The Massachusetts State Building Code 780 CMR (9th edition), based on the 2015 International Building Code (IBC), has specific requirements regarding the protection of fire pump rooms. In order to meet the protection requirements, a fire pump room must be enclosed in a fire-resistant barrier or meet minimum separation requirements.
For fire pumps located inside of fully sprinklered buildings, 780 CMR §913.2.1, Exception 1 allows for a 1-hour fire barrier to protect a pump room in low-rise construction. For high-rise buildings, a minimum fire-resistance rating of 2-hours is required. These requirements are consistent with NFPA 20 Installation of Stationary Fire Pumps for Fire Protection (2013 edition) §4.12.1.1, which is adopted via reference by 780 CMR §913.1.
Access to the fire pump room is addressed separately by NFPA 20 §4.12.2. Access is required to be pre-planned with the Fire Department and consist of either (1) direct exterior access or, (2) through a fire-rated passageway (e.g. enclosed stairway, access corridor, etc.) with the rating to match the fire pump room enclosure (1- or 2-hr as determined by the above). The rating of the fire pump room is independent of whether access is provided direct from the exterior or via rated passageway.
780 CMR §913.2.1, Exception 2 allows for the protection requirements to be met through the physical separation of the fire pump from the building it protects. The overall goal of this requirement is to limit the exposure of the fire pump to a potential fire inside the protected building. Exception 2, in conjunction with NFPA 20 Table 4.12.1.1.2, allows for this objective to be met through the physical separation of the fire pump from the building by a minimum of 50 feet.
Standpipe systems are required in buildings to provide a quick, convenient water source for fire department use where hose lines would otherwise be impractical, such as in high-rise buildings. One of the locations for Class I standpipe connections is at the intermediate landings within every required exit stairway. However, the International Building Code (IBC) also requires standpipe systems to be installed in accordance with NFPA 14.
Up until the 2010 Edition of NFPA 14, hose connections were required to be located on the intermediate landing. When the 2010 Edition was developed, the location for the hose connections was changed to the main floor landings. The reasoning behind the change was that the preferred location by fire fighters for hose connections was the main landing, and that jurisdictions only required them at intermediate landings because of the way the standard is written (Proposal 14-52, F2009).
This code change was carried into subsequent versions of the standard, which created a conflict when the 2015 IBC was printed and referenced the 2013 Edition of NFPA 14. Due to this code change, confusion was created for projects being designed under the 2015 IBC. The following items should be considered for these projects:
- Where conflicts occur between the provision in the IBC and the referenced codes/standards, the provisions in the IBC shall apply (2015 IBC 102.4.1).
- Both the IBC and NFPA 14 specifically permit the fire official/AHJ to allow the standpipe connections to be at either main or intermediate landings (2015 IBC 905.4.1-1 & 2013 NFPA 14, 7.3.2.1).
To align the IBC with NFPA 14, the 2018 IBC was changed to require standpipe connections at the main landing (F187-16). These changes have also be carried into the 2021 IBC.
Want to learn more about this code change and how it may impact/help your projects? Contact us at info@crcfire.com for more information.
As code consultants, there are certain questions from clients that come up quite often. One of these is related to whether tenant separations in buildings are required to be fire-resistance rated. It appears that much of this uncertainty is related to changes in the code provisions over the years.
In many older buildings constructed under the BOCA National Building Code, you will find that 1-hour rated walls were commonly provided between different tenants within the same building. These are observed in the field as full height walls with fire doors and penetrations/joints sealed with firestopping. Why are they there? Are such tenant separations required for new construction?
Up until the 1999 BOCA National Building Code (6th Edition and earlier in Massachusetts), 1-hour rated fire partitions were required to be provided between tenants in buildings with protected construction types, regardless if the walls were bearing or not. This 1-hour rating would span all occupancy classifications and uses including office buildings. As states transitioned toward adopting the newly introduced International Building Code (IBC) beginning in 2000, these requirements changed. Under the IBC, fire-resistance rated tenant separations are no longer required outside of covered malls.
