One time I did a six-story Medical Office Building as 100% shell space; specified by the engineer as Light Hazard with 220 ft2 spacing. All tenants were to be medical offices… Light Hazard.
The very first tenant to go in was a shop for nurses’ uniforms… Ordinary Hazard Group 2. On the opposite corner of the building from the riser. The second tenant to go in was a restaurant… Ordinary Hazard Group 1. Yes, the system had to be significantly revised. Fortunately, there were no other tenants yet, so there was no interruption of existing tenants to rework the sprinkler system. Now, as a consulting engineer, I do not allow Light Hazard designs for shell spaces, but that is specified, not a code requirement. David L. Miller, P.E. Engineered Fire Protection, LLC 11920 Richcroft Avenue Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70814 225-273-5040 From: Fpdcdesign <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, May 9, 2026 5:04 PM To: Ken <[email protected]>; Discussion list on issues relating to automatic fire sprinklers <[email protected]> Subject: [Sprinklerforum] Re: Shell space? A vacant space is considered light hazard so that is what the low bidder designed to. Todd Williams Fire Protection Design/Consulting Stonington, CT 860-608-4559 On May 9, 2026 at 5:20 PM, <Parsley Consulting <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: Friends, I'm in the process of a lengthy plan review of a -13 compliant sprinkler system. The layout has shown large areas of "shell" space, and the calculations show light hazard, for future TI. For a long time, perhaps to long to admit, I've had the impression such spaces should be either OH1 or OH2. Any clarity? sincerely, Ken Wagoner, SET Parsley Consulting 3002 Younger Drive Harrisonville, Missouri 64701-3909 Phone: (760) 745-6181 Visit the website <https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=http%3a%2f%2fwww.parsleyconsulting.com%2f&c=E,1,Y5zKJKPEh1mBEBqSR-VE9cUKl5y-eyP8BpvmE_5j9ZqW2eJbNphYzrCMBZ-2YuX6d-RRkHI4gQ1FV-cvOeCfRC58uZS9NiToZv2mx7909oCqLvCW_n5hDHeK&typo=1> _________________________________________________________ SprinklerForum mailing list: https://lists.firesprinkler.org/list/sprinklerforum.lists.firesprinkler.org To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> -- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. www.avast.com
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