I am curious about the intent of the design. Is there supposed to be a fire 
rating for the window or is the sprinkler just there to be helpful?

Also – I can’t find the code section that you referenced. What is that 
regarding?

Matt



On Wednesday, April 25, 2018, 12:02 PM, John Paulsen 
<j...@crwnfire.com<mailto:j...@crwnfire.com>> wrote:

Good Day Fellow Forumites!



I have been trying to deal with a local code authority with regard to an 
“alternative” use for automatic sprinklers and I have run up against an 
obstacle that I would like to get the forum’s opinion on what approaches or 
methods can be used to satisfy the plan reviewer.

The Situation:

We are dealing with an existing 4 story inner city apartment renovation. The 
building has been gutted and refurbished into a new residential (R-2) 
occupancy. The building is protected by a new 13R sprinkler system supplied by 
municipal water. Pretty much standard up to this point.

The building has an exterior fire escape structure that utilizes the existing 
double hung windows as points of egress from the apartments. These windows are 
protected by individual sprinklers mounted at the center of each window with 
the deflector no more than 2” above the window opening. These K 5.6 heads are 
calculated to flow 20 GPM at 15 PSI. The thought process behind this is that 
the sprinkler, when activated, will protect the window glass and preserve the 
path of egress for the tenants trying to leave the structure.

We have designed several of these projects over the last two years and I have a 
standard detail block that I put on each drawing that shows the spray pattern 
of the sprinkler, mounting detail, a letter from the manufacturer’s PE 
detailing the test procedure that was used to determine the sprinkler spray 
pattern and a reference to NFPA-13, 2016, Section 23.3.7.1.

This detail has satisfied the plan reviewers for months, but now they a 
requiring a letter from an FPE (YES, not a PE) or the manufacturer saying the 
sprinkler will “provide 100% wetting of the glazing surface”. As you can 
imagine, in our law suite happy land, the manufacturer is reluctant to write 
this letter and I don’t know any FPE’s that I can ask to write such a letter or 
if they would laugh me off the phone if I did.

Has anyone else dealt with this type of issue and if so, HOW!?

Thanks,

John Paulsen – SET

Crown Fire System Design

6282 Seeds Rd.

Grove City, OH 43123

P – 614-782-2438<tel:614-782-2438>

F – 614-782-2374<tel:614-782-2374>

C – 614-348-8206<tel:614-348-8206>




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