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Is it permitted to install fire pump cables, from the controller panel to the motor, through a cable tray using armored cables, at a height of about 4 inches (10 cm) above the finished floor level?
Are there any code or standard requirements that affect this? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe
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Can one type of CPVC (FlameGuard) be connected to an existing but different CPVC manufacturer (BlazeMaster), or vice versa?
Are the solvent cements compatible? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Looking for education on the cause of major sprinkler corrosion in a warehouse. A general warehouse with ESFR heads has a serious corrosion problem on approximately 600 sprinklers, with two inadvertent actuations occurring in the past 6 months. The image is of the worst corroded sprinkler. Others are more lightly corroded, each with a green hue. The actuated heads were sent to UL for evaluation as well as non-fused corroded heads. Tests indicated the heads functioned within normal range, with one head slightly delayed. The manufacturer confirmed the heads are not counterfeit.  The conditions within the warehouse were unique for approximately 7 years, with very high internal temperatures occurring during the winter months, using once-through heating to ensure forklift exhaust CO ppm levels were kept low.
In addition to elevated temperatures, the warehouse received insect fogging applications as normal practice for stored seed and beans. Fogging has also occurred at other similar warehouses, and no problems have been observed at those locations. Corrosion is on approximately 15% of all sprinklers in the warehouse building area. Are there similar experiences with corrosion that is similar to the image? If so, what was determined to be the primary cause? Heat, chemical, or something else? All of the corroded sprinklers were replaced with new heads and NFPA guidance was observed for temperature selection near forced air heaters. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe We have a project where there is one large building that has many different activities throughout. There is also a trailer that is not connected to the building by walkway or anything except some plumbing for what I believe is a restroom.
This trailer is maybe 2-4 feet away from the larger main building, and the activity being done in the area closest to this trailer is woodworking/carpentry. I am trying to determine how the trailer should be classified to determine the requirements for a fire alarm system. I have gone back and forth between NFPA 101 and the IBC, but I am either overthinking or underthinking the scenario. I would just like to ensure I understand the criteria correctly because these two buildings do not share exit access or an exit, but may share an exit discharge. Would it be correct to classify the trailer as an existing business occupancy and look at Chapter 39 of NFPA 101? If I arrive there and look at Section 39.3.4.1, it appears that the three criteria listed there, which the trailer would not meet, result in a fire alarm system not being required. This does not sound correct but I could not piece together why. A ny help would be much appreciated! Thanks! Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe For an apartment building (highrise), we have a situation here where a child with autism is has intense panic whenever there’s a fire alarm, including false alarms and testing.
We are planning to disconnect the smoke detector sounders from their flat and let the sounders from the common area notify them in case of a fire scenario. Is this allowed by code? Would it be allowed if permitted by AHJ? Would NFPA 72 or 101 address this specifically, or are there means of alternative approaches for a situation like this? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Does maximum pressure and allowed hazard classification for any sprinkler (such as light hazard, 175 psi) really matter in a deluge system?
I have a design situation where I need to use 8.0K extended coverage sidewalls listed for light hazard use, to achieve an FM Global Hazard Category 2 (HC-2), 0.60 gpm / 1,200 sqft, and I cannot accomplish that without exceeding 175 psi. Since the heads are open, I would think that pressure and rating do not matter since the activation will be by electronic devices. Does it matter? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe For a wet sprinkler system in a single-story building with only one room, is it necessary to install a zone control valve?
An inspector's test valve has been installed at the farthest point. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Recently we encountered a system where the floor control valve assemblies (FCVAs) have pressure reducing valves (PRVs) that are due for their 5-year full-flow testing. Typically, we would conduct this through a hose valve downstream of the PRV (hooked up to the Drain Riser), but this arrangement does not allow for that. The only means of connecting the FCVA to the Drain Riser would be to shut down the floor, remove the grooved coupling & cap from this tee (clouded in the image below), and then hook up a connection to the Drain Riser. Then, another shutdown would be needed to replace the coupling & cap to return the system to its current configuration.  When addressing Pressure Reducing Devices, NFPA 13, 2019, 16.9.8.5 states that “Means shall be provided downstream of all pressure reducing valves for flow tests at sprinkler system demand.”
However, according to NFPA 13 2019, 16.14.5.1, a “means shall be provided” for forward testing of the backflow preventer. This “means”, per 16.14.5.1.1, “shall be serviceable without requiring the owner to modify the system.” I am unable to find a similar reference that pertains to Pressure Reducing Devices. Is the capped tee considered “Means” to conduct the testing in this instance, despite requiring 2 shutdowns and “modifications” to the system? Or is a permanently installed valve required to be considered “Means” to conduct the testing? Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Sprinkler is being installed in a warehouse as part of a "base building" phase.
There are 1-inch outlets being proposed as the outlets on branch pipe, but a potential tenant is requesting a system that may require K16.8 ESFRs. Are tenant fit-out sprinklers permitted to be installed over bushings in this situation, by code? There will be a 5-year tenant lease, but no guarantee of resigning or extension on the tenant. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Is there a velocity limitation or velocity direction provided for the design of private fire service mains?
Is it possible (or acceptable) to have an underground main smaller than the size of the discharge pipe required by NFPA 20? Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Is there anything in NFPA 13 that states you cannot mix fusible link and glass bulb heads within the same area as long as both sprinklers are standard response?
Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Looking for clarification on NFPA 101 Section 30.2.5.1.2, which provides an exemption for exit staircase remoteness. NFPA 14, however, requires a standpipe system in all exit staircases. We are working on an 18-floor high-rise apartment building that has two exit staircases eligible for the remoteness exemption outlined in 30.2.5.1.2. I would like to install a standpipe riser in the exit access corridor leading to exit staircases instead of within the exit staircase, as NFPA 14 specifies. Is locating the hose valves in the corridor in-between allowed rather than within the exit enclosure?  We have an issue with seismic bracing getting called out and I'm looking for clarification. Our point of attachment is a truss about 2'-6" away from the truss horizontally, we attached to the top of the truss with a #825 and a #980. We are offset, but vertical and the inspector is telling us that the bracing has to be on top or above the main. Is this correct? The other thing mentioned was that he can't find it in NFPA 13 where it allows angles (I am waiting for clarity with that comment in design). Below is a drawing of what I've got; any direction is much appreciated   What is considered "too loose" for a diesel fire pump exhaust? I'm referring to the vertical section just above the flex of the engine. NFPA just says that you have to secure and shall refer to the manufacturer's instructions, so in this case, it's a Clarke. Thanks in advance. Video is below. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe I recently inspected a hotel that was constructed back in the 1970s but was recently converted to an apartment building. The total square feet of the 17-story building is 270,000 square feet.
There is an attached 3-story parking garage that is only partially sprinkler-protected. The main apartment building is fully sprinkler-protected. Only one incoming riser was noted for the property. My question is, can one riser feed the entire footprint of both buildings? There are other vertical pipes noted, but one is labeled as a dry standpipe. Is the other vertical pipe also considered a riser? Or did I just miss finding all of the main risers? Trying to piece this together. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Are CMSA sprinklers permitted to be installed with a CMDA design from NFPA 13?
I never thought this was the case, but I wanted to know if anyone has any insights on this. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe How do I know if these valves are open or closed without using the signage present that says OPEN? Are these non-indicating valves, or am I missing something? Are these even allowed? Thanks in advance.  I have an IT room with FM-200 under the raised floor and a pre-action sprinkler system at the ceiling. Contractors are replacing CRAC units.
Should the CRAC units be connected to the suppression system to shutdown upon activation of the FM200 system? I have done 2 days of research with no answer. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe How do you place fire alarm bells?
Do you just place them normally as you would place wall-mounted horns? Dealing with an old building, an existing system, but not that old fire alarm system that uses alarm bells instead of horns or speakers. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Does the requirement that a dry system Inspector's Test have a plug mean that it cannot be directly routed to an exterior drain? NFPA 13 2022 Section 16.14.2 requires that the test trip connection on a dry pipe sprinkler system be equipped with a plug (or nipple and cap). The appendix then includes a detail of how the plug can be removed and a temporary connection can be made to the exterior drain for testing.  I can't remember having ever seeing that in person or in the design for an actual dry system.
Was it always there I was just never paying enough attention to the details? Or is there a way (or ways) that the plug requirement is typically satisfied with a maintained connection to the exterior drain? I had it in my head that equipment like the TestanDrain had equipment to fulfill that requirement, some sort of fancy hoses or something, but now that I've been looking into it, the hoses I'm seeing on there are all for pressure relief of wet systems. Am I just remembering hoses that were kept handy but not actually connected except for testing? The Meyer Fire blog post on inspector's test requirements even shows a combined drum drip/inspector's test, but I don't see how it fulfills the plug requirement. What am I missing? Thanks in advance for any clarity. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe In mercantile occupancy, are products classified as Group A Plastics limited to 12-ft, 8-ft, or 5-ft in height when mixed with other Class I-IV products (not segregated)?
If the Group A Plastic products are not mixed with other products (segregated in their own areas), is the storage limited to 12-ft, 8-ft, or 5-ft in height? Our adopted edition is NFPA 13, 2019. For context, a mercantile occupancy is shown as Ordinary Hazard Group 2 in NFPA 13, 2019 Section A.4.3.4. NFPA 13, 2019 §3.3.134.5 defines OH2 as "Occupancies or portions of other occupancies where the quantity and combustibility of contents are moderate to high, stockpiles of contents with moderate rates of heat release do not exceed 12 ft (3.7 m), and stockpiles of contents with high rates of heat release do not exceed 8 ft (2.4 m)." NFPA 13, 2019 §3.3.18 defined low-piled storage as "Solid-piled, palletized, rack storage, bin box, and shelf storage up to 12 ft (3.7 m) in height." However, in NFPA 13, 2022, this definition was changed to match the requirements of Chapters 4 and 20. NFPA 13, 2022 §3.3.14 defines low-piled storage as "Solid-piled, palletized, rack storage, bin box, and shelf storage of Class I through Class IV commodities up to 12 ft (3.7 m) in height and solid-piled, palletized, rack storage, bin box, and shelf storage of Group A plastic commodities up to 5 ft (1.5 m) in height." Chapter 4 table 4.3.1.7.1 limits group a plastics in OH2 to 5ft for low-piled storage. NFPA 13, 2019 §20.4.14.2 states "Unless the requirements of 20.4.13.3 or 20.4.13.4 are met, mixed commodity storage shall be protected by the requirements for the highest classified commodity AND storage arrangement" Thanks for your help in clarifying this. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Why do the minimum design extinguishing concentrations for IG-541 vary among different manufacturers, while those for FM-200 remain consistent?
Additionally, the certification reports only indicate Class A and Class B fires, with no mention of Class C. Thanks in advance. Sent in anonymously for discussion. Click Title to View | Submit Your Question | Subscribe Here’s to the folks making the industry better one post at a time. Thank you, top contributors!
I found this fitting from a system installed in the 1970s. Everyone I work with and I are unfamiliar with it. Do you recognize it, and does anyone have any technical information available? It looks like a 2" coupling with a threaded head outlet on the other side. It is a push-connect type fitting. Thanks!  |
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