I just ran this very thing by the forum. The consensus was the barrier has to isolate the shower enclosure from the wall cavity so the sheet rock would have to be on both sides of the stud. Ron F
-----Original Message----- From: Sprinklerforum [mailto:sprinklerforum-boun...@lists.firesprinkler.org] On Behalf Of Chris Born Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 2:18 PM To: sprinklerfo...@firesprinkler.org Subject: Thermal Barrier for Bathrooms I'm looking for a quick sanity check. We are an A/E firm designing new college dormitories. These dorms typically contain four bedroom suites with two bathrooms in each suite. The 1987 edition of 2013 is applicable, and the bathrooms are less than 55 square feet. In order to omit sprinklers from the bathrooms, 13:8.25.8.1.1 requires walls and ceilings to be noncombustible or limited combustible materials with a 15 minute thermal barrier, including walls and ceilings behind shower enclosures and tubs. The buildings are noncombustible construction, with concrete floors, metal studs and drywall, etc. If the shower enclosure abuts metal studs and there is drywall on the other side of the studs, does that satisfy the requirement or does the drywall have to separate the shower enclosure from the studs? I think I know the answer/intent, but I'm interested in opinions or specific references because I either have to convince the AHJ or the general contractor (design-build project). Christopher Born, P.E. Director, Fire Protection Engineering Clark Nexsen Norfolk, VA Sent from my iPad _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list Sprinklerforum@lists.firesprinkler.org http://lists.firesprinkler.org/listinfo.cgi/sprinklerforum-firesprinkler.org
