Fire Sprinkler System - "Fully Sprinklered"
What constitutes a facility being considered "fully sprinklered?" Occupancies
Any examples are for illustrative purposes only.
NFPA 13 (2012 edition) Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems requires that "a building, where protected by an automatic sprinkler system installation, shall be provided with sprinklers in all areas except where specific sections of this standard permit the omission of sprinklers." The installation requirements may be found in Chapter 8 of that document.
Sprinklers are permitted to be omitted from some skylights (see 8.5.7.1); some concealed spaces (See 8.15.1.2); some spaces under ground floors, exterior docks, and platforms (see 8.15.6); some exterior roofs, canopies, porte-cocheres, balconies, decks, or similar projections (see 8.15.7); and some electrical equipment rooms (see 8.15.10.3). All of these exceptions have specific criteria that must be met in order to utilize them.
NFPA 101 (2012 edition) Life Safety Code allows some additional exceptions specific to Health Care Occupancies. From Section 18/19.3.5.5:
From Section 18/19.3.5.10:
Reference LS.02.01.35
NFPA 13 (2012 edition) Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems requires that "a building, where protected by an automatic sprinkler system installation, shall be provided with sprinklers in all areas except where specific sections of this standard permit the omission of sprinklers." The installation requirements may be found in Chapter 8 of that document.
Sprinklers are permitted to be omitted from some skylights (see 8.5.7.1); some concealed spaces (See 8.15.1.2); some spaces under ground floors, exterior docks, and platforms (see 8.15.6); some exterior roofs, canopies, porte-cocheres, balconies, decks, or similar projections (see 8.15.7); and some electrical equipment rooms (see 8.15.10.3). All of these exceptions have specific criteria that must be met in order to utilize them.
NFPA 101 (2012 edition) Life Safety Code allows some additional exceptions specific to Health Care Occupancies. From Section 18/19.3.5.5:
"In Type I and Type II construction, alternative protection measures shall be permitted to be substituted for sprinkler protection without causing a building to be classified as nonsprinklered in specified areas where the authority having jurisdiction has prohibited sprinklers."
From Section 18/19.3.5.10:
"Sprinklers shall not be required in clothes closets or patient sleeping rooms in hospitals where the area of the closet does not exceed 6 sq ft, provided that the distance from the sprinkler in the patient sleeping room to the back wall of the closet does not exceed the maximum distance permitted by NFPA 13."
Reference LS.02.01.35
Manual:
Nursing Care Center
Chapter:
Life Safety LS
Last reviewed by Standards Interpretation: July 12, 2023
Represents the most recent date that the FAQ was reviewed (e.g. annual review).
First published date: April 11, 2016
This Standards FAQ was first published on this date.
This page was last updated on July 12, 2023
with update notes of: Review only, FAQ is current
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