Inspection and Testing of Fire Sprinklers in Healthcare Facilities
If you are involved in the Inspection, Testing and Maintenance (ITM) of water-based fire protection systems then you are most likely familiar with Joint Commission and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This blog will hopefully shed some light on what is required and who is the Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) when it comes to these facilities.
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Contractors and AHJs: Are They Oil and Water or Bacon and Eggs
As a sprinkler contractor, you have probably encountered the unreasonable authority having jurisdiction (AHJ). This is the code official who approves the plans as submitted, performs a few rough-in walk-throughs but then waits until the time of the final inspection to tell you that you need to add 120 sprinklers to closets or bathrooms and threatens to hold up the building’s certificate of occupancy until they are installed. Or maybe they like to ignore the adopted codes and standards and enforce their own “cuz code”: “cuz I said so”.
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Sizing of Fire Department Connections (FDC)
Fire department connections (FDC) are required on NFPA 13/13R designed automatic fire sprinkler systems but are not required to be sized for flow or pressure. Automatic fire sprinkler systems are “automatic” and automatically provide the required design flow and pressure.
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Interior Finish and the Benefits of Sprinklers
February 20, 2023 will be the 20th anniversary of the Station Nightclub fire. On February 20, 2003, a fire started by pyrotechnics at the Station Nightclub in West Warwick, Rhode Island, killed one hundred people. To this day, the Station Nightclub fire is one of the deadliest fires in our nation’s history.
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