RELAXATION OF PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION WITH SPRINKLERS

1
RELAXATION OF PASSIVE FIRE PROTECTION WITH
SPRINKLERS

• Prof. Kyriakos Papaioannou
• ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY
• GREECE

2
Introduction

• Sprinklers installations have been in use for
  over 120 years. Value in reducing property losses
• Insurance companies give high discounts on
  premiums (till 60).
• Sprinklers can contribute to life safety in two
  ways, by controlling a fire and by providing
  greater time for escape purposes.
• Fire Regulations where active fire protection
  measures are provided allow relaxations one or
  more of the passive protection measures (trade
  offs)
• Fire resistance of building elements
• Size of compartments
• Minimum escape times or travel distances

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Fire Resistance

• FIRE CONTAINMENT
• Fire resistance is the ability of a structural
  element to withstand the effects of fire for a
  specified period without the loss of its fire
  separating or loadbearing functions or both.
• Stability
• Integrity
• Insulation
• EN 1991-1-2 Eurocode 1 Actions on Structures,
  Parts 1-2 General Actions Actions on
  structures exposed to fire
• National Regulations permit specific reductions
  in fire resistance with sprinklers installation

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Eurocode EN 1991-1-22002 (E)Actions on
structures exposed to fire

• Table E.2 Factors d n i
• d n i Function of Active Fire Fighting
  Measures

Automatic Fire Suppression Automatic Fire Suppression
Automatic Water Extinguishing System Independent Water Supplies
d n1 0 I 1 I 2 d n2
0,61 1,0I 0,87I 0,7
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Fire Regulations

• Austria- external non-load-bearing facades
  Reduction from 90 minutes to 30 minutes
• In industrial buildings reduction.
• Germany- corridors in shopping centres
• Reduction from 90 minutes to 30 minutes
• Luxemburg- 90 minutes structural fire resistance
  in single storey shopping centres unless
  sprinklers are fitted.
• the fire resistance between individual shop
  units 60 minutes unless sprinklers are fitted.

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Fire resistance (Reg.)

• Spain- When combined with a smoke extraction
  system, allows a reduction of 30-60 minutes in
  the structural fire resistance of single storey
  industrial buildings, depending on their
  configuration.
• Switzerland allows a reduction of 30 minutes in
  structural fire resistance if sprinklers are
  fitted.
• UK Approved Document B allows a reduction from 90
  minutes to 60 minutes in offices and shops higher
  than 10 storeys if sprinklers are fitted. It also
  allows a reduction of 30 minutes in the fire
  resistance for storage buildings if sprinklers
  are fitted.

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Compartmentation

• The provision of a fire resisting enclosure or a
  barrier to keep a fire to a specified size so as
  to inhibit its spread within a building or to an
  adjacent building.
• Size of compartments
• Austria allows larger fire compartments in
  industrial buildings if sprinklers are fitted.
  The details depend on the number of storeys and
  the fire resistance in place.
• Belgium requires sprinklers in shops with fire
  compartments larger than 2,000m2.

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Compartmentation (cont.)

• Czech Republic requires sprinklers in shops with
  a fire compartment area larger than 1,000m2 and
  in exhibition halls with a fire compartment
  larger than 5,000m2.
• France allows warehouse compartments to be
  6,000m2 instead of 3,000m2 if sprinklers are
  fitted.
• Germany allows shopping centre fire compartments
  to be increased from 3,000m2 to 10,000m2 if
  sprinklers are fitted, or to 5,000m2 for
  multi-storey buildings. Germany allows the same
  increases as Austria in the fire compartments of
  industrial buildings if sprinklers are fitted. It
  also allows the underground fire compartment
  areas to be increased from 1,000m2 to 3,500m2 for
  the first underground floor and from 500m2 to
  1,750m2 for lower floors. Germany requires
  sprinklers in places of assembly with fire
  compartments larger than 3,600m2.

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Compartmentation (cont.)

• Iceland requires sprinklers for theatre stages
  larger than 100m2 in single storey shops with
  fire compartments larger than 2,000m2 or larger
  than 1,000m2 for multi-storey shops in
  industrial and storage buildings with fire
  compartments larger than 2,000m2 and in
  underground car parks larger than 100m2.
• Ireland allows all fire compartment area limits
  to be doubled if sprinklers are fitted. For
  example the maximum compartment area for a single
  storey shop doubles from 4,000m2 to 8,000m2.
• Luxemburg allows the maximum fire compartment
  area in a building higher than 8m and below 22m
  to be doubled from 1,600m2 to 3,200m2. It also
  doubles the compartment limit from 800m2 to
  1,600m2 in single storey offices and from 400m2
  to 800m2 in multi-storey offices. It requires
  sprinklers in shopping centres larger than
  3,000m2.
• The Netherlands requires an equivalent solution
  to dividing a building into fire compartments of
  1,000m2. The usual solution is to fit sprinklers.

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Compartmentation (cont.)

