How to Design Sprinkler Systems (NFPA 13 Explained)

Summary

In this tutorial by Irfan CFPS, the focus is on designing a wet sprinkler system specifically for hospital buildings. Irfan shares his expertise to guide viewers through the crucial steps of the design process, ensuring compliance with NFPA 13 guidelines. The video covers preliminary steps like reviewing architectural and cross-sectional drawings, adhering to local building codes, and considering key components of a sprinkler system including types of pipes and fittings. It also details hydraulic calculations and placement of sprinklers in accordance with the hazard classification. By the video's conclusion, viewers should be equipped to design comprehensive and compliant sprinkler systems for various commercial buildings.

Highlights

• Irfan CFPS walks us through sprinkler system design for hospitals. 🏥
• Learn the preliminary steps like reviewing architectural drawings. 🏗️
• Discover essential components of a sprinkler system, such as pipe types and fittings! 🔧
• Understand the necessity of adhering to NFPA standards and local codes. 📚
• Watch as Irfan explains how to divide the building into zones for effective sprinkler coverage. 📏

Key Takeaways

• Learn step-by-step how to design a wet sprinkler system for hospitals! 🏥
• Understand the importance of reviewing architectural drawings before starting your design. 🏗️
• Follow along as Irfan explains NFPA 13 guidelines for sprinkler placement and system components. 📘
• Gain confidence in your ability to perform key hydraulic calculations. 📊
• Get tips on dividing building areas into zones based on hazard classifications for optimal sprinkler placement. 🚒

Overview

Irfan CFPS, a seasoned expert in fire protection systems, provides a comprehensive guide to designing wet sprinkler systems in hospitals through this engaging video. The tutorial begins by stressing the importance of understanding the architectural and cross-sectional drawings to determine the building's use and occupancy classification. This vital step ensures that designers can effectively plan their sprinkler systems, adhering to both legal and safety standards stipulated by NFPA 13.

In the following segments, Irfan delves into the specifics of what comprises a robust sprinkler system. From discussing the materials like black steel erw schedule 40 pipes to the types of fittings suitable for varying pipe sizes, viewers gain a thorough understanding of the physical components needed. Additionally, the tutorial emphasizes essential concepts such as zone control valves, fire department connections, and alarm check valve assemblies—all crucial for creating a compliant setup.

The video culminates with a detailed walkthrough of the design process itself, including steps like zoning the building, calculating hydraulics, and ultimately placing the sprinklers. Irfan’s methodical approach is both enlightening and reassuring, guiding viewers through each phase with clarity. His insights make the task approachable, ensuring that by the end of the video, one is equipped with enough knowledge and confidence to tackle sprinkler system design in any commercial setting.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 00:30: Introduction and Overview This chapter serves as an introduction to the comprehensive tutorial on designing a wet sprinkler system, specifically for a hospital setting. The instructor promises that by the conclusion of the tutorial, viewers will be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to design similar systems for any commercial building. The chapter highlights the tutorial's reliance on the instructor's personal experience and the value it offers to the audience.
• 00:30 - 02:00: Preparation Before Designing This chapter introduces the topic of sprinkler system design, emphasizing the importance of preparation before beginning the actual design process. The video promises to cover all necessary knowledge for designing a sprinkler system. The speaker encourages viewers to engage by liking, sharing, subscribing, and commenting on the video.
• 02:00 - 05:30: Sprinkler System Components The chapter focuses on the components of a sprinkler system within a building. It highlights the importance of reviewing architectural and cross-sectional drawings to determine key building specifications such as size, intended use, occupancy type, and hazard classification. In the given example of a hospital building, the structure includes a basement, a ground floor, and ten additional floors. The architectural plans can be viewed for further details.
• 05:30 - 11:40: Design Steps for Sprinkler Layout The chapter focuses on the crucial steps involved in designing a sprinkler layout for a building. It highlights the importance of thoroughly analyzing the architectural plan and understanding the intended use of the building to determine the hazard classification. Additionally, it emphasizes the necessity of complying with local building codes and NFPA standards in the design process. The location of the pump room is also considered as a significant factor in the layout.
• 11:40 - 21:00: Hydraulic Calculations The chapter discusses the key components of a sprinkler system, emphasizing legal compliance and safety. It mentions the use of black steel ERW Schedule 40 pipe for above-ground piping networks, as recommended by NFPA 30, while noting that other piping types can also be utilized.
• 21:00 - 25:00: Placing Sprinklers and Pipe Routing The chapter discusses the components and materials used in sprinkler systems and pipe routing. For pipe fittings between sizes 1 inch to 2 inches, malleable iron threaded fittings are used, whereas ductile iron grooved fittings are implemented for sizes above 2 inches. In terms of hangers and supports, ULFM approved swivel hangers are used for sizes up to 2 inches, and CEVI's hangers are used for pipes above 2 inches. Additionally, the use of channel support and riser supports is mentioned.
• 25:00 - 32:30: Branch Piping and Sprinkler Spacing The chapter titled 'Branch Piping and Sprinkler Spacing' discusses the components and considerations for Zone control valve assembly. It covers various components such as indicating type control valve, flow switch, tamper switch, test and drain valve, and pressure gauge. It also mentions the use of swing check valves in the building's zone control valve assembly.
• 32:30 - 35:00: Final Design Steps and Conclusion This chapter covers the final steps in the design and provides a conclusion to the project. It discusses the installation of fire control equipment, specifically the floor control valve, which is essential for safety and emergency water supply management. The chapter ensures that all necessary elements for effective fire department connections are addressed, including two-way inlet specifications and auxiliary water supply provisions. This detailed design step by step ensures a comprehensive and functional safety infrastructure. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the integration of these elements to create a robust fire safety system within the construction project.
• 35:00 - 36:30: Installation Details The chapter 'Installation Details' covers key components within a fire suppression system including valves and switches. It discusses the function and types of control valves such as the OSN Y gate valve with tamper switch, alarm check valve, and explains the usage of a bell chamber, pressure switch, and flow switch. It also highlights the importance of pressure gauges in the setup, and the significance of non-return (non-r) valves to prevent backflow in the system.
• 36:30 - 37:00: Closing Remarks The chapter titled 'Closing Remarks' discusses essential guidelines for testing water flow devices within a system. It emphasizes the necessity of having a test connection for each water flow device to ensure effective testing. The discharge during these tests should occur at an easily observable location, ensuring optimal monitoring and maintenance. Additionally, the chapter elaborates on the use of different types of sprinklers based on ceiling conditions: upright sprinklers are recommended for areas without a false ceiling, while pendant sprinklers are suited for areas with a false ceiling. The chapter also touches upon the use of landing valves, which are specified as 2.5-inch connections, highlighting their role in the system. These concluding comments underscore the importance of proper equipment selection and installation based on the specific needs of the environment.

