sprinklernotes Apartment Closets vs. NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code® “Under NFPA 13 Section 9.2.4.2 for closets and pantries, it specifies that sprinklers are not required in dwelling unit closets less than 24 ft2 in hotels and motels, therefore it is assumed that sprinklers are required in closets of new apartment buildings as they are not under current hotel and motel category. Appendix D in D.1.1.6 for new apartment buildings specifies that closets less than 12 ft2 in area in individual dwelling units shall not be required to be sprinklered. How is this addressed?”
We have reviewed NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems, 2019 edition as the applicable standard. Our informal interpretation is that while NFPA 13 requires sprinklers in closets of apartments and it is good practice, sprinklers can be omitted in small closets of new apartment buildings per NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®, if it is adopted in your jurisdiction. Where there is a conflict between an adopted code and a referenced standard, the code takes precedence. The NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code® and NFPA 13 differ on protection for closets. Since the 1976 edition, NFPA 101 has allowed sprinklers to be omitted from closets of limited sizes, but NFPA 13 indicates that unless the closets are located in the dwelling units of hotel or motel occupancies, sprinklers must be installed. In permanent residential occupancies, the closets typically have a higher fuel load and are always protected. The natural exception is when NFPA 13R, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Low-Rise Residential Occupancies, or NFPA 13D, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes is applied. There is a conflict with NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code® that allows for small closets in new apartment buildings to omit sprinklers in closets that are limited in size. The NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code® applicability needs to be reviewed to determine whether it has been adopted in your area. It should be noted that the 2010 edition of NFPA 13 moved this information to Annex D in an attempt to avoid the misperception that it is an allowance by NFPA 13. The bottom line is that the protection of apartment closets is required by the standard but can be omitted based on the adopted and amended codes in your jurisdiction.
