Interesting. There is a living unit directly above the generator room and I would think keeping the fire off the exterior would be just as important as keeping it from spreading internally.
I appreciate the opinion, thank you. Jeff Brickell, CET Senior Estimator/Designer NICET III CERTIFIED CERT #147245 OREGON CERTIFIED COBID FIRM #13272 (EMERGING SMALL BUSINESS) TRIAD FIRE PROTECTION [cid:[email protected]] OREGON . WASHINGTON . ARIZONA OFFICE 503.856.6333 CELL 602.550.4292 FAX 866.766.8862 From: Steve Leyton <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2025 1:10 PM To: Discussion list on issues relating to automatic fire sprinklers <[email protected]> Subject: [Sprinklerforum] Re: Room Design Method I agree with the architect; upgrading the exterior walls isn’t consistent with the intent. To utilize room design, we conceptually want to be assured that a breach of the envelope that defines the compartment won’t result in the involvement of secondary or tertiary fire loads that could overwhelm the sprinkler system. No such concerns are present on the other sides of outside walls. [cid:[email protected]] Steve Leyton, President T | 619.255.8964 x 102 | www.protectiondesign.com<http://www.protectiondesign.com/> 2851 Camino Del Rio South | Suite 210 | San Diego, CA 92108 Fire Protection System Design | Consulting | Planning | Training From: Jeff Brickell <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> Sent: Friday, January 24, 2025 11:55 AM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [Sprinklerforum] Room Design Method Good afternoon. I have an apartment project that has a small room that contains a diesel-powered generator. The room is on the corner of the building on level 1 and contains two interior walls, and two exterior walls. The two interior walls are rated 2-HR, as well as the ceiling, however, the two exterior walls are rated 1-HR. The room only has one door that opens to the exterior. I asked the architect to upgrade the two exterior walls to a minimum of 90 minutes to meet the water supply duration requirements of EH2 (it is a monitored system) so that I could use the Room Design Method. He is pushing back and asked why I wanted him to do that. As most of you know, The Room Design method requires “The enclosing interior walls of such a room must provide a fire resistance rating equal to the water supply duration requirements of Table 19.2.3.1.2<https://link.nfpa.org/publications/13/2025/chapters/19#ID000130002953>”. His argument to not upgrade the fire rating of the exterior walls is that the code says ‘interior walls’, and not all walls, or exterior walls. I’m explaining to him that the walls are interior to the room itself, but he is not hearing me. Is there any other definitions or areas of NFPA I can cite that would make him understand what I and the code is saying? Am I misreading it? I have not applied the Room Design Method yet, but it seems cut and dry unless I’m missing something. Any advice helps! Thank you. Jeff Brickell, CET Senior Estimator/Designer NICET III CERTIFIED CERT #147245 OREGON CERTIFIED COBID FIRM #13272 (EMERGING SMALL BUSINESS) TRIAD FIRE PROTECTION [cid:[email protected]] OREGON . WASHINGTON . ARIZONA OFFICE 503.856.6333 CELL 602.550.4292 FAX 866.766.8862
_________________________________________________________ SprinklerForum mailing list: https://lists.firesprinkler.org/list/sprinklerforum.lists.firesprinkler.org To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]