Reference: 1999 Edition of BOCA National Building Code Table 602
It is important to remember, that although most tenant separations are no longer required by current codes, existing fire-resistance ratings between tenant spaces must be sufficiently maintained if required by the code at the time of construction. Further, there may be various conditions requiring fire-resistance rated partitions/barriers between different tenants including, but not limited to, control area boundaries, occupancy separations, vertical opening protection, etc.
From open office floor layouts to exterior glass curtain walls, visible connectivity between buildings and floor levels remains one of the major features in architectural design desired by our clients. One of the challenges with incorporating such connectivity is reconciling the building and fire codes’ requirement for rated separations. While there are various prescriptive and performance-based options available, a common preference is to use non-rated glazing with automatic sprinkler protection.
There are very limited applications where the code recognizes sprinkler protected glazing as a prescriptive alternative to a rated assembly. One of these applications is an alternative to a 1-hour atrium separation. In other instances, specialized sprinklers are used to protect glazing that has been tested as a 2-hour fire resistance rated wall assembly. With this approach, the glazing is not subject to some of the limitations imposed on typical opening protectives by the building code, such as size.
Under the 8th Edition of the Massachusetts State Building Code (780 CMR), it was unclear if sprinkler protected glazing could be used as a prescriptive alternative to a 2-hour wall. This ambiguity allowed for the design consultant to negotiate the reasonableness of substituting an active fire protection system for a fire-rated passive barrier. Now under the 9th Edition of 780 CMR, the newly added Section 703.4 requires the fire resistance rating of a building element, component or assembly to be established without the use of sprinklers or any other fire suppression system. With this new section, it is clear that the use of sprinkler protected glazing in lieu of a rated wall assembly under the 9th Edition of 780 CMR requires either approval from the building official or a state variance.
The City of Cambridge Inspectional Services Department (ISD), is in lock step with Cambridge Fire Department’s (CFD) mandate, requiring a Construction Fire Safety Plan as a component to all building permit applications for both new construction and renovation projects. This requirement is consistent with the expectations set forth in the Massachusetts State Building Code and Fire Codes, which reference NFPA 241, Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations.
What does this mean for you? If you file for a building permit in the City of Cambridge, then you must include a project specific Construction Fire Safety Plan. The complexity of the plan depends on the individual project, the associated hazardous operations, and the proposed means to mitigate the risk of construction fires.
This requirement must include a completed CFD fire prevention program manager (FPPM) identification form (as explained in this CRC Blog Cambridge FPPM Identification Form Blog).
See Cambridge’s Construction Site Fire Safety Regulations for more information: Click Here
For more information on how to create a living Construction Fire Safety Plan, contact peterh@crcfire.com.
A question that comes up from time to time on renovations is why some stairs have smoke hatches at the top and others don’t. Under early versions of the BOCA Basic Building Code, all enclosed vertical shafts extending through more than two stories (except for elevators and dumbwaiter hoistways) were required to be automatically vented to the outer air. Compliance with this requirement required the shafts to be provided with skylights, windows of equivalent area or with other approved automatic means of removing hot air and gases. Operation of these devices were required to be controlled by one of the following:
- Fusible links designed to operate at a fixed temperature of not more than 160° F or
- Electric or pneumatic operation under a rapid rise in temperature or 15-20° F per minute
- By other approved means
In Massachusetts, this applied to all buildings constructed between January 1975 and March 1991 (1st – 4th Editions of 780 CMR). Under the base International Building Code (IBC), this is no longer a requirement; however, in some jurisdictions, like New York City, these skylights / hatches are still required (2014 NYCBC 708.12.1). If you are interested in decommissioning this system in a jurisdiction where it is no longer required, it should be discussed and approved by the local code officials as an existing, previously required fire protection system
Daylighting can be a major energy-efficiency asset when combined with automatic lighting controls. For this reason, skylights are required in by the energy code for enclosed spaces greater than 2,500 square feet and meeting the following criteria (2015 IECC 402.4.2):
- Located directly under a room with not less than 75% of the ceiling area with a ceiling height greater than 15 feet, and
- The space is used as an office, lobby, atrium, concourse, corridor, storage space, gymnasium/exercise center, convention center, automotive service area, space where manufacturing occurs, nonrefrigerated warehouse, retail store, distribution/sorting area, transportation depot or workshop
The total daylight zone under skylights shall be not less than half the floor area and shall provide one of the following:
- A minimum skylight area to daylight zone under sky-lights of not less than 3 percent where all skylights have a VT of at least 0.40 as determined in accordance with Section C303.1.3.
- A minimum skylight effective aperture of at least 1 percent, determined in accordance with the following equation:
Skylight Effective Aperture = 0.85 (Skylight Area) (Skylight VT) (WF) / (Daylight zone under skylight)
where:
Skylight area = Total fenestration area of skylights
Skylight VT = Area weighted average visible transmittance of skylights
WF = Area weighted average well factor, where well factor is 0.9 if light well depth is less than 2 feet, or 0.7 if light well depth is 2 feet or greater
Light well depth = Measure vertically from the underside of the lowest point of the skylight glazing to the ceiling plane under the skylight
Exceptions to this requirement include
- Spaces where the designed general lighting power densities are less than 0.5 W/ft2.
- Areas where it is documented that existing structures or natural objects block direct beam sunlight on at least half of the roof over the enclosed area for more than 1,500 daytime hours per year between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Spaces where the daylight zone under rooftop monitors is greater than 50 percent of the enclosed space floor area.
- Spaces where the total area minus the area of day-light zones adjacent to vertical fenestration is less than 2,500 square feet, and where the lighting is controlled according to Section C405.2.3.
The threshold for skylights was reduced from 10,000 square feet in the 2012 IECC to 2,500 square feet in the 2015 IECC, which can quickly come into play with the open floor layouts that are commonly constructed today.
Want to learn more about this code change and how it may impact/help your projects? Contact us at info@crcfire.com for more information.
The progress of construction projects can’t slow down just because the temperatures dip below freezing. To allow for this, general contractors and developers must provide accommodations for temporary heat to allow for certain operations and to protect men and material from the elements. Many projects rely on natural gas fired temporary heaters to provide warm air into the building before the permanent systems are installed and commissioned.
This winter our project sites in certain cities/towns are at risk of not being served with natural gas given the labor dispute faced by National Grid. To that end, general contractors and developers must turn to alternative fuel sources such as diesel, steam, and propane to heat their buildings under construction.
In the City of Boston, the fire department has outlined specific requirements that must be submitted prior to the allowance of temporary propane heat on a construction site. Strict adherence to this “Interim Alternative Fuel Source Policy” is required for consideration. A link to the requirements can be found here: https://www.boston.gov/news/new-interim-alternative-fuel-source-policy-announced.
Item 1 of the BFD Policy requires the applicant to adhere to the requirements of 527 CMR 1.00 (Massachusetts Comprehensive Fire Safety Code), NFPA 58 (Liquified Petroleum Gas Code) and NFPA 241 (Standard for Safeguarding Construction, Alteration, and Demolition Operations). Contact Code Red Consultants if you need assistance in developing a Propane Storage Compliance Narrative to address Item 1 as you apply for approval of your temporary installation (info@crcfire.com).
The fire-resistance rating of a mezzanine structure often comes into question during design. Common questions asked include: What materials are permitted to be used? What is the required fire rating of the structure? What penetrations of the mezzanine floor need to be protected?
As no specific direction is provided in the mezzanine section of the building code (IBC Section 505), the construction of mezzanines is required to conform to the following:
- Constructed of materials consistent with the construction type of the building. If the building is composed of Type I or II construction, the mezzanine structure must be noncombustible.
- Structure (columns, floors, beams, etc.) is required to be fire-rated consistent with the construction of the building in accordance with Section 601; and
- The fire rating of mezzanine floors is not required from a vertical opening perspective, only a structural stability perspective. As such, penetrations of the mezzanine floor are not required to be protected with approved firestop assemblies provided the omission of such assemblies does not compromise the structural integrity of the floor in a fire event.
For example, if a building is Type IIA Construction (non-combustible, 1-hour frame), a mezzanine is required to be constructed of non-combustible materials with a 1-hour fire rating. Penetrations of the mezzanine floor (i.e. pipe penetration) are not required to be protected with a firestop assembly provided this will not impact the integrity of the mezzanine structure during a fire.
