I was involved in a similar situation when I was a PM/estimator for a
sprinkler contractor. 250K square foot of Navy facility that had been
steadily added on to over the years, with an unbelievable amount of cable
above the ceilings.
There was so much cable that I don't think they even bothered to
troubleshoot (if they even could); they'd just run new cable. There was one
location that there were cable trays stacked on top of each other.
On this project, the bid documents clearly identified a requirement to
sprinkler above the ceiling. Given the cabling, I think this was an
appropriate decision.
I would be careful about the use of CPVC on DOD work. Typically, it's a
very hard sell (as are most things that have been introduced in the last 50
years with the Navy ... Oops did I say that LOL). I believe that the latest
UFC 3-600-01 (or is it 3-600-10N) only allows it for 13R systems.
In any event, good luck with what is sure to be a challenging project.
Christopher Born, P.E.
Director, Fire Protection Engineering
Clark Nexsen
Norfolk, VA
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Kowkabany" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2007 12:07 PM
Subject: Non Plenum-Rated Cable in Non-Combustible Ceiling
I have an odd situation on a military job I am doing right now where we are
adding sprinkler protection to 100,000 sqft of office space in a 3-story
building that has been built in three phases over the past 25 years of
non-combustible construction. We are planning on using CPVC piping for
this
application to hopefully make the retrofit less labor intensive. That's
all
pretty straightforward but the problem arises from the fact that the base
communication department has been steadily adding lots of non-plenum
rated
cable on top of the drop ceiling into a non-combustible return plenum
ceiling space above the first and second floors. The space above the
ceiling varies in depth from 4-5 feet with 16" deep fire proofed steel
joists spaced 3'-9" OC in some areas and 7'-6" OC in other parts. As a
result, the military has recognized the life safety risk of this and
allows
two options per the latest UFC-3-600-1, which are to either replace all of
the illegal cable over 5 years (impossible for us) or sprinkler above the
ceiling. So we are adding sprinklers above the ceiling. I'm a little
confused on a couple of things, and hope to get some guidance from anyone
who has run into similar situations:
1) Can you typically still assume the ceiling space is
non-combustible
and use CPVC piping if there is some non-plenum rated cabling in there?
2) What is the best approach for sprinklering a ceiling space this
deep
- standard K5.6 brass uprights spaced at a normal light hazard 225
sqft/head?
Thank you very much in advance for any thoughts on this,
Steve Kowkabany, P.E.
Fire Protection Engineer
Neptune Fire Protection Engineering LLC
216 Seagate Avenue Unit B
Neptune Beach, FL 32266
904-652-4200 Phone
904-212-0868 Fax
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