How Much Wood Above Ceiling Req's Sprinklers?

11/30/2020

We are in a fire sprinkler retrofit and we have steel joists and decking throughout the building, with mostly masonry block walls. It's a single-story structure.

Where there are doors, however, there is wood framing above the grid ceiling.

How much wood constitutes an issue requiring fire sprinklers above the ceiling?

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3 Comments

Dan Wilder

11/30/2020 08:21:17 am

The combustible materials cannot be acting as structural elements (floors, ceilings, walls, load bearing...).

Is the wood framing acting as nailers for the door frame? I would lean towards no sprinklers required.

Is the wood framing part of the wall (extending to the deck) and being used to help support the wall? Harder argument to make.

It's no different than any PVC drain lines (plumbing) running through the space but I would discuss with your local AHJ during the design phase before trying to argue after the install.

Franck

11/30/2020 10:18:37 am

Chapter 9.2.1 Concealed spaces not requiring sprinkler protection (Ed. 2019) will give you some guidance.

Anyway, sense of judgement (you will still need to convince your AHJ) would say that as the wood framing is only located where there are doors, this means that the combustible load is very limited and you are not expecting to have a fire above all of your ceiling.
It looks like your wood framing is to support the doors, not the ceiling.
In that case, I would not push for sprinklers... But I am not seeing your actual situation (exact amount of combustible load and possible to fire spread) and maybe I am too optimistic...

I'm at Work

11/30/2020 11:21:01 am

See also the relevant NFPA #13 section "Localized Protection of Exposed Combustible Construction or Exposed Combustibles"
(9.3.17.1.2 in the 2019; 8.15.1.5 in the 2016.)

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