NFPA Journal - November/December 2020 - 38

Jaqueline Wilmot, an engineer at NFPA and a
project manager with the Fire Protection
Research Foundation, on maintaining fire safety
in commercial kitchens, part of a blog post in
conjunction with the 2020 Fire Prevention
Week theme of cooking safety:
Clearance between cooking equipment and
combustible materials is particularly important
to prevent fires from spreading. Fires that burn in
ducts can reach very high temperatures and can

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create a large amount of radiant heat on the outside, even where the duct is not compromised. The
radiant heat has the potential to ignite combustible materials and start fires in the combustible
concealed spaces of a building-thus the reason
for clearance.
Section 4.2 of NFPA 96, Standard for Ventilation
Control and Fire Protection of Commercial Cooking
Operations, recommends a minimum clearance of
18 inches. The definitions for combustible material,
limited-combustible material, and noncombustible
material are provided in Chapter 3, along with
examples of each material in the annex. Although
these are considered construction requirements,
clearances should be observed during operation.
For example, placing combustible boxes on top of
an oven hood or directly against the side of it can
present the same hazards noted above.
In many existing facilities, combustible materials
might already be present, making clearance requirements difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.
Section 4.2.3 of NFPA 96 provides requirements for
clearance reduction systems.

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Brian O'Connor, an NFPA engineer, on the need
to better understand the requirements for fire
alarms in private operating mode:
The sound of a fire alarm and flash of the visual notification are typically designed so that everyone can see and
hear them, no matter where people are located in the
building. Private operating mode, however, is allowed
in certain buildings, such as hospitals or correctional
facilities, where notifying everyone could cause panic,
interrupt delicate surgeries, or damage occupants'
hearing or vision (such as newborn babies). Where it is allowed,
an alarm only signals the people
in a facility who are responsible for directing and initiating
an emergency action, such as
guards in a correctional facility.
Fire alarm designers and AHJs
need to better understand the
many requirements for private
operating mode. Using such
a system requires an analysis
of the situation and an understanding of human behavior; it
isn't a one-size-fits-all solution.
Private operating mode must
be integrated into the facility's
emergency response plan and
the responsible personnel must
be properly trained. If done right,
it has the potential to save lives.
NFPA 101®, Life Safety Code®,
allows private operating mode
in places where occupants are
incapable of evacuating themselves because of age, physical
or mental disabilities, or physical restraint. NFPA 99,
Health Care Facilities Code, contains specific requirements for its use in health care facilities.
Kristen Bigda, technical lead of building life
safety at NFPA, on how NFPA 101®, Life Safety
Code®, applies during building rehabilitation work:
Prior to 2006, editions of NFPA 101 required all modernizations, renovations, additions, and changes of
occupancy, to the extent practicable, to comply with
the requirements for new construction. However,
building rehabilitations are often not undertaken because building owners believe they will be forced to
make unwanted or unwarranted upgrades. Chapter
43, added in 2006, was written to encourage the
adaptive reuse of compliant, existing structures. The
former philosophy of "that which you do must meet
new" is relaxed.
Now, with the detailed provisions contained in
Chapter 43, only those requirements necessary to
achieve the intended level of life safety are mandated in lieu of requiring strict compliance with the
requirements applicable to new buildings.

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NFPA Journal - November/December 2020

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