The main purpose of a hydraulic calculation for a sprinkler system is to:

The main purpose of performing hydraulic calculations for a sprinkler system is primarily to ensure proper system sizing. Hydraulic calculations are critical for determining the water supply requirements that ensure the sprinkler system will operate effectively during a fire. They assess the water pressure, flow rate, and distribution to verify that each sprinkler head will deliver the required amount of water to suppress a fire effectively.

While calculating expected fire load and determining installation costs can be related to the overall design and planning of a sprinkler system, hydraulic calculations specifically focus on the operational capabilities of the system under fire conditions. Therefore, while it may seem at first glance that all the options are interconnected, the correct focus of hydraulic calculations is on sizing to meet the performance needs of the sprinkler system, which leads to effective fire suppression when needed.