2007 nfpa 13 addreses this issue

Devin Witters



On Aug 26, 2008, at 2:35 PM, Roland Huggins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

I concur with Mark (and not just because we PE's must stick together)

The original proposal was a 12 ft deep pocket.  Considering that is basically 
the height of a story, the committee felt it appropriate to assign a lower 
value.  I would first approach allowing a small increase in height based on the 
modeling (see out web site for a copy of the report) and the very small volume.

Our position has been that ceiling pockets or even openings in a drop ceiling 
that are narrow and along a wall are not a problem.  We have arbitrary picked 
12 inches as a maximum width until we do some modeling.  I picked this because 
other than a curtain fire, the center line of the fire plume is not directly 
against the wall. With it being in the center of the fuel package, even a small 
chair at 2 ft wide will be at 12 inches form the wall.  AS such, a adequate 
amount of the heat will be captured by the lower ceiling.

Naturally discuss this with the AHJ since it has not yet been addressed by the 
13 committee.  Additionally, as a member of the technical committee i need to 
say, this is not to be considered a formal interpretation by NFPA or any of its 
technical committees.

Roland

On Aug 26, 2008, at 12:01 PM, Mark Sornsin wrote:

I am going to go out on a limb and say "No" this should not require sprinklers 
within.  Unfortunately, there is nothing absolute to back me up, at least in 
NFPA 13.

I would argue that the ceiling jet from a fire is not going to 'notice' such a 
narrow gap. Also, whatever amount of heat manages to 'escape' into this void 
space will quickly fill it, due to its miniscule volume. So I guess I would try 
to use reason and note that the ceiling pocket rules of NFPA 13 allow a volume 
of up to 1,000 cu. ft. this volume is less than 10% of that.

But I think the small width of the gap is the bigger reason it won't affect the 
activation of the ceiling sprinklers.

Those in the know may now feel free to rip apart my argument.

Mark A. Sornsin, PE
Fire Protection Engineer
Ulteig Engineers, Inc.
Fargo, ND


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