ASCE 7 vs NFPA 13 for seismic bracing of fire sprinkler pipes

[MarkSBG]

Hello all,

The Building Code of New York State(BCNYS) lists the ASCE 7-02 as the reference standard for structural loads. Section 9.6.3.11.2 allows the designer to use NFPA 13 when designing seismic braces for fire sprinkler systems. This allowance is removed by the BCNYS in section 1621.1.1.

Does anyone here know why the NFPA is not allowed in New York? I have a couple theories, but nothing beyond conjecture.

Any commentary information or history on this subject would be greatly appreciated!

 

[seismicdan68]

Hello all,
The Building Code of New York State(BCNYS) lists the ASCE 7-02 as the reference standard for structural loads. Section 9.6.3.11.2 allows the designer to use NFPA 13 when designing seismic braces for fire sprinkler systems. This allowance is removed by the BCNYS in section 1621.1.1.

Does anyone here know why the NFPA is not allowed in New York? I have a couple theories, but nothing beyond conjecture.

Any commentary information or history on this subject would be greatly appreciated!

The 2003 IBC specifically prohibited the use of NFPA-13 for bracing sprinkler systems. The IBC Commentary stated that this was due to force and fastener capacity concerns. This turned out to be 3 issues:

1. Incorrect belief by the ICC that NFPA-13 used 0.5 Fp for everything, which has not been the case since the 1993 Edition of NFPA-13.

2. Concrete anchor capacities were not properly calculated and did not satisfy ASCE 7-02 embedment requirements. This was not corrected in NFPA-13 until the 2010 Edition, which was corrected to the requirements of ASCE 7-05 including the requirement that the concrete anchors used must have satisfied the AC355.2 Seismic Prequalification Test (Cracked Concrete Test)

3. ASCE 7-02 and ASCE 7-05 require that, in addition to the other requirements in NFPA-13, the strength of fire sprinkler piping in Seismic Design Categories D, E & F be calculated. This requirement revolves around the strength of the piping when distributing earthquake loads to the braces in the Lateral (Transverse) direction. This issue was addressed in the 2007 Edition of NFPA-13 with the new Maximum Fpw Tables. Additional Fpw Tables for other piping and explanation of the formulas used for these calculations were added to the 2010 Edition of NFPA-13.

The current Loos & Co. Manual of Code Compliance Guidelines includes all of the HLF’s (Cp in NFPA-13 2007 & 2010) for all editions of the ASCE 7-02 and ASCE 7-05, AC355.2 Pre-Qualified concrete anchors and includes Max. Fpw Tables per NFPA0-13 2007 & 2010, along with tables for pipe types that were not included in NFPA-13.