• Norway requires sprinklers in hotels and
  apartment buildings with multi-storey open
  connections if the total area is greater than
  800m2. Norway also requires sprinklers in
  single-storey shops, warehouses and industrial
  buildings larger than 1,800m2 or larger than a
  total of 800m2 divided between several floors.
• The Slovak Republic requires sprinklers in
  single-storey shops larger than 2,000m2 or
  multi-storey shops with a fire compartment larger
  than 1,000m2. It also requires sprinklers in
  exhibition halls with a fire compartment larger
  than 5,000m2.

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Compartmentation (cont.)

• In Switzerland sprinklers are often required if a
  fire compartment exceeds 2,400m2, although the
  limit is 1,200m2 for shops. Sprinklers are also
  required in car parks if the fire compartment is
  larger than 4,000m2 or if a multi-storey
  underground compartment is larger than 2,000m2.
• In the UK sprinklers must be installed in
  single-storey shops larger than 2,000m2.
  Sprinklers also raise the maximum compartment
  area in multi-storey places of assembly from
  2,000m2 to 4,000m2.

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Travel distances

• Germany allows travel distances in shopping
  centres to be increased from 25m to 60m in sales
  areas and from 35m to 70m in walkways.
• Luxemburg allows travel distances in underground
  car parks to increase from 30m to 40m with
  sprinklers.
• In Spain escape routes in shopping centres may be
  25 longer if sprinklers are fitted.
• In the UK travel distances may be increased if
  sprinklers are fitted. A new standard will allow
  increases of up to 50.

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G R E E C E

• Fire Regulations (P.D 71/1988)
• High risk buildings or areas of buildings must be
  fitted by sprinklers systems.(Article 1 Note
  1.2.3)
• Residential buildings Travel distances could be
  increased if a sprinklers system is fitted
  (5-2.1.3)
• Education buildings Compartment size increase
  factor 3,0 (with sprinklers)
  (7-3.2)
• Offices Fire resistance of loadbearing elements
  decrease factor 0,5 (with sprinklers)
  (8-3.1)
• Compartment area increase factor 1,5
  (8-3.2)
• Buildings higher than 20m and more than 400
  persons population must have a sprinklers system
  (8-4.4)

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G R E E C E

• 4. Shops Load bearing elements FR factor 0,5-0,6
  (9-3.1)
• Size of compartment increase factor 1,5-4,0
  (9-3.2)
• Installation of sprinklers in
• Buildings with floor area larger than 1.000 m2
• Total area larger than 2.500 m2
• Basements larger than 250 m2
• High risk areas
• 5. Assembly Buildings
• Travel distance from 45 to 60m (10-2.1.4)
• Fire resistance factor 0,5 (10-3.1)
• Volume of compartment from 7.000m3 to 10.500m3
• (10-3.2)

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G R E E C E

• 6. Industrial Buildings and Warehouses
• Fire resistance factor 0.5, 0.6, 0.7 (11-3.1)
• Compartment size 2.0, 2.5, 4.0 (11-3.2)
• In many cases automatic extinguishing systems are
  obligatory (4.3)
• 7. Hospitals
• In various high risk areas (warehouses, storage
  of flammable liquids electrical and mechanical
  rooms, laundries, crematories etc.)
• In buildings of people with disabilities
  (handicapped, children, elderly etc.)
• Sprinklers Systems are obligatory (12- 4.6)
• 8.Prisons (article 12B)
• Fire resistance factor 0.33
• Compartment size factor 1.5

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G R E E C E

• 9. Parking areas and Fuel Pump Stations (Art.13)
• Fire resistance factor 0.33
• Compartment size 1,50
• 10.Existing Hotels (Article 19)
• In the risk assessment methodology for the fire
  protection of existing hotels, the installation
  of sprinklers system in the total area of the
  Hotel gives the maximum grade of 10.0

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SPAIN

• Building Code
• Seguridad en caso de incendio S1-(March 2006)
• Sprinklers are required in 
• All buildings more than 80 m height
• Hotels more than 28 m height or more than 5.000
  m2 floor area.
• In commercial establishments more than 1.500 m2
  floor area and more than 500 MJ/m2 of fire load.
• sprinklers (required by regulation or not)
  increase 25 all limits to travel distances.
• sprinklers not required by regulation can
• increase 100 the limits of surface to fire
  compartments, typically 2.500 m2 rise up to 5.000
  m2 
• reduce 39 of the required time of structural
  fire resistance, but only when it is determined
  according to the equivalent time option. This
  option is the same of annex F of Eurocode nº 1
  (EN 1991-1-2). This reduction does not apply if
  you choose the tabulated required time.
•  

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CZECH REPUBLIC

• Sprinklers are required in
• 1)Apartment buildings or hotels higher than
  30m.2) Retail premises with a fire compartment
  larger than 1,000m2.3) Exhibition halls with a
  fire compartment larger than 5,000m2.4)
  Underground automatic car parks if quick and
  adequate intervention bythe fire service is
  impossible.5) Second and lower underground
  floors of multi-storey underground carparks with
  a capacity of more than 50 vehicles.6) Car parks
  with a capacity of more than 200 cars that are
  beneath public assembly buildings such as cinemas
  and conference centers.7) Stage areas of
  theatres in some circumstances.8) Storage of
  flammable liquids under some circumstances.