Interpretation #: CEB-2021-19-2010 NFPA 20-4.12.1.1.4

Building or Fire Safety Law Interpreted

675 IAC 22-2.5 Indiana Fire Code, 2014 Edition, Section 913.1

NFPA 20 Standard, 2010 Edition, Paragraph 4.12.1.1.4. Except as permitted in 4.12.1.1.5, rooms containing fire pumps shall be free from storage, equipment, and penetrations not essential to the operation of the pump and related components.

Issue

Whether Paragraph 4.12.1.1.4 of the 2010 NFPA 20 Standard (NFPA 20) prohibits the locating of a roof access hatch within a fire pump room.

Interpretation of the State Building Commissioner

Paragraph 4.12.1.1.4 of 2010 NFPA 20 prohibits the locating of a roof access hatch within the fire pump room unless the hatch's roof penetration is essential to the operation of the pump and its related components.

Rationale

Except for domestic water distribution equipment (see NFPA 20, Paragraph 4.12.1.1.5), Paragraph 4.12.1.1.4 prohibits the inclusion of three specific categories of items in rooms containing fire pumps unless those items are "essential to the operation of the pump and [its] related components." Those are 1) storage, 2) equipment, and 3) penetrations.

Roof access hatches are installed at openings in roof assemblies and are therefore considered penetrations of the room's enclosure. As such, a roof access hatch would be allowed in a fire pump room only if the penetration associated with the hatch were considered essential to the operation of the pump and its components.