American Fire Sprinkler Association
12750 Merit Dr., Suite 350 Dallas, TX 75251
Ph: (214) 349-5965 Fax: (214) 276-0908
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TECHNICAL UPDATE
MAY 2, 2007
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"I have an office building with a roof construction of plywood on
metal trusses. The underside of the plywood decking will be
completely covered with non-combustible batt insulation. The plywood
is not fire-rated. The attic is separated from the space below by
gypsum board attached to the bottom of the trusses. The attic is
inaccessible. Since the plywood will be completely covered by the
insulation, is it considered exposed? Is the attic required to be
protected by sprinklers? If sprinklers are required, can the system
in the attic be wet? The attic space does contain ductwork for
heating the occupied space below the ceiling."
We have reviewed the 2002 Edition of NFPA 13 that you have identified
as the applicable Standard. Our informal interpretation is that attic
space as you have described it will not require sprinkler protection.
The attic space as you have described it meets the requirements of
NFPA 13:8.14.1.2.1 for the omission of sprinkler protection. The
plywood decking on the top of the roof joist is not an exposed
combustible construction due to the insulation completely covering
the underside surface of the plywood deck. If the insulation has a
paper backing facing the concealed space, it must meet the
requirement of 8.14.1.12 and not exceed a combustible rating of 1000
BTU per square ft. The attic space that has to be looked at would be
that from the bottom side of the insulation to the topside of the
gypsum board ceiling. This space is considered non-combustible. The
space can contain ducts but cannot contain any fuel-fired equipment
to maintain a non-sprinklered concealed space.
As to your question on using a wet system in this space if it had
been required to provide sprinklers. The space would have to be
maintained at or above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for wet sprinkler
protection to be used.
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Technical Update is prepared by the Technical Services Dept. of the
AFSA: Vice President of Engineering and Technical Services Roland
Huggins, a PE registered in fire protection engineering; Phill Brown,
a NICET IV certified automatic sprinkler technician and NFPA
Certified Fire Protection Specialist (CFPS) and Tom Wellen, a degreed
fire protection engineering technologist. This is provided with the
understanding that the AFSA assumes no liability for this opinion or
actions taken on it and they are not to be considered the official
position of the NFPA or its technical committees.
Copyright (c) 2007, American Fire Sprinkler Association. All
Rights Reserved
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