Thanks for the info! RH
--- On Thu, 12/31/09, David Blackwell <[email protected]> wrote: From: David Blackwell <[email protected]> Subject: RE: 13R: Fuel Fired Equipment To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, December 31, 2009, 7:33 PM 2007 NFPA 13R 6.9.6 does state that "Sprinklers shall not be required in attics..." but note that if you read it all the way through all the example areas to the end example it also adds the caveat at the end "...and other concealed spaces that are not used or intended for living purposes or storage and do not contain fuel-fired equipment." Roland answered this question for AFSA found on the Internet at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/msg00079.ht ml in the following technical update: ---------------------------------- TECHNICAL UPDATE FEBRUARY 4, 2009 ---------------------------------- "Does the presence of the fuel fired equipment (gas fired water heaters) in an otherwise unused attic as referenced in NFPA 13R, Section 6.9.6 require the attic to be designed and calculated for other than light hazard occupancy?" We have reviewed NFPA 13R, 2007 Edition that you indicated as the applicable standard. Our informal interpretation is that the attic space will have to be protected to the spacing and hydraulic design criteria of NFPA 13 for Light Hazard Occupancies. NFPA 13R Section 6.9.6 will require the protection of attics that contain fuel-fired equipment. The design criteria for the attic are set by 6.8.2.1 that directs you to NFPA 13 and it states, "For areas outside the dwelling unit, the design discharge and design area criteria shall comply with NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, unless permitted by 6.8.2.2 and 6.8.2.3." This clarifies that the requirement for the protection of the attic will have to be to NFPA 13 requirements. The area will have to be designed to light hazard occupancy if it does not meet any of the allowances of NFPA 13R, Section 6.8.2.2 and will have to be a minimum of 1500 sq. ft with a density of ..10 gpm/sq. ft. Regular mechanical rooms in NFPA 13 occupancy with gas-fired equipment are typically ordinary hazard occupancy. Two primary reasons are that the equipment is typically large and we expect the owner to use the space for storage and collected combustibles. Mechanical rooms without gas-fired equipment typically get kicked into an ordinary hazard classification for the later reason. In this case of water heaters in an attic, not only are the units small, it does not add to the fuel load but it is an ignition source. Thus, the definition for light hazard "where quantity and/or combustibility of contents is low" does apply. ----------------- Technical Update is prepared by the Technical Services Dept. of the AFSA: Vice President of Engineering and Technical Services Roland Huggins, a PE registered in fire protection engineering; Phill Brown, a NICET IV certified automatic sprinkler technician and NFPA Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) and Tom Wellen, a degreed fire protection engineering technologist. This is provided with the understanding that the AFSA assumes no liability for this opinion or actions taken on it and they are not to be considered the official position of the NFPA or its technical committees. Copyright (c) 2009, American Fire Sprinkler Association. All Rights Reserved -------------------------- David W. S. Blackwell, II, PE, CFI-I, CFPE Engineering ---------------------------------------------------------------- Office of State Fire Marshal 141 Monticello Trail Columbia, SC 29203 Phone: 803.896.9833 Fax: 803.896.9806 Email: [email protected] OSFM Website: http://www.llr.state.sc.us/firemarshal.asp ---------------------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ralphy Henderson Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 1:28 PM To: [email protected] Subject: 13R: Fuel Fired Equipment Hello all, NFPA #13R does not require the sprinkling of concealed combustible spaces except for when a few conditions exist one of them being when fuel fired equipment is located there. I have a project with wood open web trusses with a drop ceiling. Gas furnaces are located above the grid clg. Does this mean I have to sprinkle the entire attic or can I just put some localized coverage near the units? I didn't see anything in 'R' or the commentary that addresses this specifically. Thanks, RH _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum For Technical Assistance, send an email to: [email protected] To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[email protected] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
