In your opinion/experience what is the most appropriate fire sprinkler hazard category for a yoga/fitness studio? 

When the studio is mostly an open space for active classes the hazard could be limited to the floor mat pads, while my concern would be potential vertical storage of the usually foam-filled pads. Have you come across this before?

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Are there any requirements pertaining to mixing fire sprinkler k-factors or temperatures in the same room?

We often come across unit heater placement, so at least on the temperatures I suspect that mixing in the same room happens fairly commonly to accommodate heat sources.

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Is there a maximum height that's permitted between the main roof and a suspended ceiling in order to still omit sprinklers above the ceiling? 

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NFPA 24 requires the following: "After installation, rods, nuts, bolts, washers, clamps, and other restraining devices shall be cleaned and thoroughly coated with a bituminous or other acceptable corrosion-retarding material." (NFPA 24 2016/2019 10.6.2.5)

If stainless nuts and bolts are used for the restraining glands in the underground fire main, do they still need to be coated with a bituminous material for protection against corrosion?

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Is there a standard or code basis for when pipe is required  to be replaced due to corrosion or loss in the pipe wall thickness?

It's usually to the building owner's benefit to examine or replace portions of pipe that are corroded, or consider full-system replacement when a renovation opportunity occurs. Just curious if there's a standard or code basis that would otherwise force pipe replacement.

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I have a wet sprinkler system fed by a combined standpipe/sprinkler riser by municipal water with a "brand new" fire pump in the basement.

Where should the main drain be installed?

The municipal water enters the building and goes through the backflow preventer and then into the fire pump both being located in the fire pump room. After the fire pump, the riser goes to floor #1 and above. On the first floor there is a floor control valve with drain.

I explained to property manager that a main drain is required in the fire pump room to test the adequacy of the water supply and drain the system. The installer agreed with me but explained that is was not part of the drawing and he did not install one because he did not get paid for one.

The property owner consulted with the engineer of record who said that the main drain is not in the fire code. He also said his plans for the fire pump installation were approved by the Department of Building. He also consulted with other more experienced engineers in his firm and was told that no main drain is required on the fire pump piping or in the pump room, but if I wanted to drain the system or perform a main drain test I could do it from the first floor. 

Is a main drain in the basement fire pump room required?

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I've heard reference to a requirement for sprinkler protection beneath occupied floor levels. This comes up with building overhangs or parking garages beneath buildings. 

Aside from it being a common practice and a good idea, where does this requirement originate in code?

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NFPA 13 has clear requirements which do not encourage pipe to be routed underneath buildings (NFPA 13 2016 Section 10.4.3 / 2019 Section 6.4.3).

As best I can tell NFPA 13R does not have similar provisions, although the reasoning for not routing underneath is the same (pipe can become compromised by building settling, leakage is extremely difficult to repair, leakage could cause significant building damage).

Do I have any justification to not allow pipe to be run underneath a building designed under NFPA 13R? The project at hand is an attached block of apartments that has a breezeway in-between, and the contractor is looking to run pipe back underground (below footings and the breezeway sidewalk) to serve the block of apartments on the opposite side.

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Inspections requirements are often based on NFPA standards, such as NFPA 25 for Inspection, Testing and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems.

Although NFPA establishes many well-accepted engineering practices and has the standards available to be incorporated or adopted into law, this may not always necessarily be true.

My question is if any inspection and tests, such as stated within NFPA 25, are legally required? Perhaps by OSHA's General Clause? Are there existing legal provisions that can make NFPA 25 enforceable?

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A remote project site does not have any water utility available. 

Under the latest edition of NFPA 22 (2018 Edition of Water Tanks for Private Fire Protection, Section 4.1.1), the "size... of tanks shall be determined by the required fire flow and duration for the attached fire protection system(s) and the pressures required."

Is this implying that the site fire flow for firefighting operation should be included as part of the storage volume for the water storage tank?

For this project the sprinkler system's required water supply would be about 40,000 gallons, while water storage for site fire flow would be well over 240,000 gallons under IFC fire flow or 140,000 gallons under NFPA 1142. Prior versions of NFPA 22 required "the size... of the tank shall be determined by conditions at each individual property after due consideration of all factors involved."

