Bill, If we were discussing a health care or detention and correctional occupancy, I would say the zoning should definitely match the barrier arrangement. The intent being that you need to know which zone is in alarm to communicate alarm sequences to occupants under a defend in place strategy.
If your example is a general evacuation, what difference would it make where the fire was occurring? All areas would receive a temporal 3 general evac alarm. Egress through a horizontal exit does not necessarily mean the occupants should remain in the building. You mentioned construction type, which leads me to presume you may have a fire wall creating a separate building(s). If that is the case, zones per building make sense as the occupants in the adjacent building may not evacuate. I don't think there is specific code language in either the IBC or LSC on this issue. It's something that needs to be integrated into the overall fire evacuation strategy, marrying together life safety, fire alarm, and sprinkler objectives. Ray Schmid, P.E. President Schmid & Associates, PC Fire Protection Engineers 443-465-4206 [EMAIL PROTECTED] This communication is confidential. This information may be privileged and is intended for the exclusive use of the above named addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient(s), you are expressly prohibited from copying, distributing, disseminating, or in any other way using any of this information contained herein. If you have received this communication in error, please contact the sender by telephone at (443) 465-4206 or respond via e-mail and then permanently delete the original email and any copies. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 7:51 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Sprinkler Zones for Horizontal Exit Building A single use structure has been divided into 3 buildings because of occupancy and construction type issues related to the IBC. Horizontal exits are provided and this means the building cannot be evacuated simultaneously using the stair widths available. Question - Are separate sprinkler zones required for each building? I believe the answer is yes but I can't find a code reference that spells this out in black and white. It seems if the sprinkler zones cross over the building boundary the fire alarm system will not be able to operate the correct evacuation signals. Bill Brooks William N. Brooks, P.E. Brooks Fire Protection Engineering Inc. 372 Wilett Drive Severna Park, MD 21146 410-544-3620 Phone 410-544-3032 FAX 412-400-6528 Cell _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
