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Sprinklers shall be provided throughout the entire premises, except in rooms used solely as electrical equipment rooms containing generators, transformers, or switchboards (unless such equipment is located in a public utility structure). Sprinkles may be omitted from rooms or areas containing materials which react violently to the application of water.
Freezers, if under 200 square feet in floor area, need not have sprinklers installed.
They shall be installed inside of show windows, within stairwells, under stairs, under projections extending below the ceiling and under balconies, galleries, ducts and other constructions having a width of more than 48 inches. Sprinklers shall be installed in concealed spaces enclosed wholly or partly by combustible construction. In combustible spaces in floors or ceilings, where there is a variation in height, sprinklers shall be installed up to the point where the spaces between the upper and lower joists is less than six inches.
In residential occupancies sprinklers may be omitted from closets having an area less than 20 square feet.
In vertical shafts, having combustible walls, a sprinkler shall be provided inside the shaft for each 200 square feet of the combustible surface, or fraction thereof, in addition to sprinklers installed at the top of the shaft. Sprinklers inside the shaft shall be staggered at alternate floor levels.
Sprinklers shall be installed throughout telephone exchanges except in rooms housing switching, toll, main distribution frame, power, auxiliary power or switchboard equipment.
All sprinklers shall be installed in the appropriate horizontal or vertical position as specified by testing conducted by a product testing laboratory which regularly tests fire protection equipment for the specific manufacture and model sprinkler.
The maximum distance between branch lines or between sprinklers on a branch line shall not exceed 15 feet except that in extra hazard occupancies the spacing between branch lines and sprinklers shall not exceed 12 feet. The distance from sprinklers to walls shall not exceed one-half of the allowable distance between sprinklers except that in light hazard occupancies, rooms having a floor area of less than 800 square feet a sprinkler may be located nine feet from any single wall provided that the area limitations given below are not exceeded. Automatic sprinklers designed to be installed in the upright or pendant position shall be located not less than four inches from a wall.
Light Hazard | Ordinary Hazard | Extra Hazard | Storage in Excess of 12 Feet in Height | |
Unobstructed construction | 225 | 130 | 100 | 100 |
Non-combustible obstructed construction | 225 | 130 | 100 | 100 |
Combustible obstructed construction | 168 | 130 | 100 | 100 |
The maximum floor area on any one floor to be protected by sprinklers supplied by any one sprinkler system riser shall not exceed 52,000 square feet except that in extra hazard occupancies the maximum area shall be 25,000 square feet provided that the area may be increased to 40,000 square feet when the system is hydraulically calculated.
When sidewall sprinklers are installed in rooms exceeding ten feet in width, sprinklers shall be installed on both sides of the room except that in light hazard occupancies sprinklers shall be installed on both sides of the room when the width of the room exceeds 14 feet. Sidewall sprinklers may be installed in occupancies other than light hazard occupancies only when the sidewall sprinklers are listed for use in other than light hazard occupancies.
Horizontal sidewall sprinklers may be installed in light hazard occupancies with smooth ceiling construction to protect areas consistent with their listing.
Under unobstructed construction, the distance between the sprinkler deflector and the ceiling shall be a minimum of one inch and a maximum of eight inches provided that sprinklers designed to be installed recessed into or flush with the ceiling deflectors may be closer than one inch. Under obstructed construction the sprinkler deflector shall be located not more than six inches below the structural members and not more than 22 inches below the ceiling or roof.
When sprinklers are installed with the deflector above the bottom of a vertical obstruction, the minimum horizontal separation of a sprinkler from a vertical obstruction which shall be not less than 12 inches when the obstruction has a vertical dimension greater than one inch but less than four inches. The minimum separation from a vertical separation shall be 24 inches when the obstruction has a vertical dimension greater than four inches.
Stocks of all kinds shall be so arranged and maintained as to not obstruct any sprinkler and in no case extend above a level of 18 inches below the deflector of any sprinkler.
Concealed sprinklers shall be equipped with cover plates which operate at a temperature of not greater than 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Such cover plates shall have a non-painted metallic, brass or chrome finish.
(Prior code § 91-19; Amend Coun. J. 11-2-94, p. 58476; Amend Coun. J. 10-30-96, p. 31216, § 1)