Fire Doors
Doors located along the 1-hour rated corridors at the Acme Company facility are rated fire door assemblies in accordance with the 2012 IBC. Various fire door assemblies are normally maintained open through the use of door holders. Section 716.5.9.3 of the 2012 IBC requires these doors to automatically close by area smoke detectors.
The 2013 edition of NFPA 72 specifies the specific placement that area smoke detectors be provided at each corridor door that is held open by door holders.
Area smoke detectors initiate an alarm condition in the fire alarm system, which activates visible and audible notification appliances.
Fans
The majority of fans at the Acme Company Anytown facility have been provided with automatic shutdown through means of duct smoke detectors. These duct smoke detectors are located at the building’s roof.
Section 6.4 of the 2009 edition of NFPA 90A requires supply fan inlets with a capacity greater than 2,000 cubic feet per minute (cfm) to be provided with automatic shutdown through use of duct smoke detectors. It further requires the installation of duct smoke detectors for fan shutdown in areas upstream of a common return where the airflow is greater than 15,000 cfm.
Recommended Improvements
The following improvements are recommended at the Acme Company, Anytown facility. Recommendations have been broken down into Phase 1 Improvements for the purpose of mitigating the building’s nuisance alarms and Phase 2 Improvements which detail the long-term fire alarm system goals based on the 2012 edition of the IBC and 2013 edition of NFPA 72.
Phase 1 Improvements
Zari Consulting Group has the following improvements to provide immediate mitigation of fire alarm nuisance alarms at the Acme Company Anytown facility. These mitigation recommendations do not guarantee avoidance of fire alarm nuisance alarms. They are as follows: