Fire Hydrant Max Spacing and Distance to Bldgs?

8/16/2024

I have a bunch of new houses going in. Some are along an existing street, and some are around a newly formed cul-de-sac.

How do I determine the number of hydrants, how far apart they are, and the maximum distance to any of the homes?

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8 Comments

Dan Wilder

8/16/2024 08:18:13 am

Depending on the adopted codes in your area Section 507 (Private) & Appendix C of the IFC has most of the guidance...

Several of my local AHJ's have modified those distances based on street width and type (raised median/depressed culvert, number of lanes, capacity), turn around ability, distance from hydrant to end of street/house (including the actual driveway distance) and a couple other factors.

Brett

8/16/2024 08:18:44 am

Reach out to the jurisdiction to see if they have local requirements. Often a municipality will have an ordinance or land use code which will provide requirements which are different than the fire code. If they don't, and you're in an NFPA state, you can look at chapter 18 of NFPA 1.

Glenn Berger

8/16/2024 08:22:07 am

First - determine the applicable code(s) and other regulations that are applicable in the project area.

Second - Verify water supply conditions.

Todd E Wyatt

8/16/2024 08:25:12 am

The IFC includes APPENDIX C FIRE HYDRANT LOCATIONS AND DISTRIBUTION that includes SECTION C102 NUMBER OF FIRE HYDRANTS.

“C102.1 Minimum number of fire hydrants for a building” references “TABLE C102.1 REQUIRED NUMBER AND SPACING OF FIRE HYDRANTS” based on the following :

1. FIRE-FLOW REQUIREMENT (gpm)
2. MINIMUM NUMBER OF HYDRANTS
3. AVERAGE SPACING BETWEEN HYDRANTS (feet)
4. MAXIMUM DISTANCE FROM ANY POINT ON STREET OR ROAD FRONTAGE TO A HYDRANT

SECTION C103 FIRE HYDRANT SPACING includes …

C103.1 Hydrant spacing.
C103.2 Average spacing.
C103.3 Maximum spacing.

Most jurisdictions do not adopt this Appendix C so you would need to confer with the AHJ (Fire Marshal) as to their local requirements.

Jack G

8/16/2024 08:40:02 am

It kind of depends on municipality however here are some guidelines:
1. Low density residential:
A. In areas with one and 2 family homes hydrants should be no more than 800 feet apart with at least 1 hydrant within 600 feet of each dwelling unit.
Sounds like your cul de sac might be this.
2. High density res and commercial:
B. In these areas, hydrants should be no more than 500 ft apart with each building no more than 500 ft from a hydrant.
3. Commercial and industrial:
C. 300 ft apart if unprotected buildings— no automatic sprinklers. Or 400 ft if protected.
4. Intersecting mains :
D. 6 inch mains— no more than 1 hydrant. 8 inch-2.
5. Special buildings:
E. Hydrants should be at least 50 ft away from buildings
NFPA- 24, same as 1 above — “ shall be” - pretty much.
F. For hydrants to count as fire flow, they must be within 1000 feet of the building. ( subject to 1-A above )
NFPA 291 has a classification ( color codes for bonnet and cap(s) ) for flows of hydrants.

This topic does depend on municipalities and water companies so best to contact the local AHJ and building code official in that office.

Jimmy

8/16/2024 09:37:31 am

Jack G
Is on track with NFPA,..

This would be a great opportunity now that new development is in your jurisdiction to get with the building official and see if they have any current LDR's.
If not, this is a great time to bring up the "get ahead of the problem" subject. LDR's or Land Development Regulations are a very important part in keeping future development / developers and investors in line with current codes and ordinances for your community.

You are now asking a question that should have been in the LDR before the developer purchased the property.

Developers will look at the LDR's BEFORE even thinking about where and what to build.

Jesse

8/16/2024 03:03:43 pm

IFC gives guidance but this is a heavily amended section of IFC as most AHJs have their own preference. When I was still a firefighter I worked in areas that had hydrants spaced every 300-ft and other where we had none at all. I'd ask your local AHJ

Conrad

8/19/2024 03:17:53 pm

NFPA jurisdictions have fire flow requirements based on size of structure. One and two family dwellings over 5,000 sq ft will have increased fire flow demand. Depending on the AHJ, one hydrant may not be enough to meet fire flow requirements.

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Fire Hydrant Max Spacing and Distance to Bldgs?

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