My background is also from the insurance side, so I have been using the FM Data Sheet for this type of storage for more than 20 years. (Before that, I used the IRI Interpretive Guide.) However, now that I am in consulting, I have to apply the National Building Code of Canada, which defers to NFPA 13 for sprinkler design. The requirements of NFPA are legally binding whereas FM 8-18 can only be considered as best engineering advice as they have no legal standing. Furthermore, some of the requirements of this particular standard are questionable (for storage to 10 ft we need 0.30 and for 11 ft storage we need double the density, or double the operating pressure for large drop sprinklers - this appears very severe for the slight increase in combustible loading).
For the specific project that I am working on, using FM will probably mean the need for a booster pump. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tom Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 6:41 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Storage of Hanging Garments Dave, Reach out to the insurance carrier for the owner they may have adopted the FM Data Sheet. I work for an insurance carrier, not FM, and we have used the FM Data Sheet for several years. I know other carriers are doing the same in particular since the FM Data Sheets are now on line for free. As others have said I do not think NFPA 13 covers this type of storage. Tom --- On Wed, 1/6/10, David Bitton <[email protected]> wrote: From: David Bitton <[email protected]> Subject: Storage of Hanging Garments To: [email protected] Date: Wednesday, January 6, 2010, 1:45 PM Hello, I am developing the protection criteria for a warehouse for hanging garments on typical pipe racks and wondering about the huge discrepancy between the requirements of FM Data Sheet 8-18 and NFPA 13 (I found nothing in NFPA 13 that prevents me from treating this as a Class IV rack storage with 4 ft. aisles). As an example, for 12 ft. storage, one option in the FM Data Sheet is a density of 0.60 gpm/sq. ft. over 3,500 sq. ft. whereas for a Class IV Commodity, NFPA 13 calls for 0.31 gpm/sq. ft. over 3,000 sq. ft. using high temperature heads. Does anyone have any insights to explain the huge discrepancy between these requirements? David Bitton, Eng. Quest Loss Control Services Inc. Les services de prévention des sinistres Quest inc. 5100, rue de la Savane, Suite 200 Montréal, QC H4P 1T8 Tel.: (514) 341-4545 Fax: (514) 341-8228 www.questlosscontrol.com _______________________________________________ Sprinkler Forum 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)
