Ron, I am not crazy, I know exactly what the codes say, and as an Engineer I am ethically bound to do the right thing - upgrade the system to current codes. Let's just say some other sprinkler companies in our area would just do the work without question, and use the statement "oh was I supposed to know that" duh! I was asking the question merely because I may have missed seeing some verbage in the codes? Unfortunately when our region is economically driven by agriculture, commissioners and city councils often overrule what the codes say - right or wrong. I am dealing with one right now in a separate building, a plastics storage building that requires sprinklers due to its size, the building owner doesn't want to spend the money, and in this case the AHJ say's "they have a good history on no fires on their premises", "let's let them build without fire protection" what kinda basis is that? Lets stick a bullet in the cylinder and pull the trigger, there's a 5 in 6 chance nothing is going to happen, boom!
Jim Johnston, P.E. Fire Protection Engineer Inland Fire Protection, Inc 1100 Ahtanum Road Yakima, WA 98903 Phone 509-248-4471 Fax 509-248-1180 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: Ron Greenman [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Friday, February 12, 2010 9:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: System Replacement Jim, The oldest handy 13 I have is from 1985 and it allows dry gridded systems by inference in 5-2.3.1 where it limits gridded systems on dry pipe valves to 500 gallons. That said--Are you crazy? Why even ask the question? You have an occupancy change that, when it initially happened, should have driven a hazard upgrade that should have driven changing the system to a dry tree (pump?) or a wet grid (heat?). But I'll bet we just moved the stabilized long-strand carbon compound product into the fruit warehouse without telling anybody, kinda like the sound insulating foam panels in a famous recent fire. Due diligence my friend, due diligence. There's a reason dry grids were allowed in 1985 and not now and I'd bet it's due to more than one failure. I've been cranky and irritable lately. On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 8:59 AM, Jim Johnston <[email protected]> wrote: > Good Friday Morning All: > > > > Yesterday I visited a facility that has an existing gridded dry system > installed in 1981 - I assume that was legit back in those days? The system > is protecting fruit stored in bins in a controlled atmosphere building. The > system is rotting out and needs to be replaced, I can't find a specific > clause in the codes that say's replace it as it currently is - the problem > being a dry grid. To further complicate the problem the original > classification was a Class II (fruit in wood bins), today those bins are > HDPE - Group A Plastic. With this information would you agree that you > can't replace the system as originally installed? > > > > Jim Johnston, P.E. > > Fire Protection Engineer > > Inland Fire Protection, Inc > > 1100 Ahtanum Road > > Yakima, WA 98903 > > Phone 509-248-4471 > > Fax 509-248-1180 > > [email protected] > > > > _______________________________________________ > 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) > -- Ron Greenman Instructor Fire Protection Engineering Bates Technical College Tacoma, WA Member: SFPE, ASCET, NFPA, AFSA, NFSA AFAA, NIBS, WSAFM, WFC _______________________________________________ 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)
