What effects does fire hazard have on sprinkler system design and installation?
A. Fire hazard has a significant impact on sprinkler system discharge criteria, particularly the amount of water the sprinkler system needs to discharge to control or suppress the fire. With the possible exception of some extra hazard occupancies, storage operations present more challenging fire hazards than those found in non-storage facilities and will typically require more demanding discharge criteria. Determining the fire hazard also has an impact on other design considerations, such as the number of systems needed, sprinkler selection, sprinkler spacing, the need for hose connections, and water supply requirements. For example, individual sprinklers are required to cover smaller floor areas in storage facilities, so more sprinklers will be required on each system. Additionally, more systems will be needed because systems that protect storage facilities can cover no more than 40,000 square feet (3,716 square meters) as compared to the 52,000 square feet (4,831 square meters) most