How to Design Sprinkler Systems (NFPA 13 Explained) Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 hi everyone welcome to Iran cfps YouTube channel in this comprehensive video I'm going to explain how to design a wet sprinkler system for a hospital by the end of this tutorial you will feel confident in your ability to design sprinkler systems for any commercial building I will provide detailed steps based on my experience ensuring you won't regret investing your time in
• 00:30 - 01:00 watching this after completing this video you will likely have learned everything you need to know about sprinkler system design if you find this video helpful please like share and subscribe and also leave a comment below I would love to hear your thoughts and answer any questions you may have so let's start before we start our design the first step will be to review
• 01:00 - 01:30 architectural drawings overall floor plans and cross-sectional drawings while reviewing these drawings we need to verify the building size intended use occupancy type and occupancy Hazard classification so in our case our Hospital building consists of a basement ground floor and 10 additional floors you can view the the architectural plan
• 01:30 - 02:00 on the screen it's essential for us to thoroughly analyze the architectural plan and understand how this building will be used in order to determine the hazard classification before we move forward with the design part so this is the location of pump room next it's vital to adhere to local building codes and NFPA standards before designing the
• 02:00 - 02:30 sprinkler system these codes ensure legal compliance and safety let us have a look at the key components of the sprinkler system we will consider black steel erw schedule 40 pipe for our above ground piping Network other piping types can be used as per NFPA 30
• 02:30 - 03:00 for the fittings we will use malleable iron threaded fittings for sizes 1 in to 2 in and for about 2 in we consider ductile iron grooved fittings hangers and supports we will use ulfm approved swivel hangers for sizes up to 2 in and for about 2 in we use cevis hangers Channel support and riser supports will
• 03:00 - 03:30 also be considered as applicable in our project for Zone control valve assembly basically it covers various components such as indicating type control valve flow switch tamper switch test and drain valve and pressure gauge sometimes we use check valve as well so in this building we do consider swing check valve in zone control valve assembly the
• 03:30 - 04:00 zcv assembly also known as floor control valve will be installed on each floor where the pipe enters fire department connection we consider two-way Inlet 65 mm size for fire department connection with cap and chain this will provide an auxiliary water supply to the spring
• 04:00 - 04:30 system alarm check valve assembly this covers OSN y gate valve with tamper switch alarm check valve Bell chamber pressure switch flow switch and pressure gauges control valves these are used to control the water flow they can be gate valve or butterfly valve check valve they are non-r valves used to prevent back flow in the system
• 04:30 - 05:00 inspector test connection a test connection must be provided to test each water flow device for each system the discharge should be at a point where it can be readily observed sprinklers we use upright sprinklers where there is no false ceiling and pendant sprinklers where there is false ceiling Landing valves these are 2.5 in po connections
• 05:00 - 05:30 installed in staircase areas in this project we shall use separate riser for landing valves fire hose cabinets the type of fire hose cabinet will be based on Project specification requirements however in this project we consider surface mounted type for basement areas and for the office area
• 05:30 - 06:00 from above ground we use recess mounted type fire extinguishers they will be placed in accordance with NFPA 10 requirements our main focus today is on designing the sprinkler system according to NFPA 13 guidelines now I will explain you how to create a layout for the sprinkler system taking into account factors such as
• 06:00 - 06:30 sprinkler spacing coverage area and pipe rooting follow my steps and you will find it easy to smoothly design for your projects steps to be followed number one identify the pump room location number two divide the building area into zones number three finalize the Riser location
• 06:30 - 07:00 number four prepare Riser schematic diagram number five perform hydrolic calculations number six place the sprinklers on the complete layout number seven draw the rooting of main pipe and Loop Number Eight draw the rooting of Branch pipes and mention the sizes number nine
• 07:00 - 07:30 draw the rooting from the pump room to the building to be protected here is the pump room making our first step is complete next we will divide the building area into zones based on Hazard classification as you can see the zoning layout on your screen here you can find density and coverage area mentioned for light Hazard occupancy and also please note based on number of zones the risers
• 07:30 - 08:00 has to be considered for example for light and ordinary Hazard maximum fire zone for one Riser will be 4832 square m so since our area here in this particular project is 429 square m we will consider one zone and we will have one riser
• 08:00 - 08:30 similarly we need to make zoning layout for all floors and also then we will place the Riser locations in each staircase as you can see on your screen each staircase will have one riser for landing valve and we will have one sprinkler riser for one zone so as I already told you we have only one zone here in this particular building so we
• 08:30 - 09:00 will consider just one sprinkler riser once we done with the above we need to develop the Riser schematic diagram Riser diagrams typically illustrate the vertical arrangement of pipes valves fittings and other components showing how they connect between different floors or levels of a building as you can see see on your
• 09:00 - 09:30 screen this is the enlarged portion of fire pump room extracted from the overall Riser schematic diagram and also you can find enlarged portion of Riser so that it is easy for you to look into the complete subject apart from this apart from that here in this slide you can see three risers two for Landing
• 09:30 - 10:00 valves and one for sprinklers so in our project we will consider two Landing valve risers and one sprinkler riser then we need to perform the hydraulic calculations by considering the remotest area of sprinkler operation we will perform the calculations in order to select the fire pumps the procedure for performing hydraulic calculations has already been explained in our previous
• 10:00 - 10:30 videos you can find the link in the comment section anyhow I will explain the steps to be followed while performing the calculations so before performing the hydraulic calculations we need to identify the hydraulic remotest design area for example in this particular slide if the main line is coming from the left side
• 10:30 - 11:00 staircase area then the farthest area will be the remotest design area that is hatched portion for example in this hydraulically remotest design area if we consider quick response sprinklers because of light Hazard occupancy then the design area will be considered based on N FP a 13 figure 19. 3. 3.
• 11:00 - 11:30 2.3.1 2019 edition if we consider standard response sprinklers for light Hazard areas we need to consider design area as 1,500 square ft and need to follow density area curves as per NFPA 13 figure 19.
• 11:30 - 12:00 3.3.1 2019 Edition then the next step would be for example see if the main line is coming from the right side of the staircase then the farthest area will be the left side which is shown on your screen so the remotest design area will be on the left side the same comments which I explained in our earlier slide
• 12:00 - 12:30 will be applicable if we consider this particular area as hydraulically most demanding area so it is important to finalize the Riser locations before we move ahead with the hydraulic calculations so basically we will look into additional details which are required to perform the hydraulic calculations on right hand side we have the hatched portion which is the most
• 12:30 - 13:00 hydraulically demanding area and we have shown a loop piping in this particular project apart from that the main line has been considered from the left side staircase and also we have shown immediately after the pipe crossing the staircase we mentioned or we have shown Zone control valve apart from that pressure reducing valve might be
• 13:00 - 13:30 required if the pressure at this particular location before the Zone control valve is more than the system component rated pressure of 175 PSI whether we need to use prv or not will all depends upon hydraulic calculations once this pipe routing in the remotest floor for example in our case it is the 10th floor has been done
• 13:30 - 14:00 and the sprinkler design in the remotest area is done then we need to take our piping till the pump room any route can be followed from the Riser shown near the left side staircase shaft upon completion of routing hydraulic calculations will be performed the pipe sizes mentioned here in this particular slide are tentative and shall be
• 14:00 - 14:30 verified based on hydraulic calculations if you want to know the type of piping arrangements to be considered in the sprinkler system design please watch my video available on YouTube and the subject will be wet pipe sprinkler systems now we start locating the sprinklers in each room for the entire floor based on Hazard classification as
