Report (23) ° c/J-o/72
7s3T'6.4t) lea't
Walter L.Cook PE
Fire Protection Engineering Since 1991
RECEIVED
JUL 3 0 2013
March 30,2013
CITY OFTIGARD
Mr. Ryan Broderick BUILDING DIVISION
Northwest Handling Systems, Inc.
18008 NE Airport Way
Portland,OR 97230
RE: LaCie Warehouse
Sprinkler System Evaluation for Storage of Commodities
7555 SW Tech Center Dr,Tigard Oregon
Dear Ryan,
This letter report will address the adequacy of the existing automatic sprinkler system for storage of
specific commodities in an existing warehouse located at the above referenced address.
NFPA Standards
The City of Tigard and TV Fire and Rescue should allow storage of commodities based on the NFPA 13
&231 standards in effect at the time the sprinkler system was designed and installed. The sprinkler
design is dated 1992 and therefore the 1987 NFPA 231&1991 NFPA 13 standard would determine
allowable storage for the installed system. The basis of design was for storage of Class IV
commodities up to 24'height;design drawing attached. The 2010 NFPA 13 requirements for storage
in effect today are more rigorous and would require replacement of sprinkler heads. This analysis
addresses both the standards at the time of construction and the current standards.
Findings&Recommendations
The findings presented herein suggest that upgrades of the sprinkler system will not be required to
store the Class Ill commodities planned for the warehouse if the as-built 1992 system design
standards are acceptable to the AHJ. The system is designed for storage of Class IV commodities to
24'storage height.
The storage commodity is considered to be Class Ill based on an evaluation of the commodity,which
includes metal cases,disk drives components in metal cases and assembled product containing both
the case and disk drive. The commodities contain by weight over 90%metal and 7%Group B&C
unexpanded plastics. According to 2010 OFC Figure 2303.7.4 Commodity Class III includes mixed
commodities with up to 10%unexpanded plastics by weight. The commodities proposed for storage
meet this code requirement.
WER Inc. PHONE (503)597-8284
13467 SW Summerwood Dr Cell (503)333-3470
A Tigard,OR 97223 E-MAIL walt.l.cook@gmail.com
,r
Page 2
March 28,2013
v
Mr.Ryan Broderick
NW Handling Systems
18008 NE Airport Way.
Portland,OR 97230
Based on current NFPA 13 standards it appears that the existing sprinkler density of 0.377 GPM/SF
over 2,000 SF is adequate for storage of Class Ill un-encapsulated commodities in corrugated cartons
on pallets up to 22' in height. This assumes double row racks with a minimum 8'aisle width. The
actual aisle widths are 15'.
The current standard is taken from 2010 NFPA 13 Figure 16.2.1.3.2(c)which requires 0.37 GPM/SF
over 2,000 SF.
Current NFPA standards would require upgrade of the existing 8.0 K sprinkler heads to 11.2 K rating
for densities over 0.34 GPM per NFPA 13 12.6.3,again the required density is 0.37 GPM. The
required density exceeds the head limit by three hundredths of a GPM. The 1987 NFPA 231 standard
would not require replacement of heads.
Supporting Information
The warehouse is approximately 31,040 SF. Eighty percent will be used for storage. Eight five
percent of the storage area will included both the assembled product and the separate metal cases
and disk drive components. The remaining 15%of the storage area includes various uses including,
• product in a repair and return process,unassembled cardboard cartons stored flat on pallets and
other assorted support materials which also are predominately Class Ill commodities.
Given the relatively small area of incidental storage the determination is based on the storage of
assembled and component metal commodities representing 85%of the actual stored commodities.
These commodities are stored in boxes in cartons on un-encapsulated pallets.
Excellent warehouse practices were observed. Cartons are resealed after opening for picking parts.
The facility is clean and all combustible materials are removed and placed outside in dumpsters.
Sprinkler coverage in the warehouse consists of a one zone wet system with freeze protection. A
riser tag indicating system design capacity was not located. The system design criteria were taken
from 1992 drawings prepared by Guardian and approved by TV F&R. The hydraulic capacity was not
verified with actual calculations. The system includes a double check valve back flow device and
current inspection tags as well as spare sprinkler heads and appears to be in good working order.
This report may be required when you submit for various permits including racking and occupancy
certification. I am available to respond if additional information is required.
Sincerely W�� RO
P
Walter L.Cook PE Zf
OR 10001 4114 Cd4t
ilD
Cc Deyleen Neill,LaCie OR N
A ��i~` 15.t9l
LogoG
cP. /;3/ / 6`3