In this, my last column for Plumbing Engineer, I wish to describe my journey as a fire protection engineer and give some recognition to several of those who lent a hand or gave some good direction along the way. 

A look at how Dalmatians became the definitive firehouse dogs.

The popularity of battery storage systems brings fire safety concerns. Proposed NFPA 855 Standard for the Installation of Stationary Energy Storage Systems addresses these concerns.

This is an outline of many areas in the codes where sprinklers are required or used to take advantage of the many trade-offs giving architects and builders flexibility in the design and construction of a building.

In this column, I would like to focus on the handbook’s approach to sprinkler system hydraulic calculations. Note that hydraulically calculated sprinkler systems did not appear in NFPA 13 until the 1972 edition.

At the writing of the column, the death toll in the Camp Fire is 84 people with 475 people missing. It has burned more than 250 square miles and destroyed more than 14,000 homes.

Ah yes, AHJs. You cannot live with them and you most definitely cannot live without them. The official NFPA definition of an Authority Having Jurisdiction (AHJ) is “An organization, office or individual responsible for enforcing the requirements of a code or standard, or for approving equipment, materials, an installation or a procedure.”

The National Fire Protection Association Standards Council issued the 2019 edition of NFPA 20, Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection, with an effective date of May 24, 2018. 

NFPA 13D, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes, is effective as of Sept. 3, 2018. NFPA 13R. Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems in Low-Rise Residential Occupancies, is effective as of May 24, 2018.

A look at some of the technical changes and clarifications in the soon-to-be-published, updated standard.