We met with the Nevada County AHJ and the local CalFire Chief yesterday to discuss details about the new Title 24 regs. So far, their official policy on PV mod fire rating is this:
"Modules shall be tested, listed, and identified with the fire classification based on the specific type of building construction. (See CBC Table 1505.1 for specific classification requirements)." Basically, we can install Class C rated modules on buildings of Type 2B, 3B, and 5B construction. Anything else requires a Class A or B module. That's the latest word from Nevada County. Special thanks to Lars et al. at Cal Solar for keeping the rest of us up here in the Gold Country in socks and groceries. Flowers are on their way. Eric Stikes SunHarvest 001.530.798.3738 (Cell) ----- Original Message ----- From: Bill Brooks To: [email protected] ; 'RE-wrenches' Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 5:17 PM Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] CA Fire code Martin, Regarding your reference to installations west of I-280 requiring Class A, I did not find that in Palo Alto's materials. The City of Woodside fire department was very involved in the CalFire Guidelines and I would not be surprised if they implemented such a requirement. If you can find a specific document with the wording, I would love to see it. I will likely be working with SEIA to draft some educational materials on the new standards and how to apply them. Bill. From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Martin Herzfeld Sent: Thursday, January 09, 2014 4:13 PM To: RE-wrenches Subject: Re: [RE-wrenches] CA Fire code 1. In addition to the thoughts shared, for instance, for one AHJ: (A) I think "Photovoltaic Installations west of Interstate 280 require PV modules to have a minimum Class A fire rating" - requirements and 'additional information' since 2009 were revised and updated here ....? http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/utl/residents/resources/pcm/pv_permitting_and_interconnection.asp (B) Also ground-mount options - not only just rooftops - CSFM Guidelines Section 5.0, ... http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/34052 http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/informationbulletin/pdf/2012/IB_12-004_FireApparatusAccessRoadsPhotovoltaicFacilities.pdf http://osfm.fire.ca.gov/training/pdf/Photovoltaics/Fire%20Ops%20PV%20lo%20resl.pdf You may first check with the specific jurisdiction for more information ... 2. In addition, you may want to join or attend the IAEI meetings in California, there's good information on this and other topics at the monthly meetings and CEUs. http://www.iaei.org 3. By the way, I attended at the very last stakeholder meeting in SF and the publications here for new changes and updates .... http://www.solarabcs.org/about/publications/reports/flammability-testing/index.html 4. Wildland Hazard/Building Codes http://www.fire.ca.gov/fire_prevention/fire_prevention_wildland_zones.php We'll check it out on an install, if in the area ... Martin Herzfeld California Contractor License #833782 UL Certified PV Installer #17, OSHA 30 Certified Technical Classroom Trainer (CTT+) OSHA-Authorized Construction Trainer Wrenches, If you are in a wild land fire zone in CA, it looks like we are all in for a rude awakening. Our local AHJ is requiring not only set backs for ventilation of roofs, but also THAT ALL PANELS ON THE ROOF CARY A CLASS A FIRE RATING! It doesn't take allot of research to realize that this pretty much eliminates roof-top solar as an option, as if you can eve find a class A panel, they are cost prohibitive. I'm wondering a couple things. One, has anyone had luck using the local political process to postpone the enforcement of the class A requirement? and two, has anyone found readily available Class A modules? This issue seems to have caught the industry with it's pants down, as industry lobby doesn't even seem to be aware that the the local AHJ's would have this interpretation. Is this the end of roof top solar in 60% of California? What are y'all doing to deal with this issue? -- Lars Ortegren President California Solar Electric Company .PO Box 480 149 E.Main St Grass Valley, CA 95945 Phone : (530)274-3671 Fax: (530)274-7518 California C-10 Electical Contractor #779624 Certified NABCEP Continuing Education Provider Certified NAPCEP Technical Sales and Installation Profesional _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: [email protected] Change email address & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! 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