Question: I have been told that the business occupancy portions of my health care facility must comply with the annual testing in NFPA 101, Section 8.3.3.1 as well as the additional testing requirements in Section 7.2.1.15. Section 7.2.1.15 covers testing of special door hardware devices, such as doors utilizing panic hardware, door with hardware-release of el...

Transformer rooms are not automatically required to be enclosed in fire-rated construction. However, there are situations in which a transformer room may require a fire-rated enclosure.

Where an electrical vault is provided for conductors and equipment operating at over 600 volts, nominal, the vault must be enclosed with a minimum 3-hour fire-rated construction in accordance with NFPA 70. The 3-hour fire-rating is permitted to be reduced to a 1-hour fire-rated construction where the vault is protected with a suppression system.

Assuming the exit discharge door is to the exterior, the door need not have a fire protection rating unless the exterior wall is required to have a fire resistance rating by the building code. Those requirements are typically based on the occupancy and separation distance from a property line. Obviously if the stair door discharges to the level of exit dischar...

No, water is not required to be discharged every year during the annual fire pump flow test. NFPA 25 permits closed-loop flow testing every 2 out of 3 years. On the 3rd year, annual flow testing must be performed by discharging water via hose streams or to a drain or suction reservoir. In order to perform closed-loop testing, the fire pump must be equipped wit...

There is a new health care building being constructed in accordance with the requirements of the 2018 IBC. The building has complete quick response sprinkler protection in accordance with IBC Sections 903.3.1.1 and 903.3.2 and has a fully ducted HVAC system in accordance with IMC Section 603.

At Koffel Associates, we are known for our extensive and progressive fire system designs, but we offer so much more, including fire commissioning services. While the engineering and design components of a fire system are important, fire commissioning is a vital factor in building and maintaining a superior system. What is fire commissioning? Fire commissioning...

By Erik Anderson, P.E., and Kristen Steranka During what phase does the first step in ensuring the smoke control system is properly inspected, tested, and maintained occur? The design phase. Simplicity should be the goal of the smoke control system design. When possible, a single system should control the various smoke control functions. The more complex the s...

By Mark Aaby, P.E. What is the purpose of NFPA 75, as defined by Section 1.2? “Is to provide the minimum requirements for the protection of IT equipment and IT equipment areas from damage by fire or its associated effects—namely, smoke, corrosion, heat, and water.” Users of the standard can expect the document to provide the minimum level of requirements to pr...