American Fire Sprinkler Association 12750 Merit Dr., Suite 350 Dallas TX 75251 Ph:(214) 349-5965 Fax:(214) 276-0908
----------------- TECHNICAL UPDATE April 16, 2010 ----------------- “The facility being protected is an existing multi-level car storage and dealership where fire protection upgrades are taking place. The electrical supply and fire pump installation meet all the criteria set forth in NFPA 20. The code enforcement officer has now requested that a backup generator be installed. Is it the intent of NFPA 20 to require backup generators on all electric fire pump installations?” We have reviewed NFPA 20, 2010 as the applicable standard. Our informal interpretation is that NFPA 20 does not require a backup generator on all electric fire pump installations. This issue is driven by the fact that NFPA 20 requires a reliable power supply but does not define it. However, guidance is provided in the standard to determine if the normal power source can be considered reliable. Section 9.2 requires power to be supplied to the electric motor-driven fire pump by either a reliable source or two or more approved independent sources, all of which shall make compliance with Section 9.2 possible. The base requirement here is for a single reliable power source. If a single reliable power source is available and used to drive the pump motor, nothing more is required such as an on-site generator. The guidance prior to the 2007 Edition, Other Sources provided three characteristics of a reliable power source: (1) Infrequent power disruptions from environmental or man-made conditions; (2) A separate service connection or connection to the supply side of the service disconnect; (3) Service and feeder conductors either buried under 2 in. of concrete or encased in 2 in. of concrete or brick within a building. The committee felt this was still too vague so material was added in the 2007 Edition to provide guidance in determining a reliable power supply. The new annex material was added to Section A.9.3.2 and too lengthy to repeat in this letter. The annex is summarized as follows: A reliable power source possesses the following characteristics: (1) The source power plant has not experienced any shutdowns of longer than 4 continuous hours in the year prior to plan submittal; (2) No power outages have been experienced in the area of the protected facility caused by failures in the power grid that were not due to natural disasters or electric grid management failure. The standard does not require that the normal source of power be infallible. The annex material also indicates that the determination of the reliability of a service is left up to the discretion of the authority having jurisdiction. There were no changes to this in the 2010 Edition. In closing, if the power to the pump is a reliable source, additional power sources such as a generator are not needed according to NFPA 20. ----------------- 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 © 2010, American Fire Sprinkler Association. All Rights Reserved -------------------------- If you’d rather not receive future faxes from AFSA, fax your removal request to Amy Sweeney at Efax (214) 242-3155 or call toll free (888) 839-4830 or send e-mail request @ [email protected]. Please include your company name and the specific fax numbers(s) at which you do not wish to receive faxes from us. Our failure to comply with your request may be unlawful. _______________________________________________ Sprinklernotes mailing list [email protected] http://fireball.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklernotes
