Throughout North America and globally, NFPA 13 is one of the most widely used standards for the design and installation of fire sprinkler systems. This standard has existed in one form or another since 1896, and after undergoing more than 60 revision cycles, has grown to over 500 pages.
The 2019 edition has been available since August 2018 and in addition to a complete restructuring of it’s chapters, it features some exciting new options for protecting storage risks.
NFPA13 2019 now allows designers to employ the benefits of using Extended Coverage sprinklers in combination with horizontal barriers, reducing installation costs and water demand, compared to other in-rack sprinkler schemes.
Water demand is minimized because the overall system flow demand is determined by either the ceiling-level sprinklers or the in-rack sprinklers, whichever is the higher demand (not the two combined, as required by traditional in-rack protection schemes.)
Costs can be reduced because of the reduced water storage requirement and also fewer in-rack sprinklers and less pipework is needed – this also means installation times can be reduced.
This new protection scheme, which has its origins in the research pioneered by Reliable at Underwriters Laboratories in the U.S.A., is now featured in section NFPA13 25.8.3. and is suitable for class I-IV and Cartoned and Exposed Group A plastics.
As well as the cost savings, one of the big attractions of this scheme for Warehouse Operators is the elimination of Face Sprinklers in single- and double-row racks. Instead, water from pendent Extended Coverage sprinklers, located centrally between pallets, reaches across the aisles to protect the aisle facing side of storage on adjacent racks either side as well as protecting the flue spaces between pallets.
NFPA13 2019 Design Requirements. See NFPA 13 section 25.8.3 for complete requirements. (Single & Double Row Racks):
22 gauge sheet metal or 10mm plywood barriers with a row of Pendent K25 / 360 EC sprinklers installed at 6.1m height intervals for Exposed Group A Plastics and 9.1m height intervals for class I-IV goods and Cartoned Group A Plastics
- The 4 Most Hydraulically Remote in-rack sprinklers operate at a flow of at least 138gpm / 520lpm
- The ceiling-level system can be designed to protect only the storage that is not protected by in-rack sprinklers
- The hydraulic demands of the ceiling level and in-rack sprinklers do not need to be balanced
For more information, go to www.reliablesprinkler.com
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