The occupancy hazard design approach for fire sprinkler systems is crucial for determining the amount of water needed to control potential fires based on the quantity and combustibility of contents.

Key changes of NFPA 13 (2025) include flexible adoption of newer standards, revised definitions and updated installation requirements for sloped ceilings and high clearance areas.

Plumbing engineer Jack DeVine simplifies the process of designing sprinkler systems for storage occupancies by breaking it down into manageable steps.

Using water mist to protect items from fire consumes less water than traditional fire sprinkler systems. To achieve the small droplet size, however, the system requires a high pressure water supply. Brian O’Connor from the National Fire Protection Association explains these systems and their various applications. 

A building’s fire protection system may require fire pumps and associated equipment. Engineers should follow these planning and design best practices to protect against various risk factors and ensure reliability during emergencies.

These devices are used to shut portions of the fire sprinkler system off for maintenance or repair work without taking the entire system offline, endangering building occupants in case of fire. While not required in all circumstances, they should be considered as another fire safety mechanism.

The UNITED Fire Systems Riser-Mount Air Compressor Model RMAC-LP is a device that automatically provides compressed air for preaction fire sprinkler and dry-pipe fire sprinkler systems.

Design criteria for storage fire protection systems must consider a substantial number of variables: what is being stored and how, the height of the planned storage, how high the ceiling is above the storage, and what the water supply is.

As the built and to-be-built environments increase in complexity, speed and efficiency, fire protection professionals must work together to protect people, property and the environment. A professional panel discusses this issue and other challenges when working on projects with delegated design clauses.