice at the lowest unit cost. Projects often mix variants across a single site — for example, a hotel might use tempered glass on guest floors and recessed on the ADA-compliant ground-floor public areas. Mixing variants is fully supported and all SG24 cabinets share the same internal hose station layout regardless of external configuration.

By default the cabinet ships empty so that buyers can specify hose station equipment from locally-certified suppliers — UL-listed in the United States, EN-marked in Europe, GB-certified in China and so on. Hose station component certification is market-specific and it is usually easier for the buyer to source these locally than for us to ship them with the cabinet. That said, we can supply a fully-fitted cabinet including GB 16280 certified angle valve, hose, nozzle and rack at quotation time — this is common on projects destined for the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia where GB certification is accepted. Specify your equipment requirements early so we can confirm shipping and compliance.

Our cabinets are designed to the principles of NFPA 14 (Standard for the Installation of Standpipe and Hose Systems) and GB 16280 (the Chinese national standard for indoor fire hose boxes). Manufacturing is ISO 9001 certified. The cabinet body itself is not subject to third-party performance certification in most jurisdictions — the certifications that matter for fire hose stations apply to the equipment inside (valve, hose, nozzle), not to the enclosure. That said, if your project requires UL-listed cabinet hardware or CE-marked components, we can supply certified hardware at quotation time. Material certificates, ISO quality certificates and factory test reports are included in the submittal package for every order. For a deeper discussion of which standards apply where, see our NFPA requirements guide.

Quote response is within one business day for any of the SG24 hose cabinet variants. The quote package includes unit pricing, lead time, cabinet specification datasheet, CAD blocks and Revit families from our CAD & BIM download centre, and a full submittal document for the project architect or fire protection engineer. Typical production lead time is 15–25 days for standard configurations and 30–40 days for stainless steel and custom sizes. Shipping from our Fujian factory to most international destinations is 20–40 days by sea freight — we ship to 60+ countries and have worked with local distributors and direct-end-user buyers on every continent. Email sales with your project details to start the quotation process.

Yes. DWG CAD blocks in plan and elevation view, and Revit family (RFA) files for all four SG24 sizes and all three variants, are available for free download from our CAD & BIM download centre — no registration required. The files include correct dimensions, rough opening sizes for recessed installations, and parameterised family types so that architects and fire protection engineers can drop them directly into design drawings. If you need a specific custom size or a pre-release variant, contact sales directly and we can supply drawings on request.