Fire Protection For Attic Space

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Fire protection for attic space.

If the ceiling material is fire rated the firewall can terminate at the ceiling. 1301 7 7 09 fire protection systems. One such case is the idea of providing automatic sprinkler protection in attics. Drywall joints shall be taped or sealed.

Combustible concealed spaces formed where ceilings are attached directly to the underside of composite wood joists or onto metal channels no deeper than 1 inch 2 5 centimeters do not require sprinkler protection where the joist channels are fire stopped at intervals of not more than 160 cubic feet 4 5 cubic meters and where at least 3 5 inches 8 8 centimeters of that installation is installed at the bottom of the joist channels. Nfpa 13 however which has an emphasis on the protection of property as well as life addresses the potential for a fire originating in an attic space or traveling to an attic space from an exterior point of origin. The starting point to determining if attics require sprinkler protection is section 8 1 which basically says to protect all spaces unless there is a specific exemption somewhere in the standard. While all of this is intended to create a fire barrier between garage and house it is not specified as one hour rating or fire wall by the residential editon of the florida building code fbc or the.

Nfpa 13 installation of sprinkler systems the standard for the installation of automatic sprinkler systems never specifically addresses whether or not an attic requires sprinkler protection. Fire sprinkler protection for attic spaces represents a unique challenge both in sprinkler place ment and fire control. An automatic sprinkler system installed in accordance with paragraph c 3 a. Quite often unique challenges are best addressed by the use of specific applica tion sprinklers.

The living space should be separated from the garage by a firewall that extends from the floor to the roof. When there is a living area habitable space above the garage the ceiling requirement ramps up to 5 8 type x fire rated drywall.