NFPA Journal - September/October 2020 - 35

CODES, STANDARDS
AND COMPLIANCE

the door must be confirmed; for example, the code specifies the maximum
force required to release the latch on
most side-hinged doors. Similarly, the
code also specifies the maximum force
required to set the door leaf in motion,
the maximum force required to open
the door leaf to the required width, and
the maximum opening force for doors
leaves in existing buildings.
If a door opens into an aisle, corridor,
passageway, or landing, the projection of the door leaf must be verified to
ensure it doesn't significantly impede
the path of other occupants.
Also, the code specifies that the
releasing mechanism for any latch must
be mounted at the appropriate height.
Occupants tend to look for the releasing mechanism at a certain height, and
valuable time could be wasted during
emergency conditions if occupants have
to search for the release. Additionally,
occupants may struggle to find the
releasing mechanism in low-light
situations.
The balance between life safety
and security has sparked an ongoing debate, and as a result of violent
incidents such as workplace shootings, a number of after-market
security devices have gained popularity. However, many of these devices
prohibit the free egress of building
occupants, which is a foundational
concept of the Life Safety Code. Other
criteria of the required door inspection in NFPA 101 ensure that only safe,
code-compliant locking arrangements
are being used.
While the Life Safety Code requires
these inspections annually, it also
permits less frequent inspection if a
performance-based option is appropriate. Although not all these doors
will be fire doors, Annex J of NFPA
80, Standard for Fire Doors and Other
Opening Protectives, provides information on the performance-based
approach that can be used to justify
longer periods between inspections.
Many of the inspection and testing requirements for these types of
doors are intended to ensure the

door performs as expected and that
any additional hardware and locking
mechanisms are code-compliant and
working properly.

Therefore, the floor
area on either side of
the door must be kept
clear and the door
must be able to open
and close freely. If the
path is blocked, or the
door cannot be opened,
occupants may need
to turn around and find
another way out, which
can waste valuable time.

If your facility has sat vacant for any
period of time, whether or not you are
required to complete these inspections,
it may be beneficial to inspect and test
all doors in the means of egress prior
to reoccupying the building.
Valerie Ziavras is a Technical Services engineer
at NFPA. NFPA members and AHJs can use the
Technical Questions tab to post queries on NFPA 101
at nfpa.org/101.

NFPA 13

Water-based fire
protection systems

Obstruction rules
when considering
ESFR sprinklers
By Brian O'Connor
topic that has appeared

A

numerous times recently
on the NFPA Xchange
blog (community.nfpa.
org) has to do with

obstructions and early suppression
fast response (ESFR) sprinklers-
more specifically, how ESFR sprinklers
cannot tolerate obstructions that might
not affect, or minimally affect, other
types of sprinklers. Because ESFR
sprinklers are designed to suppress a
fire versus controlling a fire's growth,
any blockage of the ESFR's discharge
may impact its ability to achieve rapid
suppression.
ESFR sprinklers were developed in
the 1980s and have been hailed as one
of the greatest fire protection innovations. The current edition of NFPA
13, Standard for the Installation of
Sprinkler Systems, defines ESFR
sprinklers as "a type of fast response
sprinkler ... listed for its capability to
provide fire suppression of specific
high-challenge fire hazards." They
come with many benefits, as well as
an array of incentives to use them.
One of the most important benefits
of ESFR technology is that the sprinklers can be installed over higher piles
of storage, often without having to use
in-rack sprinklers, which is why ESFR
sprinklers are used so often in storage
occupancies.
The amount of water required
to suppress a fire increases as the
fire grows, meaning if you can get
water to the burning fuel early in the
growth phase, suppression can be
achieved with less water. ESFR sprinklers address the need to suppress a
fire quickly. Their quick response time
and discharge patterns create droplets that can penetrate the fire plume.
They accomplish this with an increased
sprinkler sensitivity and a special
distribution pattern. A sprinkler's
response time is a function of thermal
sensitivity of the operating element, its
temperature rating, and its distance
relative to the fire. The earlier the
sprinkler activates, the smaller the fire.
The smaller the fire, the more likely
water will reach the burning fuel since
the heat plume of a large fire could
either evaporate or blow away incoming water droplets.
Because of how ESRF sprinklers
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NFPA Journal - September/October 2020

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