16- 219 C.M.R. ch. 4, § 5
5-1 Design Criteria
5-1.1 Design Discharge. The system shall provide a discharge of not less than 13 gal/min per sprinkler to three operating sprinklers in the design area.
5-1.2 Number of Design Sprinklers. The number of design sprinklers shall be 3. If a compartment contains more than 3 sprinklers, only 3 must be calculated and those sprinklers must be adjacent to one another.
5-1.2.1 The design area shall be that compartment or section of the building which is most hydraulically remote from the water supply.
5-1.2.2 The definition of compartment for use in determining the number and location of design sprinklers, is a space which is completely enclosed by walls and a ceiling. The compartment enclosure may have openings to an adjoining space if the openings have a minimum lintel depth of 8" below the ceiling.
5-1.3 Water Demand. The water demand for the system shall be determined through hydraulic calculation of the 3 most hydraulically demanding adjacent sprinklers, in accordance with section 5-1,2.
5-1.4 Sprinkler Coverage, Residential sprinklers shall be spaced so that the maximum area protected by a single sprinkler does not exceed 144 sq. ft.
5-l.4.1 Maximum distance between sprinklers shall not exceed 12 ft. on or between pipe lines and the maximum distance to a wall or partition shall not exceed 6 ft. The minimum distance between sprinklers within a compartment shall be 8 ft.
5-1.4.2 The minimum operating pressure of any sprinkler shall be in accordance with the listing information of the sprinkler and provide the minimum flow rates specified in 5-1.1. Application rates, design areas, areas of coverage, and minimum design pressures other than those specified may be used with special sprinklers which have been listed for such specific installation conditions.
5-1.5 Position of Sprinkler. Sprinklers shall be positioned so that deflectors are within 4 in. of a ceiling.
Exception: Special residential sprinklers shall be installed in accordance with listing limitations.
5-1.5.1 Sprinklers shall be positioned so that the discharge is not obstructed by beams, light fixtures or other obstructions. When tests are performed which show that sprinklers are positioned so that the discharge is not obstructed, sprinklers may be installed in accordance with the test results.
5-2 System Types
5-2.1 Wet-Pipe Systems. A sprinkler system which is filled with water at all times and protected against freezing.
5-2.2 Dry Systems. Not allowed on Life Safety systems.
5-3 Pipe Sizing
5-3.1 Piping shall be sized hydraulically in accordance with the methods described in NFPA #13.
5-3.2 The minimum pipe size shall be 3/4" on all systems using copper, CPVC and polybutylene and shall be 1" for steel.
5-4 Piping Configurations
5-4.1 Piping configurations may be looped, gridded, straight run or combinations thereof.
5-5 Location of Sprinklers
5-5.1 Sprinklers shall be installed in all areas.
Exception No. 1: Sprinklers may be omitted from all closets where the least dimension does not exceed 3 ft. and the area does not exceed 24 sq. ft. and the walls and ceilings are surfaced with non-combustible materials.
Exception No. 2: Sprinklers may be omitted from open attached porches.
Exception No. 3: Sprinklers may be omitted from carports, garages and similar structures.
Exception No, 4: Sprinklers may be omitted from attics and accessible crawl spaces which are not used or intended for living purposes or storage.
Exception No, 5: Sprinklers may be omitted from entrance foyers which are not the only means of egress.
Exception No. 6: Sprinklers may be omitted from walk-in refrigerators, freezers, coolers and similar unheated areas.
5-6 Drawings and Calculations
5-6.1 Scaled and dimensioned drawings showing building and system layout, pipe sizing, ceiling heights and similar construction features shall be signed and submitted along with hydraulic calculations and manufacturers data on sprinklers and plastic piping products to the State Fire Marshal for review and approval prior to installation. Pump performance data and manufacturers' data shall be included in submittal.
5-6.2 Drawings and calculations shall be signed by a person holding at least a Level III certification with the National layout of sprinkler systems, or equivalent competency as evidenced by a nationally recognized organization. Certification or registration numbers of the science shall be included with each submittal. Submittals shall bear the wording:
Reviewed and Submitted By Date of Review N.I.C.E.T. Certification Number Other Certification Type and Applicable Registration.
5-6.3 Proof of certification or registration shall be submitted to, and kept on file at, the State Fire Marshal's Office, Expiration dates shall be clearly indicated on submitted documents. Drawings and calculations signed by a person whose submitted qualification has expired will be rejected without review.
16- 219 C.M.R. ch. 4, § 5