Brian: As I'm sure you know, the standard was titled for many years, "Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Residential Occupancies up to and Including Four Stories in Height", but is now titled, "... in Low-Rise Residential Occupancies". (For whatever it's worth, I voted against this as it's vague and not entirely aligned with existing definitions in code(s) and standard(s). However, in the 2013, Section 1.1 it very clearly states that the standard covers residential occupancies up to 60' (18 m) above grade plane (as defined in the applicable building code). The annex material clarifies that this height is coincidental to the limit for Type V construction, and so is aligned with the code in that regard and implies intent to most closely manage Type V buildings, which are almost always wood framed in R-group occupancies. So literally and as written, if you have a 5- or 6-story building where the height of the highest floor is 60' or less and it's of a construction type other than Type V-A (which the code limits to 4 STORIES), then the answer to your question (surprisingly) is yes, you can use 13R, taking it literally as it's written.
But keep in mind that this is all about what your locally adopted code allows, and the code generally tells us when we can and can't use a particular type of sprinkler system. You can't take a 13R for an extra story except in R-2, and you can't take it in lieu of fire resistive construction. And just because 13R leaves itself open to application in buildings of Type III or II construction that may exceed four stories, your code or building official may not. Also remember that if your code doesn't reference the 2013 NFPA sprinkler standards, the older editions are still implicitly limited to four stories. The foregoing is my opinion only and does not necessarily represent the opinion or intent of the NFPA 13D/13R Technical Committee on Residential Sprinkler Systems. Not only that, this is a slippery slope so I also disclaim the email chatter that's sure to follow, the second guessing and the uproar. Steve Leyton Protection Design & Consulting San Diego, CA -----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Brian Harris Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 8:40 AM To: [email protected] Subject: 6 Story Hotel Having a little debate here in the office..... Looking at a 6 story hotel and (1) person wants to use NFPA-13R & (1) says you can't because it's over 4 stories and you must use NFPA-13. Comments welcome .... :) Brian Harris, CET BVS Systems Inc. Sprinkler Division bvssystemsinc.com<http://bvssystemsinc.com/> Phone: 704.896.9989 Fax: 704.896.1935 _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler .org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
