Thank you to all who replied. This is good information. I still have some
questions of those who responded. I am going to involved in a conference
call this afternoon with the Building official and Plumbing Inspector for
this Municipality in Vermont to discuss this subject and try to work out
implementation of this requirement and try to understand why now the attempt
is being made to enforce it.
I still do not fully understand the concern about making the connection
inside the building. I don't know the installation history in other parts of
the country but here in Northern New England including Upstate New York up
until about twenty years ago the Sprinkler Contractor used install the Water
Main from the street into the property, due to the fact that they had the
tools to work with large bore water main. To my knowledge at this time there
is only one sprinkler contractor in Vermont that still offers to do this
kind of installation work.
Most Vermont Sprinkler Contractors maintain at least 2-3 Back Flow Preventor
certified fitters, so they can perform the annual forward flow test, repair
and testing of the BFPs.
In those areas of the country where the Master Plumber makes the BFP
connection to the water main, who accepts the Liability for that work? Who
owns the BFP? Who buys the UL listed or FM approved device?
Does the local Plumbing Inspector watch as this connection is made?
Thanks again for the help on this one.
Regards,
G. Tim Stone
Chairman: Northern New England Chapter of AFSA
G. Tim Stone Consulting, LLC
NICET Level III Engineering Technician
Fire Protection Sprinkler Design
and Consulting Services
117 Old Stage Rd. - Essex Jct., VT. 05452
TEL: (802) 434-2968 Fax: (802) 434-4343
tston...@comcast.net
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sprinklerforum-boun...@firesprinkler.org [mailto:sprinklerforum-
> boun...@firesprinkler.org] On Behalf Of craig.pr...@ch2m.com
> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 3:08 PM
> To: sprinklerforum@firesprinkler.org
> Subject: RE: Connecting to Public Water Supply
>
> This typically becomes more of a licensing issue than a code driven
> issue. Check the state or local licensing laws on BFP's or contact the
> local water purveyor. There are places where you must be certified to
> test but installation of such is not restricted to plumbers only.
>
>
>
>
> Craig L. Prahl, CET
> Fire Protection Specialist
> Mechanical Department
> CH2MHILL
> Lockwood Greene
> 1500 International Drive
> PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491
> Direct - 864.599.4102
> Fax - 864.599.8439
> craig.pr...@ch2m.com
> http://www.ch2m.com
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: sprinklerforum-boun...@firesprinkler.org [mailto:sprinklerforum-
> boun...@firesprinkler.org] On Behalf Of G. Tim Stone
> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2010 3:03 PM
> To: sprinklerforum@firesprinkler.org
> Subject: Connecting to Public Water Supply
>
> Yesterday I received a call from a local Sprinkler Contractor who had
> an unusual request of him by a local Plumbing Inspector from a Vermont
> Municipality. The Sprinkler Contractor had requested a construction
> permit to install a Back Flow Preventor (BFP) on an existing Sprinkler
> System riser. The local plumbing inspector stated that the connection
> between the BFP and the municipal water main (existing service inside
> the building) was to be performed by a Master Plumber. When I
> questioned the Plumbing Inspector about this he stated it was in the
> plumbing code. I have spent a couple of hours reviewing City, State
> plumbing codes and the IPC and not had any luck finding this
> requirement.
>
>
>
> I am looking for guidance or comments on this as I have never heard of
> this before in 22 years of design or construction. In the "Vermont Fire
> and Building Code", if a Back Flow Preventor has to be installed on an
> existing sprinkler system, and there are a lot of old pipe schedules
> system without BFP, then the sprinkler system needs to be evaluated by
> a NICET certified designer to make sure the system will operate
> properly after the installation.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> G. Tim Stone
>
> Chairman: Northern New England Chapter of AFSA
>
>
>
> G. Tim Stone Consulting, LLC
>
> NICET Level III Engineering Technician
>
> Fire Protection Sprinkler Design
>
> and Consulting Services
>
>
>
> 117 Old Stage Rd. - Essex Jct., VT. 05452
>
> TEL: (802) 434-2968 Fax: (802) 434-4343
>
> tston...@comcast.net
>
>
>
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