FIRE AND LIFE SAFETY CORNER W RI TT E N & P HO TO G R A P H ED B Y M ICHAEL T. REARDON, P.E.
CHOOSING the RIGHT FACILITY T
here are so many factors to consider when it comes to the daunting task of finding the perfect facility for your new distillery. Whether your facility is for production, storage, a local tavern, or a combination of all uses, key considerations need to be made in the early stages of a purchase or lease agreement.
The requirements for the various fire protection and life safety elements of your facility need to be reviewed and discussed as there may be limitations or added costs which may not be realized until later in your design process. While many of the minimum building and fire prevention code requirements can be handled after your purchase, there are a few significant requirements that can make or break your determination on the right building and/or location. Fire sprinkler and fire alarm systems are considered active fire protection systems and will most likely be required for your facility. Building codes have specific criteria on when a fire sprinkler or fire alarm system is required such as: building size, occupancy type, occupancy loads, and level of hazard. Once it is determined if these systems are required, further design considerations need to be evaluated such as sprinkler design criteria, water supply requirements, and level of fire alarm detection and notification. Existing fire alarm systems should be evaluated for expandability as the system may not meet the needs for your operations. Fire alarm systems have limitations to the number of field devices (smoke detectors, modules, strobes, etc.) they can handle due to maximum circuit loads or maximum number of zones. The age of the fire alarm system is also a key consideration as specific fire alarm models are often replaced with newer models and may become unsupported.
Fire sprinkler systems are specifically designed to the hazard they are controlling during a fire event. 68
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