The definition of fire wall, fire partition, fire barrier comes from the building code. If using the IBC see Chapter 7. Depending on the occupancies and the level of sprinkler protection you may or may not be required to provide one of the three. Each one has slightly different characteristics as defined. The Fire Wall being the most stringent where the assembly extends from the slab to or even through the roof and is capable of maintaining its structural integrity even if the building on either or both sides would collapse. A fire partition is a physical separation designed with fire resistant materials whose purpose is to prevent the spread of fire from one area to the next. A fire partition is not "rated". The fire barrier is a rated assembly but not to the extent of the Fire Wall. All have protected openings as well.
The wall, barrier and partition are designed to protect one occupancy from fire spread from an adjacent occupancy. They have a different purpose than a draft curtain. As far as the scenario described, if the openings are not protected with either fire doors or shutters or an accepted (by the AHJ) water spray curtain, then by definition it does not qualify as a Code defined separation. It would provide no real separation and his assessment of requiring the extension of the higher density into the lesser density protected area would be correct. So the question is, do the openings have any kind of automatic closures, is the wall rated, is the wall required to be rated or just one of the lesser assemblies? Still a few outstanding questions needing to be answered in order to make a definitive determination. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Group Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.lg.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bob Knight Sent: Friday, August 17, 2007 5:22 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Barrier / Partition Definition Does anyone have a good definition for what 11.1.2 means by "Barrier" or "Partition" (NFPA 13 2002 ed). I have a friend who has an AHJ telling him that an 8" concrete full height wall with two door openings in it does not qualify. My understanding of this is that this is a perfectly acceptable barrier since the purpose of the barrier is to prevent fusing of the sprinklers from one area to another. The reason the question arises is that this AHJ wants to extend a new .55 / 2500 sf area through the concrete wall and into an existing .2 / 1500 sf system. Without being too obvious, the original system has no possibility of providing this density, let alone the proper spacing of sprinklers. Anyway, any help will be appreciated. Thank you, Bob Knight, CET (208) 495-2057 [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.firebyknight.com No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.5.484 / Virus Database: 269.12.0/957 - Release Date: 8/16/2007 1:46 PM _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
