Simplex Advice from a Fire Protection Design Consultant

Navigating Under Designs and from a Fire Protection Design Consultant Olsen is well qualified to know whether or not a fire design is going to be approved or more importantly to adequately protect lives and property is vice president of Fire Safety Consultants Inc FSCI Elgin Illinois based leader in fire and building code review consulting With 44 years of experience he has reviewed of fire protection plans conducted scores of training and consulted with a multitude of building owners and builders on code compliance He worked closely fire marshals city governments and fire protection system Based on his experience Olsen understands that not is as knowledgeable as they should be about NFPA local building codes simple fact of the matter is that 95 percent of people fire protection systems are not fire protection noted Olsen Without that background and training are inevitable Olsen has some helpful advice for those system who want to make the process of designing and approval of fire protection systems as smooth stress swift and profitable as possible under designing to save costly delays a competitive marketplace there is a tremendous incentive to as thrifty as possible in designing a fire detection system A bid can win the business For design build firms a bare fire protection design can help keep total estimated within clients expectations don think that cutting corners will pass muster of the typical under design issues Warren Olsen sees Improper installation of initiating devices When ceiling are not smooth for example featuring beams joist construction local codes may require those initiating to be spaced closer together than on a smooth ceiling Incorrect spacing of heat detectors on ceilings higher than feet As ceiling heights rise heat detectors need to be closer together The required number and spacing smoke detectors is also affected by ambient conditions as room temperature humidity air flows and the burn of the building material errors are usually caught in the review process but design iterations can cause costly delays Worse yet if under designed system were to receive approval lives and could be put at greater risk due to a potential delay in operation preclude the delays and risks of under designed systems offers several recommendations Take a three day NFPA or similar course You don have to a full fledged fire protection design engineer to master basics of code requirements for designing Courses are nationwide from a variety of reputable sources the NFPA Engage a fire protection design consultant to review your before submission Fire protection design consultants experts at spotting both issues and opportunities A design does not take long and can save you time and effort recommendations do require some up front costs but will be worth it compared to the time and labor costs of additional reviews and occupancy delays you don over design you may win more business avoid long term costs as it may seem according to Olsen over designs are as of a problem as under designs sometimes include more smoke detectors than either because they not aware of code variations to physical factors or because they want to ensure they noted Olsen plans will not typically be rejected the review process for over design the increased cost of and maintaining an over designed system is shouldered the building owner owners aren the only ones to pay For independent fire system companies the impact of over designs can be costly If you consistently over design systems you be underbid on projects unnecessarily pricing yourself out of for business over design issue that Warren Olsen often encounters is spacing of smoke detectors example according to code the nominal spacing for smoke is every 30 feet noted Olsen if you a fire detection system for a building with five foot wide those detectors could be spaced every 42 feet If those are long and it a multi story building your design could dozens more smoke detectors than necessary to provide protection negative ramifications of over designs can be significant is the greater cost to the building owner to purchase and the extra smoke detectors There is the increased cost of inspection and testing If you specify 30 more detection than necessary that 30 more potential sources of alarms recommends that designers don simply add extra devices their designs to cover themselves take the time to become better acquainted with code he suggested short course will more than pay itself over time Second learn how to use innovative products solve design challenges and simplify your overall network like Johnson Controls provide a wealth of information design resources that you can take advantage of to know your fire marshal Olsen final piece of advice requires no out of pocket at all get better acquainted with your local fire marshal should that be recommended You might think that meeting code requirements would be straightforward all it should to get a plan approved is to find out which version of NFPA jurisdiction has adopted what the local building codes and design to those requirements it not that simple notes that individual fire marshals often have their own that go above and beyond NFPA and local codes example a fire marshal may insist on including fully detection even when a building is fully equipped with and is not a residential facility with people sleeping the night and therefore not in need of automatic he said therefore recommends that fire detection system get to know their local fire marshals and learn their preferences for design features above and beyond code addition the level of training among fire marshals can vary said Olsen you think your local fire marshal could use little extra fire alarm training try offering to sponsor them in a class to increase their knowledge little knowledge goes a long way all Warren Olsen stresses that it doesn take years of training or large investments to become knowledgeable effective fire protection system design An affordable three course can impart the basics and keep you up to date on the innovations while experts like Simplex offer resources videos and other training programs that can be helpful and many of them are free learn more visit www simplex fire com Johnson Controls All Rights Reserved