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A hearty THANK YOU to the top contributors (and all contributors) for January 2019. Your perspective and opinion not only help the individual with the original questions, but help to further discussion and improve the industry by allowing others to learn and grow from your expertise. Thank you!

As a fire sprinkler system designer/engineer we often get asked about fire flow for new construction buildings. It seems as though anything that has "fire" in its name is then directly sent our way, but fire flow for a building does not relate to the interior fire sprinkler system and is typically not something we do. I don't come across many civil engineers who understand or cover fire flow either.

Is this supposed to be (or typically) handled by the civil engineer? For MEP/FP or fire sprinkler contractors, do you typically provide fire flow calculations to verify the water supply to the site?

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We recently moved into a townhouse in a 5 unit complex. It consists of 2 buildings, each of which has both a wet and dry system.

Our unit's basement houses the equipment for one building and we have found that the riser-mounted air compressor serving the sprinkler system goes off approximately every 3 hours for 3-4 minutes. It's incredibly noisy.

The option of a Quiet-Series, tank mounted compressor is appealing, but I wonder if there's a significant leakage problem we should focus on first, given the short intervals.

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What is the requirement for standpipes on the top level of a fully-sprinklered, open parking garage?
 
On the covered levels that are sprinklered, the hose travel distance is allowed to be 200 feet based on NFPA 14-2013 Section 7.3.2.3.  For levels that are not sprinklered (the top level is open to the sky), the same NFPA section states the hose travel distance is 150 feet. 

So, on a 6 level parking deck I've got standpipes located such that 200 foot hose travel distance is accomplished on the covered/sprinklered levels.  What happens when I get to the top/open level?

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I'm building a 74" by 74" shower where there had been a tub only. The existing sprinkler serving this area is 8 feet above floor level and would now be centered in the new shower. Can it stay or does it have to be moved?

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A locker room (1050 ft²) in apartment building is divided into small storage compartments. No shelves, no lifting devices. The ceiling height is 9’.

The sprinkler system design criteria was chosen as OH II, which is adequate for miscellaneous storage of Class IV Commodities up 12 feet in height as well as Plastic up to 5 feet.

Now the AHJ is requesting either design of plastic protection up 8 feet saying that some plastic may be stored - therefore we have to treat this as storage of mixed commodities - therefore it shall be protected by the requirements of highest classified commodity, or provide assurance that no plastic will be stored.

Will “mixed commodities” be applicable for miscellaneous storage? Or do we not have any grounds for argument?

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Is it permissible to have an NFPA 13 and 13R system in the same building, or by code is it an all-or-nothing prescriptive standard? The most common scenario we would see this apply is with first-floor retail/mixed use construction with residential above.

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For fire sprinkler riser assemblies that include a control valve, waterflow switch, check valve, inspector's test and drain, or a dry/pre-action system valve, are there any height requirements or limits with any of these components?

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Are there any requirements for sloping drain pipe on sprinkler systems? In this case the project is just a basic wet pipe sprinkler system.

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Have a paddle flow switch for a wet system that is located on the first story riser. The riser serves the entire 3-story building.

When flowing an inspector's test on the first floor or even the third floor, the flow switch paddle only stays engaged for 10-12 seconds before cycling back and forth. Without keeping the engaged position, the alarm won't activate.

Has anyone come across this before? What remedies could help the flow switch operate properly?

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The International Fire Code requires a fire flow be available for a structure that is determined with an approved method. Aside from the Appendix B guidance in the International Fire Code, there's multiple other methods for determining the amount and duration of fire flow that is required for a building.

My question is when determining whether there's enough flow available to meet this determined amount, where is it calculated relative to a building? Does there just need to be enough water available within 200 feet of the building, or at a main near the site, or perhaps on hydrants adjacent to the building?

I'm very familiar with standpipe hose calculations, which seems like a similar application to this, but I'm not sure where to actually apply the fire flow to complete the calculation.

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Can a municipal property - such as a fire station in this instance - have it's fire alarm system directly monitored by their own call dispatch center?

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For those who regularly bid and/or review "performance-specification" or "delegated-design" drawings, what important pieces of information are often left out?

In other words, what should engineers always include for you to price or review a job effectively that you often don't get?

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What products/methods have you used for hanging from Cold Form Trusses and Cold Form Shapes? Looking to hang and seismically brace just the sprinkler pipe.

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