• 14:30 - 15:00 described in NFPA 13 for light Hazard rooms we will place the sprinklers with coverage area of 20.9 square m per sprinkler the coverage area shall not exceed 12.1 square m for ordinary Hazard group one and group two occupancies and 9 Square met for extra hazard group one
• 15:00 - 15:30 and group two occupancies we shall maintain a maximum distance of 4.6 M between sprinklers for light and ordinary Hazard areas and 3.7 M for extra Hazard areas the minimum distance between sprinklers shall be 1.8 m on Center the minimum distance from wall to the sprinkler will will be 4 in
• 15:30 - 16:00 please note if there are any obstructions like beams or ducts Etc then we need to maintain some distance from the sprinkler to these abstractions as per NFPA 13 requirements if the ceiling is slope type then we need to measure the distance along the slope however mostly this will be applicable for Ware houses since they have sloped ceilings coming
• 16:00 - 16:30 back to this building based on the earlier points we will be place the sprinklers in the entire building in this way distribute the sprinklers in the entire floor as shown in this drawing if you want to learn how to place sprinklers you need to watch my video on fire sprinklers design layout for office here you will understand how
• 16:30 - 17:00 to place the sprinklers and the coverage area requirements as per NFPA 13 now we need to draw the pipe routing for the main line and also the loop so basically here you can see on your screen there are various points mentioned for example on left hand side you can find risers for sprinkler piping and Landing valves at staircase on right
• 17:00 - 17:30 hand side there is a staircase you can find Landing valve Riser 2 and also pressure reducing valve to be provided if required as per the hydraulic calculations apart from that extinguishers have been placed as per NFPA 10 guidelines firehost cabinets should be placed as per NFPA 14 requirements 1 in inspector test pipe on the right hand side at the bottom corner
• 17:30 - 18:00 we need to install ITC inspector test connection which has to be taken from the remotest sprinkler and to be connected to the drain point in the toilet sprinklers shall be used as upright if there is no false ceiling in the building and if there is any false ceiling like tiles false ceiling or GPS some false ceiling we need to go ahead
• 18:00 - 18:30 with the pendant type sprinklers we need to show the dimensions or the distance between the sprinklers and distance from the valves in the entire floor and also Zone control valve has to be shown so all these points has to be covered in one particular floor and in next slide we are going to draw the branch piping by consider ing the pipe schedule in
• 18:30 - 19:00 order to find out the pipe size based on number of sprinklers as I already told we need to draw the branch pipes from the loop piping so Branch piping to be designed with pipe size pipe sizing can be considered as per pipe schedule method however we need to cross cross check the
• 19:00 - 19:30 pipe sizing with the hydraulic calculations we need to mention the Riser details also in all floors if you want to know about pipe schedule method or if you want to know how to design or if you want to know how to do the pipe sizing for the sprinkler system you need to watch my video on pipe schedule method as per NFPA 13 requ requirements please note for pipe
• 19:30 - 20:00 schedule systems for ordinary Hazard occupancies Branch lines shall not exceed eight sprinklers on either side of cross Main and there are certain conditions if you want to increase to 9 to 10 sprinklers on Cross main for hydraulically calculated systems the pipe size to be considered based on hydraulic calculations
• 20:00 - 20:30 performed so we are almost going to conclude the design but please note we need to space the sprinklers in the pump room as well as per NFPA 13 requirements finally we need to draw the rooting of the pipes from the pump room till the hospital building in our case the pipe will travel through the tunnel
• 20:30 - 21:00 to reach the hospital so basically we have finished our design apart from the design we need to submit installation details and fire pump room layout to the client along with the complete package if you want to know more about the firefighting installation details and fire pump room pipe sizing and the layout you need to check my video which is already
• 21:00 - 21:30 available on YouTube if you find my video useful please make sure to hit the subscription button and also comment in the comment section this will motivate me to prepare new videos