I find it-amusing?- that I cannot get a Certif of Occ for a health club until the local 3rd party guy has a PE seal on a plan indicating the addition of ONE HEAD in ONE CLOSET in a fitness center tenant improvement, being converted from a grocery store that was sprinklered to FM standards in the 80's. He had sealed plans on the rest, but they added a closet.
But do renovations in the rather secure and controlled venue of a Federal Courthouse, and the AHJ(s) cannot guarantee we can get code compliance. In fact, the AHJ assumes there will be no sprinkler work done correctly, and goes to great lengths to assure his best guess at compensating for this. Rahe, this is not a jab at you- it's an observation that renovation work in your buildings is pretty damn flawed. We cannot control what goes on in the very bowels of our judicial system? Heck, a member of congress can't even walk into the House to her office without getting stopped. Years ago I assisted in bid prep for the Phila Fed Courthouse. We were 2nd at (memory) 11 mil, a road paver from Dallas took it for under 7 mil. Think he had 10 FPS and 100 SF included? Glc Wouldn't it be nice if the govt would put their own house in order before coming into mine, telling me what I should pay my employees, and -I'll step off the soapbox now. -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 15, 2007 7:24 PM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: Beyond code (was max velocity) Well, not to increase the storm clouds further, the following needs to be explained. 1. Most of what I specify is part of the Facilities Standard that we build buildings under. (pipe types, design areas, densities, etc.) 2. I am the AHJ and the owner's representative, just as it allows in the good book. 3. I have to try my darndest to insure that a system will last a minimum of 50 years, not just till the warranty runs out. 4 I am not in any way advocating the government requirements for the private sector. 5. These buildings are not going to change ownership or occupancy ever. 6. My process is to insure that I have pipe that will remain large enough to provide at least some measure of protection after 50 years of everybody and their dog modifying and changing the sprinkler system in that period of time. 7. Walls will change in these buildings and preventing the sprinklers from covering more than 130 square feet with a light hazard density will help compensate for that. I cannot ever guarantee that sprinklers will accompany wall changes. In our buildings it seldom does, leaving areas unprotected. 8. If you are ever on a federal jury, try to think about the fire protection systems in a highly secured building with really bad egress. 9. I seemed to noticed that some readers apparently feel that these systems should be competitively bid against minimum codes as interpreted by what they are familiar with on other projects. We simply cannot work that way. Too much gets by that shouldn't. 10. This is not a bad return on the taxpayer's money. In the private sector, the architectural and every other trade gets more attention than the fire protection systems. It seems that the fire protection systems are the red headed stepchildren to everything else. I am trying to make this trade better, not worse. 11. It also appears that many think that no one deserves more than just the bare minimum with various interpretations. There is nothing wrong with having something better. Does anyone think that they deserve only the cheapest truck or house or other things or is that reserved for the other guy? I do appreciate constructive criticism and comments, but lets don't let it get beyond that. Thank You Rahe Loftin, P.E. _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum
