Greg, Jim touched on many of the issues here that go WAAAAAAY beyond the responsibility of a sprinkler contractor. I'm not trying to diminish anyone's credibility or ability but there are a lot of issues which need to be addressed by several parties to be sure this building is code compliant before you even turn the first pipe wrench.
I'm not sure either where the 12,000 sq. ft is coming from other than for an S-1 storage occupancy you have to have sprinklers if you exceed that sq. ft. per the IBC. Maybe he have meant Cubic Ft since with 4 control areas that's the most he could get and not be forced into the H-3 occupancy. And the "high hazard" sprinkler system? What's that? If you apply NFPA 55, it's only looking for OH2 at 3,000 sf as base line. Either way the tenant isn't getting 20,000 cf in the warehouse without it going to an H-3 which then drives a whole bunch of other requirements for other disciplines that can get quite pricey. Storage occupancies are always a lot of fun, but it becomes more difficult when the areas have been assigned the wrong occupancy or the architect has not considered the actual materials used and stored within. Then again, the owner may have "forgotten" to tell the architect what was going in there during the design phase. No matter what, this all needs to be thrown back to the architect to be sure the area's occupancies are properly defined based on code definitions and use. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 CH2MHILL Extension 74102 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Davidson Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 3:06 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: 02 storage What is the occupancy that is moving into the building? Per the IBC Table 307.1(1) you are permitted to have 3,000 cubic ft of oxidizing gas in a facility any amount greater than this amount will change the use group to an H-3 Hazardous Use Group. NFPA 55 does not reference any of the building code required fire separation ratings between different use groups. Other issues will be how will the cylinders be filled? Will there be cryogenic oxygen stored? Will there be trans-filling of containers? What type of floor surface is in the area. If a hydrocarbon based product oxygen-enriched atmosphere can cause these products to ignite faster, and burn faster and hotter than usual. NFPA 55 only requires a one hour separation while the IBC requires up to a 2 hour fire separation between occupancies. Someone needs to sit down with the owner and explain that this issue is not in the realm of the sprinkler contractor's expertise unless the contractor would like to add to their uninsured liability potential. This would require an engineering analysis by a FPE who has experience in industrial gas storage facilities and Hazardous Use Group Occupancies of the IBC. If you think Mechanical PE's practicing in the discipline of fire protection are funny, wait until you see them perform in the industrial gas arena. Have a fire safe day! Regards Jim DAVIDSON ASSOCIATES Fire Protection Engineering P. O. Box 4010 Code Consultants Greenville, DE 19807-0010 Medical Gas Systems Engineering (302) 994-9500 Fax (302) 234-1781 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg McGahan Sent: Friday, August 10, 2012 2:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: 02 storage This is a completely new area for me so any help is appreciated. Issue: Medical Gas Storage of 02 only in various cylinders. The tenant and owner of this Commercial / Industrial Strip center is having difficulty with the AHJ who claims that even if they classify the warehouse portion of this space as Storage Occupancy instead of Business, The maximum cubic footage of 02 allowed to be stored in one place is 12,000 with "High Hazard" Sprinkler protection. The tenant needs to store almost 20,000 cubic feet. Does anyone have expertise in this area? Thanks, Greg -- Greg McGahan Living Water Fire Protection, LLC <http://www.livingwaterfp.com> 1160 McKenzie Road Cantonment, FL 32533 850-937-1850 fax 850-937-1852 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/private/sprinklerforum/attach ments/20120810/f3e9c5a0/attachment.html> _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
