FIRE PROTECTION STANDARDS

Laws:

• 5 U.S.C. §7902 (Safety Program)
• 15 U.S.C. §2225 (Fire Prevention and Control)
• 29 U.S.C. §668 (Occupational Safety and Health)
• 40 U.S.C. §619; (Construction, Alteration, and Acquisition of Public Buildings)

Code of Federal Regulations (CFR):

• 29 CFR Part 1910 (Occupational Safety and Health Standards)
• 29 CFR Part 1926 (Safety and Health Regulations for Construction)

Management Policies

• 5.3.1. Protection and Preservation of Cultural Resources
• 5.3.1.2 Fire Detection, Suppression, and Post-fire Rehabilitation
  and Protection
• 9.1.8. Structural Fire Protection and Suppression
• 9.4.2. Museum Collections Management Facilities

Director's Orders (DOs)

• Director's Order (DO) 58, Structural Fire Management and
  Reference Manual (RM) 58, "Structural Fire Management" (PDF)
• RM 50B, Occupational Safety and Health Program, Section 12, "Fire Safety"

Building Codes

• International Code Council family of codes
• NFPA Codes and Standards, but not NFPA 5000

Directives, Standards, and NPS Guidelines

• 411 DM (Museum Property Handbook, Volume 1, Preservation and Protection of Museum Property)
• National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106, and 36 CFR 800
• 485 DM 19 (Fire Safety)

Professional Guidance

General

• A Fire Safety Plan is required. (RM 58, page 27 (PDF))
• The design team should include a licensed Fire
  Protection Engineer.
• Code Equivalencies and Variances are encouraged and shall be developed by a Fire Protection Engineer for approval by the DSC Building Official and/or Regional Fire AHJ.
• Fire modeling is encouraged to minimize fire and life safety systems impact, especially in historical structures.

Fire Protection Systems

• Although there are some exceptions, new buildings, buildings undergoing renovation, or buildings with a change in occupancy, shall have automatic sprinkler system protection
  (NPS Reference Manual 58 Structural Fire, Page 6)
• Performance based designs are encouraged. Compact
  or mobile storage is Extra Hazard Group 1 with one hour
  fire separation.
• Sprinkler control valves shall be electrically supervised.
• Piping: Copper, Schedule 40 steel, or plastic.
• Dry Pipe and PreAction Systems: Hot-dip galvanized Schedule 40 pipe/fittings (threaded or cut groove only) or Copper; all pendent heads shall be dry pendents; all piping shall be sloped to drain preferably to the main riser; low point drains shall be drum drips and shall be minimized.
• Double check backflow prevention required.
• Gravity water supplies are preferred. The next preference is combined fire and domestic systems using commercial pumps. Fire pumps or pressure tanks may be used.
  The preferred water supply will minimize the required Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance.
• High Pressure Water Mist or Special Extinguishing Systems (e.g. FM-200) shall be approved by the Regional AHJ early in the design process.

Fire Alarm Systems

• Although there are some exceptions, new buildings, buildings undergoing renovation, or buildings with a change in occupancy, shall be provided with an automatic fire alarm system.
  (NPS Reference Manual 58 Structural Fire, Page 6)
• The system shall be based on NFPA 72 as Total (Complete) Coverage using smoke detectors in all spaces. In unheated areas, heat detectors may be more appropriate.
• Visual appliances shall be installed in accordance with NFPA 72 and ABAAS. Strobe candela ratings need to be shown.
  (US Access Board, Technical Bulletin : Visual Alarms)

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